A Food Fun Travel Guest Post
Ready to get into the holiday spirit? One great way to do that is with a delicious bottle of wine. Whether you’re looking for the perfect gift or just stocking up for your festivities, we’ve got the inside scoop on how to enjoy the season with your favorite vino! With this post, you’ll learn 6 essential tips for buying wine during the holidays. From choosing a unique vintage to exploring holiday-themed labels, these tricks will help make this season extra special. Sip away, and cheers!
What Food Are You Serving?
The first tip on this list for anyone who is going to be buying wine this holiday season would be to consider the question, “What food are you going to be serving?” If you are a casual wine drinker who just has a glass every evening or when you go to the restaurant, you might not be aware of the fact that different wines taste better with different foods.
Having said that, before you buy your holiday wine, you should carefully consider when you host the party and what foods you’re going to be serving. Even though you might be wanting to get creative, it might be a good idea to view a wine serving list and stick to the established rules rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.
How Many People Are Attending?
The next question that you should ask yourself before buying any wine for this holiday season would be, “How many people are attending?” If you are like the rest of us, then it’s safe to assume that you are not made of money and can’t just buy any wine bottle that you see on the shelf.
If you are having a relatively intimate gathering with just a few friends or family, then it would be fine to get something more on the expensive side. However, if this is going to be quite a large party or a large dinner, then it might be worth your while to not break the bank on wines. The reason for this is that you are probably going to need to get a few different wines since not everyone has the same taste, and if you are going expensive, this might be a bit difficult.
Don’t Overcomplicate Things
One of the most important tips for buying wine for the holiday season is not to overcomplicate things. The two questions above should be the only ones that you need to ask before buying wine. Similarly, as mentioned above, there’s no reason to break the bank when buying wine, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with buying something affordable.
With that in mind, if you want your guests to have a good time, you should ensure that you buy one or two bottles of wine for each type. For example, if five people are coming to the dinner party, there’s nothing wrong with getting one or two bottles of red wine, one bottle of white wine, and a Rosé. More importantly, you should choose one brand of a specific type of wine rather than two different types. For example, if you have decided to buy Chardonnay, buy two bottles of the same Chardonnay.
Wines for Meat
Now that you have the basics down and have a better understanding of what you should be focusing on, it’s time to take a look at the different wines you could offer with meat. If you are serving red meat, it would probably be a good idea to get a Sauvignon Blanc or Cabernet, or, in other words, red wine. However, be sure to serve bold red wine, since the proteins in the meat will bind with the tannins in the wine, which in turn will reduce its intensity. If you go for a regular red wine, it will be underwhelming.
Wines for Spicy Food
If, on the off chance, you are going to be serving spicy food during this holiday season, there is only one wine that you should consider getting: a sweeter wine. If you were to get regular wine that is not sweet, the astringency and bitterness of the wine are going to be increased by the spicy food. More importantly, when you pair sweeter wine with spicy food, it will help to cleanse your palate for the next bite of food that you are going to take. Avoid serving dry wine with spicy food since it will not be a pleasurable experience.
