Not every event during the fall season has to be a super-serious, lots-of-planning affair. Sometimes, you just want to get everyone together and dish about the latest celebrity gossip, catch up with each other, and share a few glasses of wine as a group! Thankfully, we have just the excuse for you to do so‚ Beaujolais Nouveau, a French wine, is released for sale on the third Thursday of November every year, and there are celebrations all over for Beaujolais Day. For your own wine-inspired party, we’ve come up with these fun ideas!
Set Up a Tasting
Beaujolais Nouveau wines are made with a certain grape, but that doesn’t mean that everyone producing this vintage is bottling the same stuff. Collect a few different bottles of the wine from different wineries or vineyards, and set them up in flights or at different stations for your guests to try and take notes on (should they so desire). Their notes don’t have to be serious, like those a sommelier would take‚ just enough to remind themselves which ones they liked best! If you want, you can also serve other varieties of wine to help tasters differentiate between what the various grapes taste like.
Use the Colors of the Drink to Decorate, Of Course
Pantone knew what they were up to when they made the color of the year Marsala. Dress up your tables with rich shades like burgundy, Marsala, or grape, and accent them with gold charger plates, ivory napkins, and ornate napkin rings. You can layer these different wine-inspired shades for an interesting look. Hang up decorative vines to mimic the look of actual grape vines, too.
Serve Small Plates and Snacks
Of course, where there’s wine, there should be some snacks, too. After all, you don’t want guests getting too tipsy or wishing they had a palate cleanser between tastes! Serve up small snacks like rosemary roasted almonds, a selection of crackers, and of course, cheese. There’s a reason why wine and cheese are so popular together‚ they’re delicious!
What was your last wine-tasting party like? What wines did you try?