December is many things to many people: Hanukah and Christmas, old year and New Year, shopping, shipping, the sacred bough and the profane office party. For the wine lover, the far side of Thanksgiving is a month of digging into the wine stash and drinking up any special bottle any old time.
All year long, I look at semi-precious bottles of wine and say to myself, "No, not yet, wait for some special occasion." Come the holidays, I try extra hard to let myself understand that friends and family and food and wine aren't just the ingredients, they are the festivity itself. Thanks to that kind of thinking, no bottle of wine is safe.
This year, with Thanksgiving so late, we have to cram six weeks of celebration into four, which is not nearly as good as the two weeks of shopping we don't have to do. We're closing the gap with the help of a large profane wine party.
The theme is "Pinot Envy," and everyone's bringing one favorite Pinot-based wine: Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Pinotage, and who knows what others.
Throwing the perfect wine party is easy because it doesn't have to be perfect. Take care of a few basics, and the wine lovers in your midst will take care of the rest.
Wine Party Rules
1) Hey, it's a wine party! Make sure everyone knows that and understands what the theme is.
2) Pick a good theme. Any theme will do, really, so long as it's interesting to you. Pick something regional and general like "Australian Wines" or "South American Wines." Best party we ever had was when I told half the people the theme was "Mind-Bending White Wines" and the other half that it was "Red Wines I Want To Be My New Girlfriend."
3) Rent lots of wine glasses. Any professional caterer will tell you that you don't have enough of something unless you have a little bit left over. For wine glasses, the formula is 2.2 wine glasses per guest: 25 people, 55 wine glasses, and so on. Taylor Rental is available nationally, and take it from me, it is worth it to buy the extra breakage insurance.
4) Serve wine-friendly food. Keeping the food accompaniment simple is the best bet: big pieces of generic Brie, lots of bread, and olive oil are perfect. As host, you can even cook something special and make it into a theme: "Wines That Go With My Famous Roast Lamb."
5) Equal parts water and wine. Be sure to have plenty of water on hand for your guests to drink between wine sipping. I always try to drink at least as much water as wine when I'm on the job, and I think that goes for wine recreation too.
6) Get people involved. Picking a theme and encouraging people to go out wine shopping raises the level of participation and interest. It also injects a certain element of uncertainty and spontaneity, which is nice if you like that sort of thing.
Put A Bow On It
Yummy, oaky, buttery California Chardonnay continues its march back into my life in a big way. Just as I find myself newly open to this old favorite again, people are popping up with new renditions of America's Favorite Wine that help me understand why people love Chardonnay so much.
2000 Stephen Ross Chardonnay (about $28) comes from the Santa Maria Valley, one of the only valleys in California that runs east-west instead of north-south. The cool nighttime air off the Pacific helps produce a wine with great balance and crisp, delicious acidity. This Chardonnay is fermented 100 percent in the barrel, which gives it an infusion of tremendous oak flavor.
Better still, the label and packaging are subtle and stylish: put a bow on it, and your holiday shopping's done.
AVAILABILITY:
| Colonial Spirits - Acton, MA |
Friendly Discount Liquors - Whitinsville, MA |
| Dubs's Wine & Spirits - Mansfield, MA |
Mass Liquors - Worcester, MA |
| Fifth Ave Liquors - Framingham, MA |
Table & Vine - Northampton, MA |
| Fifth Ave Liquors - Millis, MA |
Yankee Spirits - Sturbridge, MA |
Distributed in New England by Gilbert Distributors, Bolton MA, 978-779-6011.
© 1988-2002 by Jonathon Alsop
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