As anyone who has ever experienced a masterful food and wine pairing knows, the sum is greater than its parts.
Great food and wine matches can happen by chance, but more often, they come from seasoned pros who have a higher batting average in such matters. These heavy hitters, otherwise known as sommeliers, roam the dining rooms at your better, wine-savvy restaurants.
But what if you want killer wine and food at your next dinner party? You could hire a caterer with a wine guy or gal who will work with the chef and choose spectacular wines for each course. While effective, this route may not fit in everyone’s budget. Further, what if you really want to do it yourself?
This was exactly the question Matt and Marie Fromme had when they walked into a local wine shop a few weeks before Christmas. Midtown residents, the Frommes love to cook. As part of their dining club, they wanted to prepare a multicourse dinner party for 14. They also wanted unexpected, playful and harmonious wine selections.
That’s a lot of cooking, which the Frommes enthusiastically embraced. That’s also a big food bill (various canapés, white bean soup with fried sage, beef bourguignon, cheese course and a pear tart), which the Frommes less enthusiastically bit the bullet on. With a goal of different wines with each course (and two wines with certain courses), that was bit more than they could afford.
But the Frommes had a wonderfully simple solution. They set up a registry at the wine shop. Now, I’ve successfully wrangled a few wine dinners together in my day, and I was more than happy to help the Frommes. Over the course of about 45 minutes, I quizzed the couple over the nuances of the dishes and came up with some well-considered pairings. Marie dutifully wrote down my selections.
The guests would supply the wines for this fancy feast. “We gave everyone the menu and included the list of wines that we’d selected for each course during the trip" to the local wine shop, Marie explained. The guests checked with the Frommes and selected which courses they would be buying wine for until each course was accounted for. The guests came to the shop and simply asked for two bottles of each wine. To be fair, the Frommes and I selected three wines for each course: one under $12, one from $12 to $30 and one above $30. Guests could pick any of the three.
So, Marie, how’d it turn out?
“There’s really nothing I would do differently the next time,” Marie said. “Things went very well, and everyone seemed pretty enthusiastic.”
Advice for others considering setting up a wine registry?
“Don’t be surprised if everyone buys the cheapest wine on the list. Second, some people were honestly interested in how you pair wine and food and asked questions. This put my husband’s knowledge to a test, but I do believe he enjoyed passing along what he knew. I have to admit that every selection was delicious and an excellent pairing.”
Any more advice?
“As the hosts, we felt obliged to have each of the wines we picked on hand just in case we needed more. We stocked our wine cellar very nicely [with the excess wine] and are still enjoying the wine from that evening.”
Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator and a wine consultant for a local retailer. You can reach him at gil.kulers@winekulers.com.
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