How to Host a Wine and Cheese Party

A wine and cheese party is an ideal get together for friends and family that can be lots of fun yet relatively simple affairs to plan and host that need not involve great expense. A versatile social event, they can be as elegant or as casual as you choose to make them. A wine and cheese party works equally well as a festive holiday gathering or as a pleasant get together with friends or family on any occasion.

Planning

If you are considering hosting a wine and cheese party the planning begins with deciding on what kind of party you wish to host. Whether you are considering a formal or informal affair will dictate your choices with regards to dinnerware and stemware. Next compile a guest list. A group of eight to ten guests is a good number for this type of event which will keep it manageable with regard to size and expense but large enough to ensure plenty of enjoyable conversation. Prepare and mail out themed invitations at least a week in advance. Have sufficient glassware on hand or plan to rinse glasses between wine varieties so that your guests can have a clean glass for each different wine to be sampled.

Shopping

With regard to wines, choose a variety of whites and reds to maximize the number of pairings with cheese varieties. Three or four different varieties of wine and cheeses should be more than adequate. Wines can be purchased at anytime but hold off on purchasing the cheeses until the day before your party to ensure freshness. Also consider picking up some fresh crusty bread from your favorite bakery, some good quality crackers, walnuts and even some dark chocolate. All of these represent effective choices for cleansing the palate between tastings of several different wines.

Wines

These days you can find many excellent wines for under $15 per bottle and some for even a lot less. It isn't necessary to be a wine connoisseur to choose great wines. Simply visit a local wine dealer who will have a knowledgeable person available to help you with your selections. You can also check out reviews at sites like Wine.com for recommendations. Some common white wine varieties include Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Chardonnay. Some choices for red wines are Merlot, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.

Cheeses

There are hundreds of varieties of cheese styles and flavors. There is no real right and wrong when it comes to pairing cheese and wine so feel free to experiment and explore to find the combinations you like best. That being said, you can visit Oregon Wines.com for suggestions by wine varieties or cheese types that can help you get started in selecting cheeses that pair well with certain wines.

Serving Wine and Cheese

Cheese should be served at close to room temperature to maximize flavor so remove the cheese from the refrigerator about 30 to 60 minutes before serving. You can really use just about any type of plate to serve cheese, but traditionally a wooden or stone cheese boards are used to maximize presentation. Keep the cheeses separate so that the flavors don't comingle and provide a separate knife for cutting each variety of cheese.

The complexity of wine with respect to aroma and flavor are very temperature dependent and that is why wine should be served at appropriate temperature. Never serve any wine straight from the refrigerator as the temperature will be too cold. Red wines are best served at 60 to 65° F. Full bodied white wines like Chardonnay should be served at a temperature in the range of 50 to 60° F while lighter, fruitier varieties like Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc are best served at cooler temperatures as low as 45° F. Ice buckets are a good means of regulating wine temperature and bottles can either be placed in an ice bucket to chill or removed to warm. Having a sense for what temperature wine is at to begin with will help you determine when it is at the optimum temperature for serving. A wine cellar generally keeps wine at a constant 55° F. Refrigerated wine temperatures will be between 35 - 40° F and the temperature of an ice bucket filled with ice and water will be near 32° F.

Sources:

"Oregon Wine and Cheese Pairing". Oregon Wines.com. July 22, 2009.

"Wine Basics". Wine.com. July 22, 2009.

"Wine Temperature Chart". Wine Intro.com. July 22, 2009.