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At a party, make sure to have enough wine. Generally figure on pouring five servings from each bottle, and over the course of a 3-hour party, plan on serving each guest 3 glasses.
Do you chill wines? The answer is yes, but in varying degrees. White wine should be chilled to a few degrees warmer than standard refrigerator temperatures. So that means to take the wine out of the fridge a half hour or so before serving, so that it warms slightly. Red wines should be the temperature of a wine cellar—which is slightly cooler than room temperature. Put red wines in the fridge 45 minutes before serving, so they cool to about 62 degrees.
If you don't know where to start when it comes to wines, choose a young, fruity, crisp, low-alcohol wine. If you're a novice, or are serving wine to guests who are not familiar with wines, you may want to go with milder, easier-to-drink choices. White Zinfandel or other pinkish ("blush") wines are very smooth and easy to drink. Sweeter white wines such as Riesling and Gewürztraminer are milder than oaky whites like chardonnay and pinot grigio. For red wines, merlot and cabernet sauvignon are strong and hearty, while Shiraz, Pinot Noir and sangeovese are smoother with fewer of the bitter-tasting tannins that take some getting used to.
If you'd like suggestions on likely combinations, here are several ideas to keep in mind. First, consider the basic principles of taste when choosing a wine to serve with dinner.
Sourness: Match acidic wines with acidic meals. If you serve an acidic wine with a salad topped with an acidic salad dressing, the two will balance each other out. If you choose an acidic wine, serving it with acidic foods will help reduce the overall tartness of the meal.
Sweetness: If a food or dessert is sweeter than the wine, it will make the wine taste dry (which is wine talk for sour). Pair a sweet wine with a slightly less-sweet food or dessert.
Bitterness: Wine with a little bitterness takes the bitterness out of bitter foods. When served together the bitterness in the wine and the food balance out.
Saltiness: Acidity cuts the salty taste from foods. There are no salty table wines. However, a more acidic, low-alcohol wine goes great with salty foods.
A second rule of thumb is to match colors: red wine with red meat and white wine with white meat and fish. Choose a white wine like Chardonnay with chicken and white meats. Pair a Merlot or Shiraz with steak and other red meats. As mentioned earlier, however, the current trend is to break those long-standing rules, so if you have a white wine and a big, red steak, be brave and give it a try!
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Wine pairings can be intimidating. Unless you're a wine expert, it can be hard to know which wines enhance which foods. The good news is that most of the hard-and-fast rules are being cast aside. Many wine lovers now follow one simple guideline: use what you enjoy and don't fret about anything else!
