It’s party time but you’re not serving dinner—what kind of wine do you serve? If you are not serving food, there is no protocol about what kind of wine to serve other than that of the preference of your guests. You should always have both white and red wine on hand for those who prefer wine over other drinks. Although it seems to be common for people to choose white wine as a conversational wine, that is not always the case. You do not want to stock up on just white wines only to find out that some of your wine drinking guests prefer red.
In some cases you may know what your guests prefer but don’t assume they will choose the same thing every time. Your guest that always wants white wine may suddenly decide to have red wine. Maybe he or she had never tried red wine until recently, so if you do not have red on hand you may have a very disappointed guest. Never take the cheap way out and assume your guests will always drink the exact same thing. You have to allow for the possibility of a change and have several varieties of wine on hand. This is especially important during the holidays when people’s tastes are more subject to change than any other time.
Another thing you want to remember is that some of your guests will only drink wine during dinner and want different drinks after dinner. When you are not serving dinner, you want to make sure you k now the habits of your guests so that you can plan accordingly. During the Christmas season you may want to invest in some of the holiday wine choices such as spice and pumpkin wine. Spice wine is served warm, so it’s a good choice on a cold winter’s night. If you have a fireplace, it’s even better with warm spice wine. Of course, any wine will warm up the room on a cold night, but spice warm will create a different atmosphere.
Another reason to make sure you have both white and red wine is because if you are serving a cheese tray as a snack for your guests some cheeses go better with white wine while others are better with red wine. You want to make sure you have both in order to accommodate all of the selections on your cheese tray.