Dinner Parties and Choosing Wine

When you hare giving a dinner party remember that people tend to be far more informal than they once were and the rules about what wine should be served with what course have relaxed a great deal.  Nowadays people tend to drink what they like most and most people put both red and white wines on the table and let their guests choose. (see my notes on Beginners' guide to dinner parties).

However, if you want to be really pedantic or you are organizing a formal banquet there is a specified order of serving because a different wine is drunk with each course. Usually the order is:-

White wine before red

Dry wine before sweet

Young wine before old.

Fish should be served with dry white wines e.g. hock, Moselle, Muscadet, Vouvray, Chablis.

Poultry should be served with a medium light red wine or a white wine.

Lamb should be served with something like claret, Beaujoais etc.

Veal with Rioja or Valpolicella.

Duck or pork with claret or burgundy

Beef dishes require a full bodied red e.g Borollo

Spicy dishes such as curry are best served with beer or lager.

For the dessert course swerve a very sweet wine such as Sauternes

For cheese serve red wine or port.

Unless you are really formal , ignore all the above and serve what you know your guests will like!

Allow red wine to reach room temperature gradually.  Open it and allow it to breathe for a few hours before you serve it. Only a young Beajolais may be served slightly chilled.

Any sediment at the bottom of the red wine is harmless.  Just pour into a decanter.  If your decanter needs cleaning half fill with warm soapy water and two tablespoons of rice.  Swish round and stand for 30 minutes.  Rinse and stand upside down to dry.

White wine should always be served chilled for an hour or so.  If you are short of time it will chill much quicker with the cork out.

To chill wine, beer or champagne quickly add about 5 tablespoons of salt to the ice and water in the ice bucket.

Fill your guests glasses about half to two-thirds full rather than full to the top so that they can get the full effect of the aroma.

Twist the bottle as you pour to avoid drips.

Use your most expensive wines first and then the cheaper ones later. No one will notice the difference.

Aperitifs can be served to stimulate the apetite e.g sherry, vermouth, Madeira. (I personally like gin and tonic with ice and lemon!)

Make sure you have a jug of iced water on the table.

Finally

Red wine - the grape juice was fermented with the skins

Rose - the grape juice is fermented with the skin but the juice is drawn off after a short time and is fermented without the skins.