Here is a useful and great simple food and wine pairing cheat sheet if you will of basic foods for white and red wines.

Artisanal Cheeses

WHITE WINE
BREAD: Good quality, freshly baked Italian or French bread is ideal for wine especially if served with olive oil, cheese or tapenades. CHIPS: Potato or corn chips are not ideal for white wine but they will not ruin it either, especially if you have hummus, artichoke, spinach, crab or cheese dip. CRACKERS & NUTS: Avoid crackers with lots of flavors added to them. Simple is best. Water crackers with black pepper are great with a slice of cheese on top. Good nut choices include walnuts, cashews, toasted almonds and pine nuts.VEGETABLES: Grilled vegetables, raw vegetables for dipping, salads and veggie pastas. FRUITS: Mango, kiwi, melon, apples, grapes, pears, figs, dates and raisins. FISH: Fish is a great match with white wine. Sauvignon Blanc is perfect for white fish and shell fish. The more robust fish dishes (lobster or tuna) go best with Chardonnay. MEAT: Chicken, pork and veal are all a good match with whites. Grilled, broiled roasted, sauteed or pan fried are all preparations that will work. Avoid excessive vinegar or spices. SPICE / VINEGAR: Spice is fine as long as it is mild. An exception is a good German Riesling which can stand up to spices. Avoid excessive vinegar as it can affect wine flavors. DESSERT: Match with sweet dessert wines, port and sherries.



Wine Tasting Games

RED WINEBREAD: Good quality. freshly baked Italian or French bread is ideal for wine especially if served with olive oil, cheese or tapenades. CHIPS: Potato or corn chips are not ideal for red wine but they will not ruin it either, especially if you have tomato based garnish like salsa. CRACKERS & NUTS: Avoid crackers with lots of flavors added to them. Simple is best. Water crackers with black pepper are great with a slice of cheese on top. Good nut choices include walnuts, cashews, toasted almonds, pecans and pine nuts. CHEESES: In general stay clear of soft or semi-soft cheese as they do better with white wines, though Brie and Mozzarella are good choices if served with other ingredients such as nuts, tomatoes, garlic etc. Avoid Stilton, Gorgonzola and other blue-veined cheese as these are better with desert wines. Ideal choices are Sharp Cheddar, Gouda, Beaufort, Pamigiano, Asiago, Pecorino, Manchego, Iberico and other firm to hard cheese. VEGETABLES:Roasted red and yellow peppers, beet, eggplant onions, mushrooms and tomatoes. FISH: In general steer clear of white fish, but dark fish such as salmon and tuna will match with red wine especially Pinot Noir. MEAT: Meat is red wine's best friend! Especially red meat. Any kind of red meat served in any kind of dish will usually match well with red wine. Chicken can work with red if it is served with a sauce or mixed with other ingredients, such as in an enchilada. SPICE: Spice is fine as long as it is mild. Too much spice brings out the acidity in red wine and can make it taste unpleasant. DESSERT: In general dessert matches best with dessert wines, port or sherry rather than with dry red wines. However, chocolate can match well with some red wines, especially Merlot and Zinfandel. Steer clear of milk or cream-based desserts like ice cream.

Download the perfect playlist
A cool selection of Jazz music sets the ideal tone and background for a wine tasting party. Here is a list of my favorites.
Peel Me a Grape - Diana KrallSophisticated Lady - Thelonious MonkI'm Not Drinking Any #@%!$ Merlot - Soundtrack from the movie Sideways, composed by Rolfe KentI Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
Go to iTunes to download and make your special music mix.


Play a GameGet your guests to play a tasting game. This set is from Red Envelope and is very elegant.

Impress your guests by serving wine at the best temperature. Many hosts make a common mistake by serving white wine too cold and red wines too warm.

White wines too warm will have an alcoholic and flat taste, while white wines served too cold will be refreshing but nearly flavorless. As for reds, keep them too warm and they will tend to taste vinegary. Served too cold and the red wine will have an overly tannic bite.

Here is a quick guide to follow when hosting the next dinner party with your favorite bottle of wine.
Champagne and other sparkling wines should be served totally chilled. Put them in the refrigerator at least an hour and half before serving or in an ice bucket with an ice-water mixture at least 20 minutes before serving. Vintage-dated Champagne and other high-quality bubbly, however, you should let the bottle then warm up a bit. This will allow you to enjoy some of the mature characteristics in the higher priced bubbly.

Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, white Zinfandel and other white wines should also be chilled to 35 to 40 degrees for an hour and a half before serving. However, barrel-aged wines like Fume Blanc will improve if brought out 20 minutes early or allowed to warm up slightly during hors d'ouevres or dinner.

Chardonnay, white Burgundy and other rich, full-bodied and barrel-fermented white wines of high quality taste their best at classic "cellar temperature," or 55 degrees. Put these wines into the fridge an hour and half before serving, but bring them out 20 minutes early to warm a bit.

Almost all red wines taste best when served at about 65 degrees-cool, but warmer than cellar temperature. So if you don't keep your red wine in a cool cellar or cooled storage unit, you will enjoy it more if you chill it for 20 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.

Namb? Spiral Wine Server

Waring Pro Single-Bottle Professional Wine Chiller (WA252)

Riedel Bottle Cleaner Pellets - In Box Glassware Glassware