Wine and cheese go well together.
Wine and cheese tasting parties can be held at any time of year. Make sure the friends you invite are open to new tastes, enjoy conversation and maybe even be willing to take part in a related game.
Instructions
1. Figure out how much cheese, bread and wine to have at the party. For tasting purposes, one bottle of wine will serve eight people. By the time each guest has sipped wine from eight bottles, he will have had a half bottle. Eight different tastes are about the maximum anyone can drink and not have his judgment impaired. Two ounces of cheese can be served for each guest. You could serve eight wines with eight cheeses, or four wines and different cheeses.
2. Make sure the seating will allow the wines and cheeses to be accessible to everyone, whether sitting or standing. Give one glass for each guest. Place a jug of water and towels or napkins at one end of the table so your guests can rinse their glasses between tastings.
Red wines are best served at room temperature. Arrange your chilled wines together and then the reds. The order for tasting is to begin with the white wines and move on to the reds, from lightest to most full-bodied. Chill your white wines for no more than two hours before the party and draw the cork just before serving. This will assure optimum flavor.
3. Don't remove the rind from the cheeses or they will dry out, and it's best not to cut the cheese into bite sizes. Let each guest cut her own. Most cheese is at its peak flavor if it is left out for an hour at room temperature before serving. Some of the best combinations of cheese and wine are those from the same country. French wines taste wonderful with French cheeses. Swiss cheeses are delicious with cool white mountain wines. Roguefort is so robust in flavor it would overpower a light wine but is great with a mellow red Bordeaux wine. Pair your cheeses next to your wines. It also is best the have a bread, crisp and crusty, to accompany the cheeses.
4. Play a comparison game to open up the conversation and for the enjoyment of everyone. Have cards made up for everyone to check off their rating of each wine. Put the categories "color," "bouquet," "body" and "score" on the cards and explain they should rate on a scale of 1 to 4, from best to worst.
5. Pour the same amount of wine into each glass and have everyone hold their glasses to the light. Tell them to notice the color, which will range from a deep dark red to a light clear red, or from gold to straw color, and put a number for how the color appeals to them.
6. Have them gently swirl the wine around in the glass two or three times to release the fragrance or bouquet of the wine. Smell it: It might be fragrant or flowery, musky, or sweet and spicy. Is it a pleasant bouquet? Have everyone rate their opinion.
7. Have them taste the wine. It will be light, as if it could be gulped down, or heavy in your mouth, a wine for sipping and savoring. This quality is known as body. A wine with a full body will, with time, become mellow, as all of its component parts become balanced. If the wine is not old enough for drinking, it will taste "astringent," causing your mouth to pucker. If your white wine tastes acidic it means it is too old and past its peak. Again, have everyone put down a rating.
8. Have them total their points to see which wines were most highly and lowly rated.
Tags: each guest, Have them, before serving, have everyone, Make sure, room temperature, serve eight