Thanksgiving is a great food and wine day. It provides us oenophiles a chance to share great wine with a great meal. It also is the official start of the holiday season.
There are a few precious weeks left in the year to spend time with friends and family. Let’s talk about three particularly great ways to end the year. First are holiday functions, second is gift giving opportunities and last is New Year’s Eve. Let me walk you towards 2016 with some advice for these year end wine milestones.
Everyone has been to the cliche holiday party with bad food, water downed eggnog and less than great wine. So the best way to avoid the failure of this type of party, think of four letters; B Y O B!
Bringing your own bottles is a great way to share your love of wine with friends and family. Offer to bring some “holiday cheer.” My recommendation for this event is to go with something sparkling. If you have the wallet for it, a French champagne is always a great choice. Pick a non vintage and you can spend $40 a bottle and get a good bottle and if you want to up the ante and spend $60 or more, buy a rosè champagne and impress the revelers. If your party and price tag don’t fit champagne, two good and more affordable alternatives are Spanish cava or Italian prosecco. Both of those fit in the $20-30 range for a very good sparkler.
If you want to give the gift of grapes, here are few options for you to pick from based on both price and the sophistication of the recipient. Here are three good options for you. If the person is newbie to the world of Bacchus, try taking one step up for them. If they like Chardonnay from California, try a French white burgundy, if they like entry level red wine, try a red French Bordeaux or a Barolo from Italy. Every person who loves wine has had that one transcendent wine experience, being the person that shared that bottle with a person is a gift for both parties.
If your desire is to give a great gift without taking out a second mortgage, try something from the wine service category. A cork screw made from old vine stock, a nice decanter or even a champagne bucket make great gifts for a person with a working knowledge of wine. These gifts tend to be anywhere from $25 and up depending on what you choose. My strong advice is to avoid glassware as gifts, unless you are willing to buy at least 6; that tends to be service minimum.
The third gift area is reserved for folks with a strong wine knowledge. I would put anyone on this list if you feel that they “know” more about wine than you. It may only be a perception, but it definitely pushes you to an anxious state to buy them wine, the best gift for that person is a wine experience. This can be as inexpensive as a tasting event at your local wine store (usually free) or a book on wine, $20 and up to a wine dinner at a local restaurant, generally $100 a person and up. I enjoy going to tastings as it gives you a chance to “rub elbows” with other wine geeks! It also lets you spend time with the person if you go the wine shop route.
So that leads us to New Year’s Eve and what are great ways to have wine help ring in the new year. A few tips if you are planning to host a party that night, go big early! By that I mean, if you buy a great champagne, serve it first. Everyone will be better able to enjoy the great gift you are sharing before midnight and you can really not go wrong. I would suggest any seafood starter (almost) will pair well here. Shrimp cocktails, oysters Rockefeller or even caviar, will make a memorable start to your soirée. My second piece of advice if you are planning a sit down meal, do as much cooking in advance as you can. Elegant New Year’s Eve parties require lots of planning, so try a menu of items you have made at least once before. My last piece of advice is to be a safe host. People tend to enjoy more wine on this evening than most any other all year, so plan a ride or a room for your guests. It is the best way to host a party and the guests will be grateful for your gesture. If you are the guests at one of these parties enjoy the food, drink and company and leave the driving to a sober person.
I would be honored to share some recipes and wine pairings to anyone who leaves a comment or message on Facebook. Happy holidays to all of you and here’s a toast to 2016!