Advice for hosting wine tasting

Chris, You are gravitating toward exactly the sort of event we prefer these days. Because I like to match food with wine, it makes life easier when I control both food and wine selections. You can simply rotate the hosting duties to spread the responsibility. And you are right to consider the logistics of preparing food in the midst of the tasting. I'd suggest making the main course a simple grilled or broiled red meat, either lamb for the Bdx or marinated steaks for the Chianti. To accompany these, choose the starch and vegetables of your choice, but make sure the oven is free for the meat when the time arises. Alternatively, you could serve a braised red meat done on the stove top and cooking during the appetizers. (You might want to serve a light white wine or sparkling wine early on to keep people's palates fresh). It also makes a lot of difference if you're doing this solo or with a partner. When Jean and I do these events, one person serves as host while the other takes care of kitchen duties. If you don't have that luxury, do keep it as simple as possible to avoid stress.

HTH Mark Lipton

Heaven forbid anyone actually DRINKS the wine with a real meal...

Chris Sprague wrote:

Our wine club has been running for 25 years, ( Yes I know I am getting old), we have monthly tastings and a dinner once a year. We have, IMHO, got it down to a fine art. Venue roatates through the biggest houses, usually medics or dentists!!!

So for the annual dinner

We are 12, so this is how its split up.

First a wine subcomittee of three. We have provided our cellar list to the gruppenfuhrer, so we know whats available. The wine is chosen FIRST.

Member one does canapes with 2 or 3 bottles of fine fizz, gets us in the mood.

Member two does a simple starter, usually with 2 bottles of GOOD white burg.

Members three and four do the main course, sometimes member five helps out. Usually 2 magnums of fine red, but not OTT.

Member six does the cheese. Very simple taken with the best specimen wines. First growths etc or Grand cru burg, two bottles only

Members seven and eight do the puds, two bottles of fine stickies

More cheese and port and armagnac and eaux de vie etc,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,hic

Member nine and the wine sub commitee do clearing away and general dogsbody.

No partners are involved. We have an informal bash in the summer

We are wine club, not a dining club, so the food is light and not too serious.

The next year, we all rotate.

The costs are split between us, real cost for the food and replacement cost for the wine of similar stature, eg 82 Pichon replaced by the cost of 2000.

HTH

JT

in article snipped-for-privacy@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, Chris Sprague at snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.net wrote on 12/13/05 6:52 AM:

It may be less formal than you'd like but we attend a semi-annual tasting event at some friends that is always enjoyed by all. The friend has a 7-800 bottle cellar and likes to thin it out twice year, so he provides all the wine. In fact, he gets a bit miffed if anyone brings wine with them. Not suggesting you do that, but it will still work if guests bring their own. He is all about red wine, though, with the red/white ratio about 25:1; and 100% New World wines.

Attendees are asked to bring gourmet 'appetizers' only, but some bring what is really a main course item. It is NOT especially 'pairing' oriented, and with a dozen couples, it's quite a spread. The last one was two weeks ago and the table included a terrific cheese plate, charcuterie assortment, 'make your own' carnitas tacos, baked ham, chicken skewers, grilled sausages w/peppers, home-made pizza. As most people live nearby, and with many cold items, kitchen involvement is minimal. A lot of chocolate desserts too.

Must have been a good evening because, following the Caymus, Silver Oak, Domaine Serene, and many mid-range CA and AZ/NZ reds, he surprised us with a bottle of Peter Michael Pinot. His wife then put a lock on the storage unit with the Harlan Estate and Williams Selyem in it. Darn!!!!!

May he live, prosper, and repeat often.

1. Make sure MADD or SADD doesn't gets wind of your events and has the police near by.
2. Know the laws of your State and keep notices sotto voce so the State will not fine you.

1. Take out insurance against physical injury or God forbid someone is involved in an accident.

2. Keep the name of your lawyer & bail close by.

1. Screen all food brought into your house. Guests should certify that meats, poultry & fish were properly cooked and from grain fed animals. If you keep "kosher" makes sure an Orthodox Rabbi inspects. We recommend Reb Shmul Soulkawitz of Temple Beth Yomama or one of his associates, Winkim. Blinkem and Murray.

You don't mention whether you have easily arranged seating for 10-12 people, but that, along with the wine interest level of the gang, is what governs when wine is the point of the entertainment at my house. I tend to split my acquaintance into wine lovers and non-wine lovers for these purposes, and make the larger groups more buffet oriented than the smaller, sit-down dinner events. The larger groups get asked to bring appetizers or desserts along a culinary theme, and I plan a four course meal plus cheeses for the smaller groups.

I am a big fan of doing dishes ahead, like ice cream or sorbet, all-day braised stews, appetizers that can be done one or two days before and then just popped into the oven or under the broiler, etc., with one dish getting most of the at-the-moment attention. Having people bring food (unless you know in advance that their ability in the kitchen and their taste is trustworthy) can be disappointing sometimes. Several years ago, someone actually brought a bag of Cheetos to a tasting with the theme of Alsace. No, he doesn't get invited any more. And I long ago learned to pour the wine selectively, after a guest announced that he wanted some ice cubes for my cellar temperature 1974 Heitz Cabernet.

We have also had fabulous smaller group meals during Sunday afternoon cookathons, which spaces out the alcohol use quite a bit. One party last month was convened specifically to work out a scallop/sake/herb recipe clipped from a magazine as the starting point. Were the scallops better coated with crumbs or fine cornmeal? Did they really need to be coated in fresh, chopped herbs too, or could the herbs be put into the sauce later? Was a Sauvignon Blanc or a Riesling better with the dish? Eight of us worked it out all afternoon with five pounds of scallops and had ice cream for dessert.

Please let us know how your meal went!

I'd call that an unqualified success! ;^D

And it's absolute chaos in the kitchen, as

...well, except for _that_ part. :^/

Tom S

Holy cow, cutecat. You got me going. Where can I find the answers to the questions above? Love those scallops.

-Bruce

I'm with those that suggested food where the main work is done earlier. For the Bordeaux, I'd think of leg of lamb. Once it's roasting, only work is carving. If you were doing the Chiantis, maybe something like rabbit cacciatore (if the crowd isn't bunny squeamish). A braised meat (pot roast, or a brasato type dish) is also easy and versatile with lots of reds.