I have attended eight different groups' wine dinners in the UK and Singapore. Here are some variations of what you can do.
TIMING
If people are lucky enough to be working, you may have to adjust your dates and days of the week for your guests.
One wine and dine group met at different host's houses for each event. You could meet once a week, once a month, once every two months, once every three months, every six months, or as a festival reunion or holiday group reunion, or for a birthday or anniversary - or even a wedding.
With bans on drinking and singing all over the world, wine tastings with just crackers or bread and cheese and restaurant dinners have evolved into wine and dine dinners in homes. Now this includes a move from wine and dine in house to in an outsdoor space such as a pub, park or garden (as the Americans say, back yard).
Singapore flag.
SINGAPORE
Check the current rules. In Singapore I get updates twice a day fronm the government on my Singapore phone. I receive the messages in Singapore and wherever I am in the world when my Singapore phone is switched on).
USA
In the USA states and cities vary.
UK
In the UK cities vary and England, Soctland and Wales have different rules, and the rules can change overnight.)
EUROPE, AUSTRALASIA
I also keep an eye on Australasia, because it is of great interest to Singaporeans, and I have a New Zealand wine and dine friend in London who is constantly debating whether to go to Singapore, New Zealand or Australia and in which order to avoid quarantine and find work.
GROUP OPTIONS
The groups I attended included:
Central London wine and dine dinners.
('Jon's) London dinners at host families as far apart as Croydon in the South and Hayes in the North.
Wine dinners by Wine Collector 'P', at first at his home. When his wife got too old, at rotating hmes of former guests
Company dinners by a bank.
St Albans Wine Dinners (for members, and a guest wine presenter)
Wine dinners by family and friends in Singapore.
Here are some format options.
The host provides the table, crockery and cutlery, food, and two bottles of wine.
The other guests bring a bottle or two each of specific wines to match the food.
Water and options for non-drinkers and drivers are provided.
Check if any hosts or guests are vegetarian, have allergies, or religious or health requirements.
STARTERS
The starter could be one of more of these:
Olives (on toothpicks so you don't touch food others will eat)
Starter with olives
Small sausages - meat or vegetarian sausages, or large sausages cut into four or six pieces on skewers
Meat or vegetables on skewers or toothpicks. / Cooked meat on toothpicks hrizontal like small skewers
Bread and pate
Bread or rolls, cut into small pieces with a dip or two such as taramasalata or hummous
cold starters, unless guests aoutdoors need warming up, in which case you could serve hot soup.
Lettuce leaves rolled up or boat shape, filled with tuna, fish paste, or hummous or vegetarian dip.
Lettuce filled with fish. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.In the UK at supermarkets you can buy soups from other cultures and cusines such as Thai, with chicken or vegetarian. To prevent over-eating, strethc the budget, serve in small bowls or even tiny coffee cups - the ones at the back of your cupboard which were always too small for coffee, now have a new use.
Sliced melon
MAIN COURSE
Chicken legs, wings, breast, potatoes and a side vegetable or two, with a vegetarian alternative.
Bread, or Potato casserole, or rice casserole (paella).
Main course, rice (paella). Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
You could make one casserole of meat or shellfish and one of chicken or vegetarian (I am allergic to shellfish).
WINES WITH MAIN COURSES
White wine goes with white fish or chicken.
Rose wine does with salmon or pink trout
Red wines go with dark meat such as duck or steak.
Stronger, spicy wines go with strong tasting, dark curries.
Provide napkins or plastic bibs or aprons with dark coloured foods and splashy casseroles (and coffee)
You might also have water, wet wipes, and kitchen roll to deal with spills and stains. This saves time and prevents people going into the communal bathroom to wash clothes.
Dessert plate with chocolates, stollen from Lidl supermarket, chocolate biscuits. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
DESSERT
Small individual stollen (About two pounds from Lidl in the UK, about 5 pounds for a large ne you can cut up from Waitrose and other supermarkets)
A box of chocolates
A box of chocolate biscuits
A cheese platter
With two (or more) cheeses and crakers and bread, on a cheese board with a knife, or cut up in cubes with a serving fork, or on cocktail sticks (prepared by the host, a guest, or a maid, domestric helper, caterer, or carer wearing disposable gloves)
Provide low alcohol drinks served earlier and with food, also non alchoholic drinks for drivers, teetotallers, dieters, and those on medication
WINES & ALTERNATIVE DRINKS
For a group of two, four, six (or more when allowed)
A white wine, or sparkling wine or Champagne to go before or with the starter
(Or sparkling water, or plain water, or orange juice with champagne, or plain orange juice, or even beer or coca cola, served in a fancy glass)
Red or white wine for the main course, served in stemmed glasses
One or two bottles of sweet wine to go with sweet dessert
(eg Sauternes, Muscat, a wine labelled sweet or auslese or doux or liqueur such as a chocolate liqueur. Note that sweet wine are often lower alcohol. However, spirits are very high alcohol - check the package or bottle labels before buying, serving and drinking).
Serving Alcohol
At a wine tasting or wine dinner you might have many bottles of wine to taste but you do nt serve a full glass. A bottle of wine at a wine tasting might serve ten people, or as much as 20, using a pouring measure so that each person gets the same limited amount. You often have two similar wines to compare, a tiny amount of each, with the remainder of the one you do not like, or ff both, thrown into a metal bucket.
Always check with host and other guests or by looking what is in the contents of the receptacle. Even an experienced wine taster can accidentally throw the dregs of their drink into the metal or plastic bread basket containing bread for everybody. (It happened to one of our diners, not me, this week!)
Serving Alcohol In The USA
Note that in the USA different states have different rules. In some states, it is illegal to serve alcohol to others without their knowledge. If you serve alcohol and they drive have an accident and kill a third party you could be prosecuted by the state or sued by the third party.
In Utah, rules have tightened and loosened over the years. I remember when we lived in America and visited Utah for the first time, we were cnfused and surprised to learn that our Mormon restaurant server was allowed to carry an alcoholic drink to the table, but not to open it nor pour it for us.
I suggest you check the rules in the country where you are living, or visiting, and even the home country of your boss, empolyee, colleague or guest on Zoom in another country.
For most of my life I did not drink red wine nor spirits and limited my intake to one small wine glass of white wine or sparkling wine. However, I collected wine bottles with interesting labels, to admire the pictures of the French chateaux, or to practise translating and learning other languages.
On one occasion, we had a Zoom conference call with colleagues in another country. We had to remove an empty bottle of wine from the background out of respect for our contact on Zoom and to avoid giving the wrong impression of ourselves.
If serving spirits, use tiny glasses, because spirits are expensive and high alcohol so a little goes a long way. High alcohol helps you sleep if you are at home but you don't want to fall asleep during the meal or before driving home!
NON-ALCOHOL
You could start with water or orange juice or a mixed fruit cocktail.
Sparkling water, tonic water, soda water, low alchol or non alcohol imitation drinks, Cola.
End with mint tea, lemon tea, herbal tea.
LIGHTING AND HEATING
Candles can provide lighting and heating. Or opt for Saturday or Sunday lunch before at 4 pm while you still have sunlight for light and heat, before darkness in the UK
Photos will be added shrotly - stay online to this post or set a timer to remind yourself to come back.
Please check the latest rules and regulations in the country where you live and where you are visiting and meeting on Zoom.
Useful Websites
Aldi supermarkets
Bid for Wine online
Majestic wine stores
Vinatis - Rose wine
Vinatis - they give you a money off coupon if you sign up for their newsletter
https://www.vinatis.co.uk/buy-rose-wine-best-price
Awnings, fixed and freestanding, and outdoor heating:
https://www.primrose-awnings.co.uk
https://www.primrose.co.uk/outdoor-heating
About The Author
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. She lives in the UK and Singapore and has previously lived in the USA. She has visited many vineyards and done tours of vineyards and wineries and wine tastings in shops and vineyards in the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and South Africa.
Her husband Trevor has a website called Grapedeal and is a wine educator.
No comments:
Post a Comment