Do you find it hard to choose the right wine for a special dinner or event?  We have a checklist of particular things to look for in a good wine.  This should help you make a great choice in your next wine purchase.

1. The Whites: When your guests first arrive and are enjoying the appetizers a white wine is always the perfect choice. They are commonly lighter and drier and leave the palate fresh for the main entree’. Some of the whites such as the Chardonnay can also be introduced during a rich dinner such as “Coq a Vin”, with its beautiful creamy wine sauce. Another suggestion is the Sauvignon Blanc that is excellent served with a first course salad or shrimp cocktail or even a plate of delicate fish.

When toasting that special event in your life or the life of a loved one the whites are a perfect choice. The more common toasting wine for weddings and anniversaries is of course the more elegant choice of Champagne.

2. Red Wines: A good red wine such as merlot wine is great anytime, but when considering which wine to serve with a particular meal, a red is normal chosen for the heartier meals of beef, pork or lamb.  A good Merlot, Burgundy, or Cabernet would all be perfect choices.

Oregon produces a great Pinot Noir.  This wine is a combination of plum, vanilla, and blackberry.  Because of its light and fruity flavor it could also be served after dinner.

The peppery flavor of the Shiraz would be a great accompaniment to spicy Mexican or Italian meal.  This is another wine that would also go well with a meal of beef or pork.

A Chianti is a perfect choice for a hearty lasagna or spaghetti dinner.  You do not have to spend a lot to get a good Chianti. Who can resist those cute little bottles wrapped in the basket weave?

When serving beef, either roasted, braised or barbecued, a hearty Burgundy would be the perfect choice.

As you can see from the suggestions above you may wish to have both a white wine and a red wine on hand when hosting a dinner. Some guests will most likely pick the wine they prefer and stay with that choice for the entire evening. Another may choose a white for the start of the evening and finish with a red. So always be prepared.

If wine is your hobby you may want to consider producing your own wine at home.  There are several fruit wine recipes that are not complicated turn out a great wined to serve with desserts or chilled on a hot summer afternoon.  Look for some recipes at a it wine making site online.

Post from: Sterling Silver Goblet

Selecting The Right Wine

It is nice to know that there are countries that actually honor the existence of pairing wine with cheese, the perfect combination. Somewhere in Canada there lies a convention that is purely devoted to cheese and wine as a beautiful pair served during special occasions and in formal table settings. Conventions like these are not new and not that rare, therefore it is apparent that people back in the early dates till the present has the connotation that wine really is perfect for cheese. Wine tasting can never be considered good without the presence of cheese. 

Facts which are nice to realize about cheese and wine pairing is that the combination was famous and has survived about four thousand years of aging. They are indeed one long-lasting couple. It is evident in both products that they are made from substances which are living and improves through the passing of time. Both came from undying fermentation stages. Now, with region, soil and climate combined, wine and cheese have come a long way to be called as the perfect pair.

Some traditionalists suggest that cheese and wine should be paired according to the strength and region. It’s purpose is to prevent over empowerment of the other. A separate reason is the levels of tannin present. Compared to white wines, red wines have considerably higher concentrations which affect the characteristics of a good pair. Thus, it has been accepted as convention that wines that contains a higher level of tannin will pair better to cheese categories which are considered hard.

For those cheeses that are creamier, a wine that has a higher dose of acidity is more advised. For fruitier, crispier wine, fresher and whiter cheeses are embossed together. Rich cheese along with a heavier content can be partnered with wine having light reds or even in the name of Chardonnay. For those who fancy wine served during desserts or with sweets, a veined, strong cheese is more appropriate to tingle your taste buds.

Some of the examples that you can follow in choosing the best wine and cheese combination are as follows:

• Cabarnet Franc can go with no rind, Munster or Gouda.

• Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc are wonderfully paired with cheeses from goats such as Feta, Emmental or even Averti.

• Grenache or Bordeaux is well paired to the Tilsit, Parmigiano, or even Cantal which are all oiled.

• Complexity of Syrah will go fine with Chaput or Gubbeen.
• Sauternes will go together with Mascarpone or Cambonzola.

Cheese can either be from different sources like the famous cow’s milk, ewe or sheep’s milk and goat’s milk. Furthermore, traditionalists are usually favoring the rules of wines and cheeses which are full-bodied. For the radicals, experimentation favors the alternative and zesty ones. For the anarchists, there are no rules to be stuck with.

If you would want to know the status of wines from all over the globe, there are sites and brochures which indicate wine and cheese as the best pair in every successful wine featuring occasion. Whatever is running inside your mind at present, it is pertinent that for wine to taste as exquisite, as any one expects, it should be served with cheese.

Pairing wine and cheese is a classic. Being consumed together for thousands of years is enough reason to believe that wine tasting wouldn’t be complete without cheese’s presence.

Post from: Sterling Silver Goblet

Cheese And Wine Considered As A Beautiful Pair

If you plan on hosting a wine tasting party but you don’t have any idea on where to start, then you have to remember that there are quite a lot of ways on how you can start the party. There are 6 wine tasting party themes that you could try which is guaranteed to give success to a wine tasting party.

Wine tasting parties are a lot of fun and it is relatively easy for people to plan and host. If you are starting to plan on hosting a wine tasting party, then you need to keep in mind that you should first choose a theme for your party.

So, six theme ideas are here that you can use for your wine tasting party.

The first is called the Horizontal Wine Tasting. In this kind of theme, you will only focus on one wine variety from a single year. Even though, each wine that you will get there comes from different producers and multiple vineyards. For example, you can focus on a 2000 Chenin Blanc from five or seven different wine producers or wineries.

In here, you will consider whether you like to taste wines from the same region or you want to mix it up by tasting the same type of wine that comes from different wineries, such as from California, Australia or Italy.

The second is called Vertical Wine Tasting. Here, the wine tastings are conducted by tasting just one variety of wine. For example, you will only concentrate on tasting the Chenin Blanc from the same producer. However, the wines will be in different vintages or years. For example, you can taste the Chenin Blanc from one winery from years 2000, 2002, and 2004.

This will show to the tasters, which are your guests, on how subtle or dramatic a wine probably change every year.

Priceless Wine Tasting is another great theme for your wine tasting party. You have to remember that people normally assume that wines that are more expensive taste better than cheaper ones. Although this may be true, you can try testing their palate by withholding the price of the variety of wine you have available for tasting. By just tasting, your guests should determine which wine is worth 120 dollars and which one is worth 10 dollars.

Price Point Wine Tasting is another great wine tasting party theme that you may want to try. Here, the wines featured will be in a similar price. The goal here is to keep the wines comparable in a baseline price which is quite flexible for you to organize when it comes to buying the wine.

Another theme is called the Big Eight Wine Tasting. Here, you will get your guests work their way through eight different kinds of wines and determine which one they prefer. This will also give your guests, particular the ones that are not very “in” to wines a new appreciation for the different kinds of wine.

The big eight wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, and Pinot Noir for red wines, and Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Grigio for white wines.

Lastly, the Blind Wine Tasting theme can also work for your party. Just take any of the themes mentioned before, remove the labels from the bottles or put the bottles in wine bags and you have a blind wine tasting party that will surely be a lot of fun for your guests. The fact that your guests will not have any ideas on what wine they taste, it will definitely be interesting to know which kind of wine they prefer without looking at the label or at the price of the wine.

These are the six wine tasting themes that will surely make your wine tasting part a success.

Post from: Sterling Silver Goblet

6 Theme Ideas That Will Work For Your Wine Tasting Party