Entertaining family and friends and planning special celebrations is both consuming and rewarding. Although creating a menu to please all your guests can be a challenge, follow these guidelines to make selecting the right wines a breeze.

How Much Wine to Serve

Cocktail events/parties

Plan on ½ bottle of wine/person per two-hour period. However, if your event begins before 5 pm , or if you also plan on serving liquor or beer, plan on ½ bottle/person per three-hour period.

Self-Service for Guests
If guests will be serving themselves, plan for 10% more wine.

Dinner events/parties

Each 750ml bottle of wine provides 5 servings at 5oz each or 6 servings at 4oz each. If you are pairing wine with a meal, plan 1-1.5 serving(s) per course/person.

To calculate the number of bottles you require of each wine:

# people you are serving
      X
# glasses (on average) each will drink
÷ 5 (or 6 if you prefer a 4oz pour)

Glassware

Cocktail events/parties

1.5 glasses per person for 3 hours or less, 2 glasses per person for longer.

Dinner events/parties

One glass per wine varietal. See our Wine & Food Pairing Chart to see the proper glassware for each varietal. If you only have one or two wine glass size(s) arrange each place setting with separate red and white wine glasses, plus water.

Tip: For larger gatherings, let someone else do the setup and cleanup. Rent glassware from a local party rentals shop.

Varietal Selection

Cocktail events/parties

If you expect the weather to be warm and your event is outside, or if your event is before 5 p.m., plan on 70% white wine, 30% red wine. Otherwise, plan to serve 40% white wine and 60% red wine

White Wines
In general, Chardonnay is everyone's favorite white wine. On a warm day, you may also choose to serve a crisp, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc. If you are serving spicy foods, Riesling is a perfect pairing. Fruity desserts and sweet appetizers such as Fôie Gras pair wonderfully with white dessert wines such as our Late Harvest Chardonnay.

Red Wines
Pinot Noir is the most versatile and an excellent red wine choice for warmer weather. Merlot is a popular crowd pleaser because of its chocolate flavors and soft finish. Zinfandel offers jammy fruit flavors that pair well with grilled foods. Full-bodied wines like Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah are recommended for pairing with beef, lamb, other hearty main courses and dark chocolate desserts.

Dinner events/parties
Pair the wine varietal with each course. See our pairing guidelines and Wine & Food Pairing Chart to get detailed food pairing information, or look here for detailed varietal descriptions.