Wine Themed Parties

Here are Some Fun Ideas for Wine Themed Parties

Region Specific Dinners

Spanish
Sherries and wines with tapas and Paella.
Paella is a traditional Spanish dish that works well for large groups. Below you will find a great recipe from the Culinary Institute of America Cookbook. I love this dish with Bajoz Tinta de Toro Crianza; a Spanish Temperanillo-style wine that is very reasonably priced.

Paella
10 Chicken pieces (thighs and drumsticks)
24 oz. chicken stock

30 clams, fresh, cleaned
30 mussels, fresh, cleaned
30 shrimp, 21-25 count, peeled,deveined
8 oz. chopped garlic
8 oz. onion, 1 inch dice
1 oz. olive oil
8 oz. red pepper, 1 inch dice
8 oz. chorizo, cooked & sliced
8 oz. green pepper, 1 inch dice
8 oz. tomato, peeled, seeded, 1” dice
1 1/2 lb. converted rice
6 oz. Niçoise (black) olives, pitted
6 oz. picholine (green) olives, pitted
to taste salt
to taste saffron, crushed (I use about 6 threads)
4 oz. scallions, sliced

Brown the chicken in olive oil. Transfer chicken to a baking pan: reserve oil. Roast chicken in a 375* oven until it’s done. Saute the vegetables in the reserved oil. Add the rice and season with saffron and salt. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and place it in a 400* oven. Cook for 8 minutes. Place the clams and mussels on top of the rice, cover and return to the oven for 4 minutes. Add the shrimp, chorizo and tomatoes. Return th pan to the oven until the shrimp is cooked through and all the ingredients are very hot. Garnish with olives and scallions.

Tapas are small plates of food that can be something as simple as cubes of ham or olives to more elaborate fare like flash fried sardines or perhaps mussels cooked with tomatoes. With these, try a tumbler of Fino or Manzanilla Sherry over ice with a twist of lemon.

Italian Feast
Have pastas and a myriad of sauces and wines to match. Light cream sauces with crisp Italian whites like Gavi or Verdeho; tomato based sauces with a Chianti and heavier meat sauces with a Super Tuscan (a blend of Sangiovese and Merlot).

“Brown Bag” dinner
All guests bring a bottle of wine in a brown bag. Everyone tastes and then picks a favorite. Then the wines are unveiled. It’s always a surprise to find that the most popular wines are not always the most expensive. Choose a theme, like white wine under $15, Blended reds (like Claret, Meritage or Cotes du Rhone) or unusual varietals (like Mueller Thurgau, Vernaccia, Carignon, etc.)

Bottom Line
Whatever your theme, try to choose foods that will compliment the wines. When in doubt, serve uncomplicated foods like a selection of cheeses from around the world with different colors and textures, simply grilled meat or fish and “unfettered” sides. Let the wines be the focus.


As an aside, I just had the pleasure of dining with Michael Mondavi last week. Twelve of us in the hospitality industry had lunch at Ruth’s Chris downtown. Mr. Mondavi was in town to talk about his new wine venture, Folio Wine Company. Just a few wineries in his new “family” of wines are Belvedere, Luce, Marchesi de’Frescobaldi and Bradford Mountain. It was fascinating to listen to this man talk about his passion for wine and his family’s winemaking history. One thing that he said that stands out in my mind is that we need to “take the mystery out of wine and leave the magic.” Truer words were never spoken.

L. Cunningham
A Woman on Wine