Planning a Wine Tasting Menu

If you are new to this you could do a simple wine and cheese tasting party pairing Brie and Chardonnay, Riesling with Gouda or Cabecous Feuilles with Bordeaux.

You could throw a party based on one variety of wine such as flights of Bordeaux Reds with different food pairings to see how each variety is unmasked by the food pairing.

Go with what you know, KISS (keep it simple sexy) and study up. If you know very little about wine, don't let that stop you. A wine tasting party is a great place to start. There are many, many places to start learning- Start with the internet- there are sites where you can put in the food with its flavorings and it will automatically pair the wine for you. Read up. There are thousands of books about wine pairing, and finally visit a reputable wine store, not a commercial one but a small store preferably with a sommelier at the helm. Finally, don't forget to ask knowledgeable a friend for help.

If you love to cook you could throw a party with 3 or 4 acts, pairing flights of wine for each course on your menu. This could start off with good baked brie and several chardonnays , then on to a simple shell fish appetizer, like shrimp scampi baked in focaccia paired (see recipe below) with pino noirs or albarinos, filet mignon bites with a sampling of different Bordeaux wines such as Mouton-Cadet Bordeaux Rouge 2005 and finally dessert like crème brule paired with sauternes or champagne.

Remove the bias- never let your guests see what they are drinking until after the votes have come in- always leave your own biased vote out. Choose a variety of wines from different regions of the world. Choose a variety of price ranges. Throw in that "ah hah"moment from the great wine store down the street where they've discovered an unknown comparable that exceeds a more expensive wine.

Decide on a price range- in today's economy it's a good idea to keep your price range within your guests budget- when in Rome as they say- you really can't go wrong with a price range of 8.00 to 35.00 dollars a bottle. If most of your friends are middle income or stuck in the economic decline they'll be happy to know where they can buy that great bottle of wine for just $5.00.

Music- yes- music pairing is nice as well- I prefer classical music but this is how it works, when serving a bold pairing go with a bold piece or when serving a delicate pairing go with a delicate piece.

Loraine's Shrimp scampi topped with rosemary focaccia and crusted pecorino romano

Ingredients:

Half pound extra large shrimp (about 12)
6 T Butter
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
1 extra large lemon with nice peel
2 ounces pecorino romano cheese
Focacccia rosemary dough, make your own or buy it at the store.
Flour for rolling out dough

Instructions:

Peel and de-vein shrimp
Put a Tablespoon of butter on top of the shrimp
Put 3 shrimp in each cupcake holder.
Use your microplane to shred the garlic evenly over all six cups
Use your microplane to shred the lemon zest over all six cups

Now pour a little less than an ounce of champagne into each cup. Find a nice clean surface, spread flour over it.
Roll out the focaccia dough cut holes twice the size of cups. Continue to roll, thin out, and cut the dough until you have placed six pieces directly atop your shrimp mixture. By now the focaccia should have returned to about the size of the cup well. ) There is no need for perfection here or to try to pinch the edges down, we're free fallin'.

Grate enough cheese to make soft snowy mountains on top your focaccia and place in your pre-heated 375 Degree F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the focaccia is nice and crispy looking and brown.

Once done let it cool a bit and then place in individual appetizer bowls with the three shrimp peeking out from under the focaccia, spooning as much of the heavenly broth into each bowl as possible. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.