How much wine and varieties should I have available at a party with 40 guests? I'll be buying the Big bottles.

Question

How much wine and varieties should I have available at a party with 40 guests? I'll be buying the Big bottles.

Answer 1

In the good old days, this would have been an easy question to answer.  You could offer Red Ripple, Pink Ripple, Thunderbird, and Bali Hai.  Unfortunately, Thunderbird is the only one still around, or at least it was last time I checked.  Bali Hai was Italian Swiss Colony, and the rest were Gallo, but with their nouveau classy image, they changed the labels to read "Ripple Wine Co." and "Thunderbird Wine Co."

Answer 2

My suggestion is 3 types of wine.

A Cabernet/Merlot blend

A Chardonnay that is not oakey

A Blush or Brut that is on the dry side.

Purchasing 1.5 liter bottles is a good idea.

Bring your party menu to your local wine store, and talk to the proprietor. Tell this person what you are looking for and your budget. You may even be able to get a discount.

Generally a bottle will give you about 10 generous glasses.

Answer 3

have 2 types of reds: Merlot works for just about everybody and pick any other kind that you like. If it is for dinner try a Chianti or if it is for after dinner do a Cabernet or Pino Noir or Shiraz. Also have a white wine available too like a German white wine.

How many bottles : figure on the average if everybody drinks about 15 bottles.

Answer 4

Sounds like you're on a tight budget. In general, I think the wines in a box are actually better than the big bottles of wine. You can get wines from out of the US and wines from smaller producers - all in the same price range as the big bottles. Plus a lot easier and safer to serve at a party.

Answer 5

here in Canada, usually at a party people bring a bottle, perhaps just buy half a dozen of red and white and tell them it is a bottle party, doing that you will not run out....perhaps with luck you may even end up with a couple of bottles of nice stuff :)

the reds....cabernet or merlot

the whites...i really dont like white wine, people i know tend to like chardonney or blue nun types.....

actually if cost doesnt matter, for the whites i would go for chardonney and frixtonet..( thats a very nice spanish sparkling wine, made in the same way as champagnes ) its in a black bottle, i may have spelled it slightly wrong...

Answer 6

Don't always buy the big bottles, look at the per ounce price.  I know that most of the bottles I look at are actually cheaper in the regular size while the magnums cost more per ounce.