Like Any Great Pair, Wine and Cheese Bring out the Best in Each Other
Yes, wine and cheese have been in love for thousands of years. Now you can celebrate this union of tastes with the Robert Mondavi “Meet Your Match, Two" Downloadable Dinner Party. We also suggest you visit Cabot Cheese to purchase their cheeses. Add their goods to the Robert Mondavi “Meet Your Match, Two" content and you're ready to host an entertaining night of wine, cheese and friendships...maybe more.
Music
Background music should be ambient and playing when guests arrive. Wine Brats suggest Lounge Music to set the tone for the night. For the unique, check out SF Bay Area favorites The New Morty Show. For the latest on the contemporary lounge scene, click over to Eighteenth Street Lounge Music. For a wealth of links, music and merchandise jump into The Way Back Machine and visit Ultra Lounge. You can also click over to Amazon.com and search for "lounge" or stay true and old school by dropping in on your local music shop.
ALL ABOUT WINE
Now let's review the wines from the Robert Mondavi “Meet Your Match, Two" series, created by Woodbridge Select Vineyard Series, Robert Mondavi Private Selection, Arboleda, Danzante and Kirralaa. Many of Rober Mondavi Family of Wines are available on wine.com. You might also print the winemaker cheat sheet PDF files and take them to your local wine shop to order in advance. Make sure to visit Robert Mondavi web site for the full story on the family and their entire portfolio of wines.
Ordering Your Wine
Basically, there are 4 - 5 glasses of wine in every bottle, so we suggest you order 6 bottles of wine for every 4 - 8 people. Note that if you have a small group, you may want to choose just two wines from each of the three Robert Mondavi labels. Make sure, however, that you order enough wine to allow everyone to experiment. Note that you don't have to finish every opened bottle of wine or polish off every glass. Below, we'll supply tips on dump buckets, responsible hospitality and how to store opened, unfinished wine.
As far as the cost of wine, you might want to make arrangements in advance with your guests that go beyond just assigning tasks for the evening. You may want to determine the overall cost of wine and cheese in advance and divide evenly among your guests. If your guests are online, try coordinating your mixer with Yahoo Groups. And when it comes to collecting the bucks, it can be as simple as having them ante-up as they walk in the door. If so, we suggest you make it fun by creating a donation tin for Bacchus, the God of Wine. Be creative.
Storing Your Wine
Once you've purchased your wines, keep them in the box until the day of your mixer (unless you're blessed with a wine cellar) and just shove the box to the back of a cool closet. On the day of your dinner party, be sure to place the white wines in the refrigerator approximately 2 hours before dinner. If you happen to forget, or are running late, chill white wines in a bucket of ice and water for 20 minutes.
Setting Up the Mixer
Set up four wine and cheese stations spread strategically throughout your home or apartment to keep traffic flowing and guests mixing. The four stations will be titled "Hot + Spicy," "Bold + Beautiful," "Luscious + Lively," and "Cool + Smooth." You can use artwork from the "MATCH BOOK" PDF files to create signs.
Here are the wine and cheese combos that correspond with the four stations:
Hot + Spicy: Woodbridge Select Vineyard Series Fish Net Creek Old Vine Zinfandel, Robert Mondavi Private Selection Central Coast Chardonnay and Robert Mondavi Private Selection Syrah with Cabot’s Pepper Jack
Bold + Beautiful: Woodbridge Select Vineyard Series Ghost Oak Chardonnay, Woodbridge Select Vineyard Series Clay Hollow Merlot and Kirralaa Bushvine Shiraz with Cabot’s Seriously Sharp Hunter’s
Woodbridge Select Vineyard Series Red Dirt Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, Robert Mondavi Private Selection Central Coast Merlot and Danzante Pinot Grigio with Cabot’s Silky Sharp Cheddar
Cool + Smooth: Woodbridge Johannisberg Riesling, Robert Mondavi Private Selection Pinot Noir and Arboleda Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabot’s 50% light
When guests arrive have them choose one of five "Nametag" that best describes their personality. You'll notice that in addition to the four choices above, guests who have already "met their match" may choose the "Taken" nametag. To add an extra element to the party, you can allow those "Taken" the exclusive right to enter a "Best Hook-Up" story contest. It's your call.
The Excerpts from the Little Black Book Allow Guests to:
- Visit each tasting station for different wine and cheese experiences. With a wide variety of flavors and textures, you'll discover your wine and cheese match. You can even have your little black book marked off at each station.
- Jot down wine and cheese taste impressions in the tasting notes.
- Save the names and contact information of new friends.
- Learn fun trivia about wine and cheese.
- Guests may check off each station, then enter into a drawing for door prizes.
Preparing the Wine
Open all wines at once and gently replace their corks into the neck. Replacing the corks will guard against spills, while allowing you to re-cork any leftover wine at the end of the evening (more on this later). If you order more than two bottles of each wine, keep the extras in reserve and open appropriately or when requested by thirsty guests. One wineglass should be available for each guest plus 20% for back up.
When pouring wine during your mixer, make sure guests understand that they are "tasting" not "drinking" and should pace themselves as they move through the wines. We also recommend that you place a dump bucket and pitcher of water at each wine station. Dump buckets can be as classy as Champagne buckets or as wacky as empty coffee cans. This way your guests can taste, dump any wines and rinse their wineglasses as they move through the line-up. Again, keep tastes small until guests find what they like. When they find what they like, pour full glasses for them to enjoy. Encourage comments. Refer to your Black Book excerpts. Above all, enjoy the fruit of the vine and Cabot’s cheeses!
Hey, I have 20 Friends coming over...That's 30 Glasses!
No, we don't suggest you go out and buy a case of wineglasses. Ask guests to bring 2 glasses of their own, especially glasses that might a have a story attached to them, such as a first date, travel or wedding experience.
Re-Corking the Leftovers
As we mentioned above, don't throw away your corks. If you have leftover wines at the end of the evening, re-cork the bottles and stick them in the fridge. Yes, and the red wines. They'll easily last 3 - 5 days. You might also divvy up the wines at the end of the evening and send them home with friends--just make sure the bottles are re-corked and, stored in the locked trunk of a car, and that the driver is sober.
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