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Janice Kleinschmidt

Ethan Kaminsky Two bottles

The Wine Diva instructed the CEO’s Man Friday to keep nine bottles of 10-year-old wine lying on their sides a week before the party. When she arrived at the waterfront mansion to decant the wines, the man proudly brought her the wines standing upright on a tray with a crystal decanter. He had just nullified the purpose of keeping the bottles prone (to concentrate the sediments) and was promptly fired.

Christine Ansbacher, a certified wine educator and author of Secrets from The Wine Diva, also recalls a party trick gone wrong in May when she made a presentation to an association at Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa in Palm Desert. After demonstrating the perfected technique of opening a bottle of champagne with a saber (a trick employed by Napoleon’s officers), an association member wanted to try his hand at it. After a few futile attempts, Ansbacher told the man to “get mad” so he would use enough force to send the cork flying.

He sent the cork flying 30 feet — with half of the bottle — and a shard of glass flying into Ansbacher’s neck, cutting her badly enough to require immediate medical attention.

“I don’t think I will do that again,” the Wine Diva says of her experiment with audience participation.

Learning lessons from these party pitfalls is all well and good, but there are more suggestions to follow beyond avoiding gritty drinks and paramedics.

The Right Note
Greg Poirier — a certified sommelier, professional wine coach, and wine-tour operator — cuts to the chase.

“If you are inviting people over, my first recommendation is don’t fall into a trap and put all your emphasis into things and then get really cheap wines, because there’s no worse impression you can make than combining a nice effort on the food and a weak effort on the wine.”

For a reception-style party with hors d’oeuvres, Poirier likes greeting guests with a sparkling wine. “It’s a good icebreaker and gets everybody into the festive mood,” he says.

Beyond that, you need a mix of red and white wines. Poirier’s recommendations include a Rhone Valley red, syrah, or shiraz. “For a white, I would challenge you to do something different,” he says. “I think it shows your guests that you took care to select the wines rather than to choose a mass-produced wine that you can get in any grocery store.”

Viognier is floral on the nose and very compatible with foods, Poirier says. And pinot blanc from Alsace not only represents a good value, but also possesses complexity and good acidic balance.

Wine TAG
Ansbacher has devised an acronym for “making a $10 wine taste like a $30 wine” — an especially helpful tool when you’re budgeting a party. TAG stands for temperature, aeration, and glassware.

“Most people think the phrase, ‘Serve your red wine at room temperature’ is correct,” she says. “That was developed in England hundreds of years ago. This was in the age well before central heating. They had a fireplace, and the rest of the room was cool.” Room temperature 300 years ago was 65 degrees, Ansbacher says, whereas today people find 70 degrees or more comfortable. “Take that redhead skinny-dipping for 10 minutes in an ice bucket,” the Wine Diva suggests.

She says another common error people make in serving wine is thinking the wine breathes properly when they merely uncork the bottle. “That dime-sized opening doesn’t make a dime’s worth of difference,” Ansbacher declares. She firmly believes in the power of the decanter.

Pouring your carefully selected, properly aerated and chilled wine into paper or plastic glasses you bought in bulk at Smart & Final spoils the tone of your party. Just don’t do it. At the same time, the last thing you want is to be ordered to take a class in anger management after a guest drops your heirloom crystal. Ansbacher advocates an all-purpose wine glass — egg-shaped with a big bowl.

Break it Down
Poirier plans a dinner party by breaking it down into three components: how you greet guests, what you serve with the dinner courses, and how you finish off the evening.
 

He likes to kick off a party by handing arriving guests a glass of champagne (sometimes with a splash of kir), especially during the holidays. “It’s less ‘moving parts,’ because you don’t have to ask people what they like,” he explains. This approach frees the host to welcome guests instead of getting tied up in the kitchen preparing different aperitifs.

Poirier classifies wines in two categories: ones that are good to stand alone and ones that are best-suited to complement a variety of dishes.

“What I don’t go with is a heavy, buttery chardonnay to go with any meal,” he says. “Nor do I go with a really big cabernet sauvignon. I tend to go with a more complete or sophisticated wine that’s not overbearing — a Burgundian wine, white Chablis or unoaked chardonnay, or sauvignon blanc.”

With spicy foods, Poirier likes a Riesling. For high-fat dishes typically served at the holidays, he opts for sauvignon blanc (he especially likes those of the Loire Valley and New Zealand). For meat and chicken dishes with sauces, he recommends a Bordeaux blend (or its United States equivalent, Meritage) or a Rhone Valley syrah. Game dishes such as pheasant or venison call for pinot noir or a French red Burgundy.

“To finish the evening, sweet with sweet is very traditional,” Poirier says, suggesting a dessert wine, ice wine, or sauterne. However, he likes ending dinner with cheese.

“Holiday-season meals are usually pretty filling, and the two things that can make you most comfortable to sit down and relax afterwards and not feel bloated are a good acidity in the wine and a nice cheese — or two or three. They tend to have not only a nice effect, but also do something to you physiologically to feel more comfortable after a big, festive meal.

“With cheese, stick with the reds of the meal, or you can go with a big and bold wine as well,” Poirier continues. “If you have a big cabernet sauvignon, I think it would be splendid. But, having said that, there are not many good wines that won’t go well with cheese.”

Give and Take
If you are attending a party hosted by someone else, you may want to take a bottle of wine as a gift.

“A gift means it’s special, and you want them to see you did something special,” Poirier says. “It doesn’t always have to be expensive. You need to pick a region and make sure it’s a good representation of that region. If you know what they like, you can go into that style. If you’re not sure, I would stick to the more classic varietals or regions — France or Italy, cabernet or chardonnay — and not go into something too obscure.

“If they are a wine geek like me, go the opposite direction,” he encourages. “Look for something unusual — an emerging market like Eastern Europe.”

Ansbacher agrees with Poirier about selecting a wine that is a bit unusual. Even if you buy a chardonnay, for example, pick one that you don’t see every day.
 

Perhaps you have wine at home that you purchased at a winery. This not only makes a gift special, but also provides a point of conversation when you can tell your host something about the vineyards or your discovery of the wine in a tasting room.

Before bringing a wine to be served with a dinner, ask the host if it’s OK and then ask what is on the menu so you can match the wine to the food.

Those on the receiving end may face their own dilemma. Does your guest expect you to open the bottle or save it for yourself? The best way to figure this out is simply by asking, “Would you like me to serve this tonight?” However, Ansbacher cautions that if the varietal pairs poorly with your menu or its quality is substandard, don’t let the wine spoil your party. You could say, “This is very thoughtful of you, but I’ve already set wines aside for this evening. I’m sure we’ll enjoy this later.”

Don’t Cry Over Spilled Wine
Accidents happen. It’s a tried-and-true rule of life — especially where children, puppies, and, yes, even adults-only parties are concerned. Keep a stain-removal kit handy to resolve spills before they become a problem on someone’s white dress or your $90-a-yard carpet.

Wine Away, available in many wine shops and from www.evergreen.com, works like magic (we know of a bride who spilled wine on her wedding gown hours before walking down the aisle and swears by it). Lacking that product, blot (don’t wipe) the wine, pour a mixture of lemon juice and water or white wine or cider vinegar and water on the stain and blot dry.

A bottle of wine contains five 5-ounce servings. Divide the number of glasses your guests are likely to drink by five to determine the number of bottles you will need. If you are serving only wine, count on each guest drinking one to two glasses in the first hour and one glass for each subsequent hour you expect your party to last. Then buy a few “backup” bottles in case your party runs longer.

You may end up with bottles that have been opened, but still have good wine in them. Don’t send the leftovers home with your guests (assuming they came in a car). Instead, recork the bottles, stick them in your refrigerator, and drink them, cook with them, or have another party within the couple of days.