Wine Facts

Ideas for Dinner Entertaining

What wine do I serve with dinner?

When you’re entertaining family and friends for dinner, it can be difficult to decide on which wines to serve. With such a variety of foods being served, and so many guests with each their own preferences, how can you be sure to serve wines that please everyone? Here are a few helpful suggestions:

With appetizers
If you’re serving only one wine, choose a good sparkling wine. They’re light, palate-cleansing and go with almost any appetizer. If you prefer to serve still wines, go with light unoaked styles with good acidity. Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc for whites, and Pinot Noir or Gamay for reds.
 

With a soup starter
Dry sherries go wonderfully with many soups. Their crisp, nutty flavours are a great complement to clear soups, vegetable purees or cream soups. Sherry also cleanses the palate and helps with digestion. 
 

With turkey or other poultry
Gewuztraminer is a classic match for turkey, because of its moderate sweetness and slight spiciness. Also consider off-dry Rieslings or dry Chenin Blanc. For reds (yes, you can have red wine with white meat!), light-to-medium fruity wines like Pinot Noir, Beaujolais or Baco Noir will do the trick. 
 

With red meats
With rare beef or prime rib, stick with Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet and Merlot. They have good fruit, balanced acidity and sufficient tannin to match the richness of the meat. If you’re serving grilled meats like sirloin, opt for a full-bodied Shiraz. Its notes of black pepper will nicely match the charred meat. Cabernet Franc or a medium-bodied Chianti, or even lightly oaked Chardonnay, will go well with pork roast. 
 

Dessert
You finish the meal with everyone’s favourite: dessert. The principle guideline with dessert wines is that the wine should be slightly sweeter than the dessert itself. Icewine or late-harvest Rieslings are great with most fruit-based dishes. For pumpkin pie or dessert containing nuts, serve a medium-sweet Olorosso or Amontillado sherry. To match richer desserts like cheesecake or cherries Jubilee, go with ruby Port. 

Author’s note: Notice how often I wrote the word “dessert”!
 

Please email us if we can help you in any way with your wine selections.
We can also make for you any of the above-mentioned wine in a very high quality, customized style.

Bon appétit!

Refreshing, Flavorful Rose Wines

Nothing beats a refreshing glass of rose wine with lunch or appetizers, on a warm sunny afternoon.
 
Often overlooked because of their reputation for being too sweet, rose (or blush) wines are a great complement to light summer foods and outdoor entertaining. Styles range from the dry, crisp rose of the south of France, to the semi-sweet White Zinfandel of California. Each style has its own appeal.
 
Rose wines are made from red grapes, using common varieties such as Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel. Since the color in red wine comes from the skins of the grapes, rose's get their color by leaving the fermenting grape juice in contact with the skins for only a very short period of time during the start of fermentation.

Rose's are best served chilled but can also be enjoyed at a slightly warmer temperature than most white wines, making them perfect for sipping on warm summer afternoons!