How many guests?

How many guests are you having and how many do you anticipate to be drinking wine. I would usually cater for approximately half a bottle or one bottle per head. If the party is at lunchtime, people tend to have less wine, at an evening soiree, you can expect people to have a little more.

Type of party

Different types of party will have different wine requirements. Is it formal or informal? If it is fairly informal, your guests might bring a bottle with them. Are you offering just drinks and maybe some canapes, or are you serving a meal, how many courses are you having? Do you need wine for each course or would you rather a red and a white wine that will carry you through the meal.

Food offering

Ensure that you are pairing wines that will complement and enhance your dishes, we can always help you with this, if you would like some recommendations. Otherwise, classic wines like Macon Uchizy or Perrin Cotes du Rhone will go well with a wide variety of dishes and they are wines that most people know and love. We refer to them as ‘Friends at the table’.

Wine selection

What is your budget? it is a good idea to have a budget in mind for the total you want to spend on wine and/or per bottle of wine. We can then suggest the best possible wines to suit your budget. Sparkling wine or Champagne is a great arrival drink for your guests to get the party started. Usually, most people will have a glass of fizz. Then they will move onto other wines or other drinks. We would suggest offering a zero-alcohol option like Cielo Zero Sparkling. For after dinner, or end of evening drinks, ensure you have some port, sherry and/or digestif options.

Glassware

For large gatherings, one size can fit all – use a standard white wine glass. If you are serving Champagne or Sparkling wine, this really needs to be served in a flute glass. This will preserve the bubbles and keep your fizz, fizzing for longer. If you are having a smaller group, it might be appropriate to use a different glass for red and white wine. Red wine glasses will usually be bigger to allow the wine to open up.

Ice buckets

To keep your sparkling and white wines chilled at the table, you might find ice buckets or chillers a necessity. For a more informal party you could make up a large chiller bin with 2-3 bags of ice, add a little water to loosen up the ice and a bit of salt to keep the ice chilled for longer. If your party is during a cold spell, keep the white and sparkling wines outside and save a bit of fridge space.

Wine accessories

Check you have a couple of waiters friends corkscrews to hand. They do have a tendency to disappear. Wine jewellery is a fun idea, so you don’t loose your glass over the evening, or drink from somebody else’s glass. Wine pouring discs can be useful, these allow for a clean pour and no drips on your white table cloth.