Entertaining Tips in Time for New Year’s Eve!

Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney World, taken December 14th, 2010

You know how sometimes you’re really excited to be part of something and then it’s nothing like you thought it would be? Sometimes it’s worse. And sometimes it’s much much better.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to participate in a call with Amanda Greene and Jim McGrath of Sam’s Club. This is one of those times where it was much much better.

Amanda is their Wine Guru Extraordinaire (furthermore to be known as the WGE) and Jim is their Cheese Guru Extraordinaire (CGE). Could there be two better possible people to talk to right before the most festive holidays of the year?

Also participating in the call were three other bloggers: Angela from Fab Find Foodie, Bill from Wine Cask Blog, and Nannette from Wine Harlots. It was wonderful to get some insight into wine bloggers as well as food bloggers – I learned SO much on that call!

For example, did you know that it’s very important to offer bread or crackers with the strongest cheeses? This is because you need balance for your palate – you don’t want to overpower it and then not be able to taste anything else for the rest of the evening.

Or that when calculating how much wine you’ll need for a party, you should do so by counting 1 serving per guest, per hour you expect the party to go on?

Also, you should average a ratio of 60% red wine vs. 40% white wine unless you’re having a very intimate gathering and you know the guests’ preference of white over red.

My favorite thing I learned about Sam’s Club? For the holiday season, they’re stocking KerryGold Butter and Cheese non-stop.

Below is a Wine and Cheese pairing table provided by Jim (CGE) and Amanda (WGE) at Sam’s Club. I hope that it will help you as much as it helped me in deciding what to serve at my next party.

May 2011 bring you a year of joy, love, and really good food!

Cheese	Wine
French Brie	Champagne, Chardonnay
Roquefort	Port
English Blue Stilton	Cabernet, Port
English Fruited Stilton	Cabernet, Port
Red Wax Gouda	Merlot, Zinfandel
Parmigiano Reggiano	Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay
Grana Padano	Barolo, Barbaresco
Manchego	Rioja (tempranillo), Merlot
Iberico	Garnacha, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc
Dubliner (Irish Cheddar)	Cabernet

I was given a set of wine glasses and a $25 gift card for participating in the call with Sam’s Club. However, I was not asked to blog about or promote Sam’s Club in any way. The blog entry, and the opinions expressed therein are my own. The information about pairing and wine selection are from my own notes, taken during the call.

[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Entertaining Tips in Time for New Year’s Eve! – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]