How To Hold A Wine Party
With the Chief Winemake of Jacob's Creek, Bernard Hickin.
Step 1: Introduction
Ben: For many people the thought of holding a wine party sounds like a fantastic idea. It's fun, it's different and it's interesting. But it can also take quite a bit of organization. So, what is the best way to go about it? Well, with me I'm lucky enough to have Bernard Hickin, the Chief Winemaker at Jacob's Creek. Bernard, Hello.
Step 2: Preparation
Ben: Is it easy to just sending out those invitations and buying in the wine?
Bernard Hickin: Well, first your wine party should be about having fun. And not to take it too seriously. But having said that, it is important to plan and I think for a wine party, when you invite your friends around, they will be up to something new and interesting to see. So, it's very important to, I guess, consider the wines that you are having on the night and learn a little bit about those wines before the event.
Step 3: Food
Ben: First of all the food. How important is it to get that right?
Bernard Hickin: Well, the food should match the wines that you are presenting and often it's very good just to have some, I guess, nibbles when they first arrive; just making sure that those nibbles roughly match the flavors of the wine that you are presenting on the night.
Step 4: Glasses
Ben: Glasses, of course a key element, what kind of thing should you be looking at?
Bernard Hickin: Well, if you've a large number of friends coming around, you will need a large number of glasses. So I guess an easy way is to just hire glasses.
Step 5: The Wine
Ben: Let's talk about the wines themselves. What should we be opting for?
Bernard Hickin: Well, one thing I think that's really important for a wine party event is to show your friends something new and interesting which will really engage those people. Three Wines is a very new and exciting range of wines at Jacob's Creek. It features three different wines, a white, a rose and a red. And with each wine, it's a blend of three grape varieties. The first two grape varities are classic Australian blends, but the third grape variety in each wine features a classic Mediterranean grape variety and the third variety gives us a much more contemporary, savory style of flavor to the wine. And I'm just showing you at the moment, the Three Wines Rose, which is a very fresh and contemporary dry style of Rose. The Sangiovese is the very new and exciting add to the blend.
Step 6: Taste Test
Ben: Okay, then, let's have a taste.
Bernard Hickin: Black cherry flavor on the mid palate and a nice dry savory flavor; so it's a very dry Rose and as I said, very food friendly.
Ben: We've had the Rose, what about the Whites and the Reds.
Bernard Hickin: Well, this is the Jacob's Creek Three Wines Semillon Sauvignon Blanc Viognier. Semillon gives you very lemony flavors; Sauvignon Blanc gives you a more tropical passion fruit flavors, but we are adding the third variety which is a classic French variety Viognier and that Viognier gives you a much richer, more generous palate and it really goes very well with seafood; scallops, white fish dishes, salads, very versatile wine.
Ben: And the Reds?
Bernard Hickin: Yes, the Red. We've got the Three Wines Shiraz Cabernet Tempranillo. Shiraz Cabernet is a classic blend from Australia where we've got the plump flavors of Shiraz and the structure and blend of Cabernet Sauvignon. But we introduced a third variety Tempranillo which is the classic Spanish variety from Rioja. Tempranillo gives you the wine a much softer tannin structure and lots of black cherry and blueberry flavors.
Step 7: The Party
Ben: Now the party, it's going with a swing, everyone is having a wonderful time with the Reds, the Roses and the Whites, they are enjoying their nibbles but we want something to end the party; a bit of a spark. What should they be going for?
Bernard Hickin: Sparkling Rose. What a better way to leaving the party out, a blend Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the wine is bottle fermented. Why don't we have a taste. What a terrific way to end the party.
Ben: Bernard, thank you very much.
Bernard Hickin: Cheers.
