Happy Friday, friends! Let’s pop some corks, and kick off the weekend with a sparkling wine party! Who’s in?? With spring finally in the air, a sparkling wine party just seems perfect, doesn’t it? While you certainly don’t need any special occasion to host a sparkling wine party, wouldn’t this be a really fun way to celebrate Easter, or how about Mother’s Day?? (I know this mama would be game!)
Today I’m outlining my top 5 tips for hosting a sparkling wine party. Because enjoying some bubbles and bites with friends is what life’s all about, right?? Plus I’m sharing the #1 mistake I see people make when tasting a Champagne or sparkling wine. So grab a glass, and let’s get started!
Tip 1: Choose Good Sparkling Wine!
Ok this one might seem obvious, but have you ever stood in the wine aisle at the store, reading endless wine labels, trying to figure out which one is actually good? Because I sure have! That’s why I was so excited to discover Gruet Winery. They offer a wide selection of delicious sparkling wines at really reasonable prices, which I love!
I recommend for a sparkling wine party, selecting 3-5 different champagnes. For my party I chose the Gruet Brut Rose, Gruet Brut, Sauvage and Blanc de Blancs. This Gruet Demi Sec would also be a great addition! It’s fun to have a variety, because when you taste sparkling wines back to back, you notice characteristics you may not have otherwise. Which brings me to my next tip!
Tip 2: Provide Tasting Notes
If you’re like me and my friends, our first focus of getting together is always to have a good time! So you can take tasting notes as seriously as you like! But they’re a fun way to encourage conversation about the wines, learn a little bit more about what you like, and also is a great way to remember what your favorites were so you can revisit them later! Without my notes, I’d be lost!
Some things you can think about when you’re tasting sparkling wine:
- How does it look? Is it clear or cloudy? Pale or golden? How big are the bubbles?
- How does it smell? Remember, you don’t need to swirl champagne before smelling it. Does anything come to mind? Apples? Lemons? Florals?
- How does it taste? The moment you’ve been waiting for! Does it taste similar to how it smelled? Different? Do any flavors come immediately to mind? Is it dry? Fruity?
- The #1 Sparkling Wine Tasting Mistake? Forgetting that you don’t need to know a lot about wine to appreciate it! Just like any wine, the whole point is to enjoy it!
Side note: I also personally like to print out the tasting notes provided on the winery website – that way after everyone has tasted the wine and had a chance to figure out tastes on their own, we can compare notes with the experts!
Tip 3: Set the Scene
You certainly don’t need to host your party at the Ritz, but it’s always fun to take a little extra time and put together a fun table for your friends. For my table, I took my inspiration from the pretty peonies and went with a blush and gold theme. Definitely nothing complicated, but it made sitting down to the table that just more fun!
Tip 4: Pick some food pairings!
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post on just this topic, and you can find it here! You’ll find easy and delicious food pairing for each of the sparkling wines mentioned here. When I’m hosting an event, I like to keep food prep as quick and easy as possible, so you’ll notice that it takes fewer than 30 minutes to prepare all four recipes.
Tip 5: Have fun!
Pop the bottles, pour the bubbly, and have a good time! It is, after all, a party! Cheers!
Thank you to Gruet Winery for making amazing wines, and sponsoring this post.
What better way to kick off the weekend than with some delicious sparkling wine and food pairings! I am so excited to share this post with you – it’s one of my favorites I’ve written (and researched) to date! I mean who doesn’t want to taste champagne and delicious food all day! As they say, it’s a tough job, but someone had to do it. I’m only too happy to volunteer!
Now let me just say: whether you spend every other week in Napa or are just dipping your toe into the wine world, this post is for you! This is for my wine-loving friends who are always wanting to try something new. Learn more. Explore palettes. Have fun. In my opinion, that’s what wine is supposed to be all about! Are you with me? Then pull up a chair, pour some bubbly, and let’s talk food and wine pairings!
Jordan and I have been on a major sparkling wine kick lately, and discovered Gruet Winery. They’re located in New Mexico, and make sparkling wines using the Champagne method (or méthode Champenoise, which you can learn about here). Their founder was originally from France, and decided to plant an experimental vineyard in New Mexico in 1984. You can read more about the fascinating story here!
Their wines have become a favorite in our house. We love that the quality rivals some of the biggest players in the Champagne game, and yet they’re not so expensive that we feel guilty popping a bottle on a Wednesday. It’s all about that balance, right?
For the sparkling wine, we will focus on the Gruet Brut, Sauvage, Blanc de Blancs and Brut Rosé. When you’re doing a sparkling wine and food pairings tasting, I recommend a strategy that I learned on our recent trip to Bordeaux: taste the wine first and try to pick out any familiar flavors and/or tastes. (Ex: Maybe green apple? Maybe you’re not sure which fruit, but you know it’s tart.) Then taste the food. Then take another taste of the wine. It’s fun to see how the flavors change with the food – how some characteristics might become more subtle, while others become more pronounced.
For the food: I tried to keep the food pairings as simple as possible. If you want to recreate this sparkling wine and food tasting at home (which I hope you will!), the food will take you max 35 minutes to prepare all of it. And then, if you want to explore each wine further with fancier food options, please do!
Pairing 1: Brut with Fresh Bruschetta and Balsamic Glaze
Let’s start with the Brut! This is a really traditional sparkling wine that’s bright and citrusy, and I get some hints of nectarine or peach. I feel like this wine is really forgiving and would pair well with a variety of food. I loved the Brut with a fresh tomato bruschetta, drizzled with a balsamic glaze. Sometimes acid needs acid, and this wine pairs really with the acid in the tomatoes and balsamic.
To make the bruschetta: I made a really simple version with fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, piled onto slices of fresh baguette and drizzled with a balsamic reduction. I didn’t even bother toasting it, because I loved how light and fresh it was!
Pairing 2: Sauvage with Truffled French Fries
The Sauvage sparkling wine is described as “bone dry”, and that’s an accurate description! This is a very dry sparkling wine, and I loved pairing this with a high fat food. The fat in the fries really helps to cut the acidity, and brings out more flavors in the wine. I think this would also be really great with my three cheese macaroni and cheese or buttery lobster!
To make the truffled french fries: Preheat the oven to 450 and line a baking sheet with foil. Spray with baking spray (I love this coconut oil spray). Cut a russet potato into thin (1/4 inch) slices, and then cut them again so you’re left with long and thin “fries”. Toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoons white truffle oil, 2 teaspoons garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste. Bake on the lined baking sheet for 20 minutes, and then turn the fries over. Sprinkle 1/4 cup parmesan cheese on top, and bake for an additional 8-10 minutes.
Pairing 3: Blanc de Blancs with Smoked Salmon Bites
I love the bright lemon flavors in the Blanc de Blancs! I first tasted this wine with a lemon sorbet which was way too intense and overpowered the more subtle flavors in the wine. Oops! That’s a great example of a “bad pairing”! So I slept on it, and in the morning I decided to try it with my salmon bites. This ended up being my favorite of the sparkling wine and food pairings! The crisp citrus taste of the wine is so complimentary to the freshness of the salmon.
When I was thinking about what food would pair best (in my opinion) with the Blanc de Blancs, I thought about what I most like to use lemon in, since that was the primary flavor I personally got from the wine. And I loooove a lemony salmon! So voila! I bet this wine would also be delicious with my Easy Lemon Risotto!
You can find my Smoked Salmon Bite recipe here!
Pairing Four: Brut Rosé with Fresh Strawberries
No recipe needed! This Brut Rosé is so versatile, and can be paired with sooooo many things! We enjoyed this with pork tenderloin for Jordan’s birthday, and strawberry macarons! It was delicious with pretty much everything we ate with it, but I really loved it with the simplicity of fresh strawberries. Sometimes a really good wine pairing happens with you pair the wine with a contrasting flavor, and sometimes complimentary flavors. The strawberries really help to bring out red berry tastes, and show off this wine’s creaminess.
Remember – 99% of the fun in wine pairings is experimenting and seeing what you like! Everyone’s palette is different, and maybe you’ll love the Brut Rosé paired with fried chicken! What matters most is that you love the wine you’re drinking, and I know you’ll love all of these Gruet sparklers! Cheers!
We’ve made it to Friday! Another week behind us, and the weekend ahead! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Valentine’s Day yesterday. With the holiday on a Thursday this year, I feel like that lends itself to being celebrated all weekend, don’t you? And this easy strawberry bellini is a perfect weekend brunch cocktail!
Valentine’s Day may still be a month away, but it’s never too early to start planning your Valentine’s Day desserts! Enter easy strawberry champagne cupcakes! This is a delicious champagne cupcake, made with actual champagne and a champagne extract for a little extra flair. Then topped with delicious strawberry buttercream, because champagne is always better with strawberries, right? And yes, these are as awesome as they sound!
