For centuries, vineyards and wineries have opened their gates to share the "blessing of winegrapes" with wine novices, connoisseurs, family and friends. Use this age-old tradition to kick off your own wine and food pairing celebration.
Grape stomping, immortalized by Hollywood in a 1956 “I Love Lucy” episode, dates back hundreds of years. Invite guests to take off their shoes, roll up their pants and stage an “I Love Lucy” look-alike contest.
Invite guests to create and model their own interpretation of classic harvest couture from a favorite vintage (year).
Celebrate Good Food, Good Wine - Great Variety
Celebrate the wide variety of wines produced in California by assigning each of your friends a wine region and asking them to bring some wine from there.
To showcase the breadth and diversity of California wine, place a card with the name of the grape variety, pronunciation and region it is grown from beside it.
Then ask each friend to bring along a dish that pairs well with the wine they brought. "We really love potlucks," says Bruce Fry, a 5th-generation grower whose family throws a huge annual harvest party. "The more variety of food we have, the more variety of wine we can serve!"
Dress it up!
Make sure you have enough glasses. Provide at least two wine glasses per person, one for white and the other for red.
Autumn is still a great time to take advantage of the outdoors. Move your party outside in your own backyard or to a local park and enjoy the company of your friends and family as well as the beautiful autumn weather. The open space will also enable the guest list to linger longer.
Find a rustic picnic table reminiscent of wine country and place a large dark-hued and colorful tablecloth over it. That way, predictable spills will not be as noticeable.
Give your guests wine charms with their glasses. This helps eliminate the guesswork of deciding which glass belongs to you after you’ve put it down for a moment.
Decorate with large bunches of both red and green grapes, colorful autumn fruit, flowers and leaves.
As a take-home gift make some individual wine tags, or give each guest a special wine glass.
