Grappling with the Grape: Wine Tasting Party

Inspired by wine-tasting whilst on holiday in Southern France, sipping delicious local wines in the sunshine amongst beautiful scenery, I was keen to host my own wine-tasting party. What a perfect way to get everyone in the festive party mood!


Vineyard in Southern France

In homage to my recent travels, I decided on a French theme and to include both red and white wines.  Other possible themes could be a specific colour, grape variety or region. How about trying sparkling wine or port for a festive tasting? After confirming the guest list, I asked each person to bring a bottle – instructing them which colour to bring and from which region of France. This ensured we had a variety for the tasting. I also asked my guests to cover the label before arriving, so that I couldn’t cheat when setting up the bottles!

Next, I carefully wrapped up all the bottles, covering everything including the neck so that no-one could recognise their own. Tissue paper, newspaper or foil all work fine. Make sure you have everything to hand so you can wrap the wines quickly and get back to hosting.

Round 1: The Whites

First up were the white wines! These were served before the reds, since they are lighter and don’t leave a tannin aftertaste.

Each guest had a score card to fill in and was given the challenge of identifying the grape, region and price, before giving the wine marks out of 10. To help guess the grape, I provided a list of the varieties with a couple of words on how they taste (fruity, honey, oak etc.). To my surprise, this guide worked really well and helped lots of people to guess correctly! I had also added 2 ‘wild cards’ from different countries and asked people to try and spot them.

Bottles at the ready!

Using my (very) basic knowledge, I showed my guests how to identify the wine by its appearance, aroma and taste. Cue lots of very silly fish faces as we all had a go at sucking air into our mouths with the wine! Of course, we all needed extra measures to check the taste.

Serving canapés alongside the wine provided the perfect nibble in between tasters. Finger food is fun and sociable, as well as helping to line the stomach! Making your own canapés will really impress your guests and are much more appetising than stodgy, bland shop-bought ones. To complement the white wines, I served smoked salmon and cream cheese crostini, cranberry and stuffing filo bites for a festive touch, and mozzarella, basil and tomato topped crackers (see below for crostini recipe). All of them went down a treat, especially the salmon. Luckily I’d made plenty!

Really bring your canapés to life by designing interesting flavours and spending extra time on presentation. Using an assortment of different bases and a variety of colourful toppings increases the visual appeal, making them too tempting to resist!

Round 2: The Reds

Next up were the red wines, which we moved on to with gusto. The canapés I served to complement them included fig and blue cheese topped crackers, grape and duck pate topped apple slices, and chorizo, red pepper and hummus crostini.

After multiple slurps, spills and the odd coughing fit mid fish face, we rather hazily reached the end of the tasting and unveiled each wine in turn. In the battle of Reds Vs. Whites, the 'wild card' Argentinian Malbec was the overall winner, with the sweet Riesling the favourite amongst the whites. Interestingly, one of the most expensive wines was one of the least favourites!

Who had the most refined palate? Well, I can safely say everyone got less accurate and more ambitious as the evening progressed! I guessed all of the whites correctly (perhaps a sign I’ve practiced too often?!), but got all of the reds wrong (perhaps I haven’t practiced enough?!).

Serving up some sweet treats including mince pies, chocolate truffles and dark chocolate mints topped off the evening perfectly. Judging by our guests staying until the early hours of the morning and the number of empty bottles found the next day, it was certainly a successful evening!

So, choose your theme and host your own wine tasting party for an evening with a difference. Or why not try different ciders or ales? Perhaps don’t take up one guest’s suggestion of a tequila tasting party; that’s one hangover I wouldn’t be able to handle…

Crostini

Make your own crunchy crostini for your canapés:

1)      Cut a white baguette into thin slices.

2)      Brush both sides with a thin layer of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

3)      Spread out on a baking tray and bake at 180⁰C for approx. 5 minutes each side, until golden brown.

4)      Leave to cool before assembling toppings.

Top Tips for a successful wine-tasting party:

Tasting the reds!

- Make sure you’ve got enough wine glasses!

- Ask guests to bring their white wine pre-chilled.

- Chill glasses in the freezer before serving the whites for a special touch.

- Provide a list of the grape varieties and instructions on how they taste if you are beginners. Otherwise, it’s impossible to guess!

- Pop a carafe of water on the table to keep hydrated between tasters.

- Match your canapés to your wine colour.

- Aim for a total of 12 canapés per guest (plus a handful more for spare!)

Fruits of the Fall: 'Tis the Season to Get Figgy...

The month of September brings us lots of exciting seasonal fruits, so here are some juicy recipes starring a few of the best. Don’t forget that fruits in season are at their tastiest, less expensive, help to support your local economy and cut down on air-miles needed to transport your food. Try them before they’re gone for winter!

First up is my favourite, figs! With availability limited to only a few months of the year, they feel like such a treat when they arrive. Don’t know what to do with them? Aside from their fantastic flavour, what I love most about figs is their versatility. There aren’t many foods that are at home as a starter, within a main course or as a dessert (not to mention the cheese board!).

I was lucky enough to pick some from a friend’s fig tree. With guests coming over for dinner, I decided to whip them up as this simple but delicious starter - Figs wrapped in Prosciutto Ham:

1.       Chop off the stalk at the top if hard, cut a cross shape no more than half way down the fruit, then squeeze the bottom with your fingers so it fans out like petals on a flower. This will reveal their vibrant colour and pattern inside, yum!

2.      Wrap a thin slice of prosciutto ham carefully around the fig. Loosely scrunch up a further small piece and stuff it gently into the centre of the fruit.

3.      Finally, drizzle with honey before popping them in the oven at 180⁰C for 10 minutes until the ham becomes crispy. The figs I had were so ripe and sweet, that I actually skipped the honey.

4.      Serve them on a bed of mild-tasting leaves, dressed with a sweet balsamic glaze, for a ridiculously quick and easy starter that looks so impressive! These are also great served on a cheeseboard, as a quirky alternative to grapes.

For a different starter, this time suitable for vegetarians, try my Fig Boats:

1.      Slice the figs in half lengthways. Shell out the flesh, being careful not to make a hole in the skin. Keep the skins to one side.

2.      Chop the fig flesh into small pieces, and combine with some crème fraiche, crumbled stilton and crushed walnuts. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

3.      Fill the fig skins with the mixture. Bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 180⁰C until warmed through. Delicious!

Next up is the blackberry. I can’t step outside at the moment without seeing someone picking them off the hedgerows! After filling a basket load myself, and with apples from the orchard overflowing in my fruit bowl, I decided to put them to use with a Blackberry and Apple Crumble. I hate fussing around with desserts, but the only time-consuming part here is prepping the apples (not so laborious when ‘multi-tasking’ with the latest episode of Hollyoaks). The rest is easy:

Blackberry and Apple Mixture

1.      Peel and core the apples before chopping into small chunks.

2.      Pop them in a pan with half a cup of water and some granulated sugar (approx. 50g per dozen apples). Cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the apples soften and the edges start to go mushy.

3.      Whilst they’re cooking, make your crumble topping. Mix together 150g plain flour, 50g granulated sugar and 75g cubed salted butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

4.      Take the apples off the heat and gently stir in as many blackberries as you like. Place the fruit mixture in a baking dish, then top evenly with the crumble.

5.      Cook for 25-30 minutes at 180⁰C until the fruit juices are bubbling around the edge. Perfect served with vanilla ice cream.

This fruit mixture can also be used to make a Fruit Tart instead. Simply line a greased tart dish with some shortcrust pastry (Tight for time? Cheat and buy ready rolled…shhh). Fill with the fruit mixture, after letting it cool. Thinly slice a few apples and arrange to make a pretty pattern on top. Brush with some melted butter, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 45 minutes at 180⁰C. Et voila, another stylish dish with little effort.

And there you have it, hedgerow heaven! Try your hand at these easy recipes using seasonal fruits, or make up some of your own.

Look out for my oriental inspired post next week!