How do I serve wine at dinner?
1. Do I pour the wine before they sit down, or after, or let each do their own pouring?
2. Do I set the bottle on the table?
3. For refills, do each refill their own, or do I, as the host refill their glass?
4. What wine do you suggest? I'm thinking white because of the turkey.
5. Would champagne be appropriate?

Thank you.

It's your party, do whatever you like.

Personally at events like these I'll open a sparkler to start with while people are still arriving.

At a small dinner (up to 6) I'll typically pour the first glass for the guests and - assuming there's any left - leave the bottle or decanter on the table so they can help themselves. At larger dinners pouring for your guests is impractical, let them help themselves. You've probably got enough to do getting the food.

The wine depends on what your guests like. I'll usually open a Pinot and a Chardonnay, but if your guests like something else, open that. Have magnums, or multiple bottles of the same wine available if there are a lot of you.

quote:

Originally posted by Swirl_Girl:
5. Would champagne be appropriate?

Champagne is always appropriate.

Pinot Noir and Riesling always go over well for our Holiday celebrations. But depending on what you serve, don't neglect the Zinfandel!

quote:

Originally posted by KSC02:

quote:

Originally posted by Swirl_Girl:
5. Would champagne be appropriate?

Champagne is always appropriate.

You beat Wine+Art to the punch

I heard he found his 1952 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses today.

Swirl_Girl,

Don't stress it too much. If your Thanksgiving group is like most, they just want something that isn't too "dry" and loosens them up. Spend big bucks if you want to, but unless you have a majority who are serious wine lovers, 10-15 dollar offerings from Columbia Crest, Bonny Doon, and Beringer will be just fine.

Just open it up, set it down, and enjoy your company.

Start with a bubbly. A nice riesling or gewurtz for the older folks with dinner. For red a pinot or an 07 Cdr would fit the bill.

quote:

Originally posted by Swirl_Girl:
How do I serve wine at dinner?
1. Do I pour the wine before they sit down, or after, or let each do their own pouring?
2. Do I set the bottle on the table?
3. For refills, do each refill their own, or do I, as the host refill their glass?
4. What wine do you suggest? I'm thinking white because of the turkey.
5. Would champagne be appropriate?

Thank you.

Swirl_Girl,

Welcome to the WS Forums!

As Dave said, "it's your party", so you can do things which are convenient for you!

However, I would recommend the following:

1. I would start with a Champagne, or a nice white wine when guest first arrive.

2. I would pour the main dinner wine when all has been seated for dinner.

3. Set the bottle on the table, or the buffet, it's your call, but I would make sure I kept everyone's glass full. The guest will tell you if they do not care for anymore wine.

4. I would choose a nice a Pinot Noir for the main dinner wine. Pinots are perfect for Turkey. The quality and price of the Pinot depends on the number of guests you are having, and what you can afford. There are 25.4 ounces of wine per bottle, and I would allow a bottle for every two people, with back up bottles available.

5. Yes, Champagne is always appropriate.

6. You might want to consider a nice light white dessert wine after dinner.

Good luck, and have a nice Thanksgiving party!

A sparkling wine to start, perhaps a good non- vintage Champagne or a sparkling wine from California (I like Schramsburg). For reds, I would recommend a California Zinfandel or Pinot Noir

SG - good suggestions, all - I'll just add a thought on the main dinner wine.

Pinot is truly good for Thanksgiving, but it's hard to find a nice one for under $20 [at best; often $30+]. A couple of other thoughts are: a nice Spanish Grenache (idea: Borsao's Tres Picos, any year, around $15) or any Cru Beaujolais ($12-$15 - ask a wine store for help; the Crus are specific villages that can put their name on the bottles and the wines are better and more distinctive than Beaujolais Nouveau or Beaujolais Villages).

Sparkling Shiraz is an excellent choice with Turkey. Most people have never had it so it makes good conversation and its good.

Good advice here... I would only add that after an initial glass of champagne while folks are arriving, I never pour wine for guests. If you are in my house, barefoot, for dinner, I should have made you feel comfortable enough to help yourself. Plus, I have too much else to do (like keep JC from raiding all of the Kosta Brownes with JBurman at 3 AM)

quote:

Originally posted by Squirreljam:
Pinot is truly good for Thanksgiving, but it's hard to find a nice one for under $20 [at best; often $30+].

Hard, but by no means impossible. And with the range of sweet, savoury and downright wierd things that get served at a typical Thanksgiving meal, combined with the fact that it's generally a family affair the chances are that a $20 wine will go down as well if not better than a more expensive wine.

Dave, no worries, wasn't shooting down the PN idea, I do it a lot - you are spot on, it does match a lot of the odd food. I also agree that for TGiving, the less expensive stuff often suits the most palates - because of that, I was just throwing out a couple other ideas [that also match the food well] that would be even less.