At a dinner party, when should I serve the best bottle of wine?
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Dear Dr. Vinny,
I’m throwing a dinner party and have several different wines ready to go. Should I serve the best bottle to my guests first or last?
—Lola, New Brunswick, Canada
Dear Lola,
There are a few different schools of thought on this matter, and people have different preferences that work for them when it comes to serving wine.
Most people I know would suggest putting the “star” of the wines you’ve selected early on in the evening. That way, people can enjoy your special bottle before the effects of other glasses of wine make it harder to fully appreciate the wine and remember what it tasted like.
While that’s a valid concern, it might not be an issue for you and your guests. And I’ve hosted plenty of parties that ended with a spectacular dessert wine.
When I’m hosting a dinner party, I typically try to match the wines to follow the flow of the meal. First, when you walk into my home, I’ll serve you either a glass of bubbly or your cocktail of choice, something to enjoy with the charcuterie or nibbles that are out.
For the salad or appetizer course, there’s often a glass of white wine. Red wines are typically paired with the main. Sometimes I’ll set the table with glasses for both red and white so that people can enjoy both with dinner. I really like doing this for Thanksgiving and other special, large meals with lots of different flavors on the table. I find that having both red and white to choose from enhances the overall food-and-wine pairing experience.
Of course, there are exceptions to my usual approach. In a more casual setting, I might open a few different bottles at a side bar and let guests help themselves. If I have a special bottle to share, I might wait until everyone is settled (but before it’s gotten too late) and point out that I’d love it if everyone would join me in a taste. It’s also hard to go wrong serving a particularly special wine with the main course.
In any scenario, I always love to serve wines that match the people there—after all, that’s what really makes the experience of drinking any wine special. My friend who drinks primarily Sauvignon Blanc will have one or two bottles I picked out for her. My family is a robust-red group, so that’s what I stock up on when I know they’re coming for dinner. Having wines that I know my guests will love is what’s most important to me, no matter when I serve them.
—Dr. Vinny
