It's dinner party night with your favorite gal pals. Along with setting the table, picking the music, arranging flowers, and planning the menu… consider what wine you will serve for your special sista soirée.
Folks mostly fall into three wine choices: red, white, and rosé. You can offer all three on your beverage bar and with dinner if you match the menu choices to the three wine offerings. The trick is to match the wine's heaviness to the meal's heaviness.
Two hearty fall meal choices you can prepare are baked chicken breasts with a lemon butter sauce or pasta with bolognese sauce. Marcella Hazan’s classic recipe is my favorite and a crowd-pleaser for the latter! Make it a day ahead of time for an incredible taste.
For an even easier time as a hostess, enlist your husband, partner, or a good friend to manage the grill as you entertain your BFFs. A bonus for all is if the grill sergeant is single and ready to mingle with any of your cute single friends. Grilled salmon is an excellent choice for a medium-bodied wine selection.
Medium-bodied wines go best with fall fare. The crisp summer whites are too light for cool autumn nights. The heavy cabernets can wait for heavier winter meals to come. Rosé that is too sweet will not go with a fall meal. Next, look at some good fall wine choices.
Medium-bodied wine choices: most cost between $18 - $25. Chosen with help from the folks at Deep Roots Wine Market. Most of these choices can be found at Deep Roots. You can even try some of them out with a serve-and-sip card.
Red Varietals:
Complicated, red blend, Central Coast, CA
Complicated, Pinot Noir, Monterey County, CA
Nielson, Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County, CA
DNA Vineyards, Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, CA
Square, Plum and Level, Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR
White Varietals:
Willamette Valley Vineyards, White Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR
Rudy, Chardonnay, Knights Valley, CA
Ram’s Gate Estate, Sauvignon Blanc, Carneros, CA
Twomey, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa/Sonoma County, CA
Sangiacomo SC, Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, CA
Rosé Varietals:
Trione Rosé of Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, CA
Revelation by Goose Ridge, Goose Gap AVA, WA
Whispering Angel, Rosé, Cotes de Provence, France
Olema, Rosé, Cotes De Provence, France