Wine & Food Themed Holiday Parties

It’s that time of year when big bash parties are in full swing.  But maybe it’s time to consider hosting a simple wine and food themed evening with some of your wine-loving friends.  Here's just a few wine-minded ideas...

Vino & Fromage Party

Gather together some unusual cheeses and wines, and enjoy an evening tasting sensation.  You could theme the evening with aged cheeses and aged wines, all red wines with cheese, all whites and cheese, or just dessert wines and cheese. 

Once you’ve decided on your theme, gather your six or eight best pairings, some bread, fruits, and crackers.  Then grab a few small blackboards.  Place the cheese on decorative cheese leaves, and write the name of the cheese beside it. List optional wine parings there for others to try.  By the end of the evening, you may have many more pairing ideas than when you started

The basic pairing ideas for cheese and wine:  Pair a salty cheese with a sweet wine (dessert), a creamy cheese with a wine with acidity (white), and a hard cheese with a bolder, more tannic wine (red).

Try these to get started:

Take aged Gouda and pair with a Zinfandel or Barbera, something full bodied but not oaky so the cheese’s sweet yet salty flavors shine through.  If you’re pairing with white wine, try a Chardonnay or Riesling.

An aged Bleu cheese; Gorgonzola, Roquefort, or Blue Stilton are all quite audacious, and can pair well with a dessert wine such as a Port, Sherry, or Madeira. Or, go for a bold Cabernet or Zinfandel pairing and see what develops.

Munster is a soft cheese from France with a strong flavor.  It will pair well with Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel.  But don’t confuse it with Muenster cheese, an American white cheese that is much milder in flavor, and used more as a melting cheese.

Cheddar cheese is a great wine accompaniment.  Pair a mild cheddar with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Chardonnay, even Champagne. Try a sharp cheddar with Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc,

Cabernet, or Rioja.

For goat cheese, serve the Blancs - Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Fume Blanc.

Holiday Movie Night

Invite a few friends over and catch up on some old holiday classics.  Pull out the movie treats - popcorn, potato chips, and pretzels.  Sweet and salty reigns for this tasting! Here are just a few wines to consider:

For plain chips look to unoaked whites like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio.  Want to take it to the top?  Try a sparkling wine or Champagne - perfect with plain, salty potato chips. 

Popcorn can be a difficult match but I love it with Vidal, Chenin Blanc, or a sparkling wine.  Nice, crisp, and clean flavors.

Pretzels go with more than beer.  Try with Pinot Noir, or a Lambrusco. A lotta crunch and a little salt can go a long way.

Retro Wine & Cheese Fondue Party

It is the Holidays - so do something totally different and host a cheese fondue party!  Gather up some crusty, dense breads, various cubed cheeses, and veggies, and check out the internet for some great fondue recipes. 

Fondue sets can be purchased, but to really be retro, check with older friends and relatives who may have some retired to the attic or basement.

Lean more toward wines with some body; Merlot, Zinfandel, and Malbec for reds; Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling or Gewurztraminer for whites.  These will stand up better to the dense breads and melting cheeses speared on that tiny fork. And remember to pair the red wines with the pungent cheeses, and the whites with creamier cheeses.

Sensual Chocolate & Wine Tasting

This party can be a true tasting adventure.  The key is to match the nuances of the flavors in the wines and chocolates.  Darker chocolates go better with full-bodied wines, lighter chocolates with lighter wines.  Start with the lighter versions and work up to the deep, dark, and brooding.

Begin with a sip of wine and let it fill your mouth.  Next, bite off a small piece of chocolate and allow it to melt on your tongue.  Taste the wine again and let the flavors meld together.

Dark chocolates (70% to 100% cacao) go well with Merlot, Malbec, Zinfandel, and Syrah.  Pairing the heavy chocolate flavor with full-bodied wine is the key.

Semi sweet chocolates (50% to 69% cacao) pair nicely with Beaujolais, Merlot, and Port.

Milk chocolate is mild and sweet, and an easy match with wine.  Try with Pinot Noir, Riesling, or a dessert wine like a Port or Sherry.

White Chocolate is actually not a chocolate but a confection made up of sugar, milk and cocoa butter.  Regardless, it pairs well with Gewürztraminer, Riesling, or Champagne.

Now, call some friends, grab some food and wine, and kick back this weekend – Stop all of the rushing around for just a while and just enjoy the holidays!

~ Joy

Wine Furniture For the Wine Fanatics on Your List

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With less than 20 shopping days to go, here’s some wine appropriate gift ideas for the frugal or the crafty.  Last week we looked at gifts made from wine corks, this week, a bit more of a challenge – wine furniture.

Wine Glass Chandelier – (Electrical Project)

A sparkling, yet functional gift any wine lover would use.  The size of the chandelier will depend on the size of the wine rack you use.  Some will hold 16 glasses, some 40, some 76 – it depends how many glasses you have - or want to have...

If you are planning to replace a current hanging light, leave the wires and bare bulb in place.  You can then suspend the wine rack by attaching chains and anchoring them to the ceiling plate of the former light. 

Once you’ve made sure the bulb works, hang wine glasses from the rack and enjoy some vino ambient lighting with dinner.   Added Benefit:  You’ll never have to hunt for a wine glass again…..

Wine Racks – (Building Project)

There are so many options to consider when making a wine rack – size, number of bottles it will hold, shape, and design.  Just remember that the corks must be kept wet when the bottles are stored, one end must be a bit lower so the wine will rest against the cork.

You can make a box-type wine rack by squaring up four boards and attaching lattice panels on the front and back of the box.  Or by forming an X inside the box with two boards.

You can also join five same sized boards, which have been notched so that the boards slide together and create an interesting, artsy shape.

A more free style wine rack can be made from two pieces of finished and stained wood that has curved metal holders attached for the bottle to rest in.

If you’re a true woodworker, check out Ron Hazelton’s Home Improvement Online @ http://www.ronhazelton.com/projects/how_to_make_a_wine_rack

Just remember to stock that rack with a few bottles before gift-giving ;)

Wine Bar Barrel – (Building Project)

For the next two projects, you can use a wine barrel, whisky barrel, bourbon barrel – whatever suits your tastes.  A great source of barrels, and ideas, is Kentucky Barrels @ http://www.kentuckybarrels.com/uses.html

You might also check with your local winery, or distillery to see if any barrels have come to the end of their usefulness.

The wine bar barrel requires the barrel, a saw to cut the door frame, two or three door hinges, shelf holders to stabilize the shelves and the weight they will bear, and the three round glass shelves to fit inside.

If you want to go a step further and make the bar a dining area too, find a round table top, cut a hole in it and let a small part of the barrel top come through.  Pull up some chairs and toast to good times.

Wine Barrel Coffee Table – (Building Project)

The words, “wine barrel coffee table” may bring back memories of the 1970’s recycling craze, but if done with some flair, this can be quite a conversation-starter.

Start with a barrel that has been cut in half vertically. Measure and cut two wooden feet or holders for the table to rest in.

You can then attach a pre-manufactured table top, or craft one from several boards.  Another option, if your barrel has some nice wine staining inside, would be to cover it with heavy glass.

But my all-time favorite wine barrel pieces – a barrel stave love seat and stave chairs.  What an excellent place to sip wine with friends on a summer’s evening.

Now, pour a glass of your favorite wine, sit back, review that gift list, and Enjoy!!

~ Joy

I’m Dreaming of a Wine Christmas – Corked for the Holidays

It’s time to relax, have a little fun, and get ready for the holidays.  For the next three weeks, we’ll take a look at what you can do with the other parts of that bottle of wine.  Today, let’s start at the top with the cork.

If you recycle your corks, you are a true Eco-Wine Lover.  Kudos to you, and please disregard this.  But, if you seem to end up with a drawer full of them, here’s a few holiday ideas to help eliminate the cork clutter and, maybe, get a few gift ideas out of the way for the wine lovers on your list.

First, decide what you’d like to create.  Options include a wine cork wreath, cork bulletin board or trivet, cork wine tree, and cork bottle tags. Next, gather your corks and a hot glue gun.   Now, pour a glass of your favorite wine and follow the instructions from the options below.

Wine Cork Wreath – 

Start with a wreath form from your local craft store.  Attach the corks with the hot glue gun. Place them in a random fashion, covering the wreath. When you’re finished, attach a holiday bow and hang.

Wine Cork Bulletin Board or Trivet –

Begin by gluing the corks together. You can glue them in a parquet pattern of two up and two down, or all in a straight line, end-to-end and side-to-side.  The size of the bulletin board or trivet depends on how many corks you have.

For a trivet, instead of gluing the corks together lying side by side, you could cut them in half and glue them standing up, leaving some space between them to create a fancier pattern.  If you use this method, you can even create some matching wine coasters.

Once glued in a pattern, glue the corks to a board that will provide a sturdy backing for them.  If you’re creating a bulletin board, you might want to put a frame around the corks.  If you’ve crafted a trivet, you could consider small plastic feet so the wood does not scratch the counter surface it sets on.

Wine Cork Tree – 

Arrange various corks in the shape of a Christmas tree and glue together.  Check the ends of the corks – many red wines will have already provided a nice coloring to them.  Others, you may wish to give a light coating of green food coloring to. Glue two corks together to attach to the bottom as a trunk, or cut the top off a champagne cork and use the thick part as the trunk and the round part for the top of the tree.  Attach a festive ribbon to complete your wine cork tree.

Cork Wine Bottle Tags - 

Purchase sheets of cork from your local craft store.  Use a paper wine bottle tag or bottle necker as a guide and trace onto the sheet of cork.  Cut the tag shape out carefully and attach a ribbon to the top.  If this is a gift, include a sharpie pen for writing on the bottle tag – and a bottle of wine to get them started.

Once you’ve finished, sit back and enjoy a glass of wine as you ponder how you ended up with that many wine corks anyway… ; D

Enjoy!

~ Joy