With the holiday season approaching fast, so is the time to get together with friends and family. ‘Tis the season for dinners, lunches, and parties!
We definitely know the feeling of being overwhelmed as you rush around the house to perfect everything at the last minute. Or remembering that you forgot to pick up matching cutlery as your guests arrive.
So, we created this fool-proof guide to hosting a party with wine. We can promise you that following the tips in this guide will help you relax, plan, and even enjoy your party when the time comes. (yes, too good to be true, but trust us!)
Keep reading to find another surprise curated just for you!
Tip 1: Plan ahead!
Nothing screams not being prepared like not being able to enjoy your own party. As with all aspects of hosting, the more you can prep in advance, the better.
Whether you have a special meal in mind, or are looking for wine pairings to complement it, WineCollective can help you out! We provide pairing suggestions and recipes to guide you every month – you’ll be a wine pairing expert in no time! Just imagine the parties you’ll be hosting…
Tip 2: How much wine will your guests drink?
The general rule of thumb is that a bottle of wine yields 4-5 glasses of wine. Another thing to remember is that about 3 glasses of wine per person is a good serving suggestion.
If you want to ensure each of your guests is getting a fuller glass of wine, aim for approximately 2 bottles of wine for every 3 people at your party.
Tip 3: Glasses, glasses, glasses
Don’t forget about the glasses! Typically you would want to have the correct type of glasses, and enough of them. If you will be serving sparkling wine, don’t forget the flutes! If you will be serving a selection of red and white wines, you could offer a standard glass for both white and red. If you’re feeling fancy, you could go all out and provide a white wine glass, and a red wine glass, but you really don’t have to.
Tip 4: At what temperature should wine be served?
You want to ensure that your wines are at the right temperatures, so that you experience each sip the way it was intended. Not sure about how to serve your wine? WineCollective can also help with that: you can always get serving suggestions, along with ideal temperatures in our monthly guide.
Serve Sparkling Wine Cold
As a general guide though, you’ll want to remember that sparkling wine should be served at around 7°C (45 °F) or below. The cold temperatures will accentuate the carbonation in the wine, providing a perkier experience! For sparkling wine, we recommend chilling it in the fridge for an hour or two until it’s ready to serve.
Serve White Wine Chilled
A regular white wine is best served at 7-10 °C (45- 50 °F). This is slightly warmer than your fridge, to accentuate the aromas, and notes. You can achieve this by pulling the bottle out of the fridge 10-15 minutes before you expect to serve.
Serve Red Wine Cool
Lastly, red wine is best served slightly chilled, at around 15-20 °C (62-68 °F). Serve it too warm and the alcohol will become overpowering, making the wine feel heavy on the palate. Chilling your red wine is easy: just stick it in the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.
Tip 5: From Delicate To Strong
Not sure what order to serve your wines in, or how to pace them? This is a handy rule of thumb: serve white before red, light before heavy, and dry before sweet. This way, you’ll make sure your elegant, delicate whites will not be overpowered by your powerhouse reds. Lastly, when in doubt: go for the bubbly. Sparkling wines don’t just make for a festive aperitif, but are surprisingly versatile – they pair fantastically with a wide variety of dishes.
Tip 6: Variety
Our last tip when hosting a party with wine: make sure you’ve got variety! Different people may like different flavours and profiles, and in an ideal world, you would have several wine choices to ensure you’ve got something that everyone will enjoy. When selecting your wines, you want to make sure you’re picking up varieties that compliment each other, but also some that will provide a contrast for your guests.
This is probably the most challenging part of the whole ordeal—ensuring you’ve got the right “pack” of wines for your night. Don’t sweat it though! The second surprise that WineCollective has to offer is that our experts have gone ahead and curated two special hosting packs, so you don’t have to break a sweat.
Our specially curated hosting packs!
Our Merry Mix pack contains one bubbly, one white wine and two red wines, an all-rounded pack to serve every guest!
Our Revelry Reds pack is an all red wine pack. It contains four bottles of smooth, spicy reds for all your red wine loving guests.
Add either or both to get your party planning started!