Party Wines!

A sampling of some of the snacks…

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I spent all day on Saturday planning, cleaning, baking, cooking and buying for our “A Very Jewish Christmas” party. I think we pulled it off pretty well, if I do say so myself. The snacks were decent (although in my habit of forgetting things in the oven I managed to overcook both the cookies and the cupcakes,) and the booze was flowing. See, the theme was “old school cheesy Christmas party,” so we were going to make Manhattans, but I think only one got made. Yet somehow the entire handle of Makers Mark was almost entirely depleted…

Anyway, this blog is about the wine, and I know that's what you want to hear about. When buying 9 bottles of wine, (which is how much I bought for the 30+ people, and it was more than enough, what with the people bringing their own bottles and the Makers Mark…) As I was saying when buying 9 bottles of wine, budget is key, and I managed to keep have a pretty decent selection, I think, with each bottle costing under $15, and some under $10. Here’s what I served:

Vina Alarba Old Vines Grenache 2006 from Spain. $8.95/bottle. For the price I’m not sure you can do much better. It’s a 100% Garnacha made with grapes from vines averaging 50 years of age, grown on the steep slopes of Calatayud. Juicy, spicy and not too heavy, I figured this wine would be a crowd pleaser, and I think for the most part, it was. To be honest with you, I didn’t have much time during the party to ask people what they thought of the wine, but let’s just say it got drunk.

The other red I got was a California Cabernet called Clos Robert for $11.95/bottle. Fuller than the Grenache, it is your typical, relatively jammy California Cab, but lively enough to not tire you out for a long night of drinking. I thought it did quite well.

So those were the reds. But me, personally, I stuck to white the whole night. I usually do if I know its going to be a long night of heavy drinking, and believe you me, this was. Hear about the two stellar whites in the next post…