Party Guide to Quantities
Working out the Numbers:
Quantities
• 4-5 glasses to 1 standard 750ml bottle
• 48-60 glasses to a case of still wine
• 70 glasses to a case of sparkling wine
• 10-12 glasses of dessert wine per 750ml bottle
Percentages
• 2/3 white to 1/3 red for luncheons
• 50/50 for buffet situations and heavy hors d’oeuvre
• 60/40 red to white for multi course sit down meals depending on the menu
Timing
• For shorter functions allow one and a half glasses of wine per person, per hour or half a bottle of wine per person per two-hour period.
• For longer functions it may be easier to break your event into different parts. Allow three to four drinks for a buffet or dinner of about four hours in length.
• For an all-evening party of about five or six hours, count on four to six drinks per guest, not including wine with dinner. This should equate to 1 to 1˝ bottles of wine per person.
Know Your Theme: • Cocktail Party: The standard is 2 glasses per person if there will also be beer and mixed drinks and 3 glasses per person if you are serving only wine. Take into consideration whether it will be a “drop by” party, or if guests will stay for several hours. Also, the types of hors d’oeuvre (heavy or light) will matter. If you are serving heavy hors d’oeuvre, it becomes almost like a buffet dinner and you may want to buy wine according to a dinner formula rather than a standard cocktail party plan. • Luncheon: Since lunch food is generally lighter, it is appropriate to have lighter, more fruity wines to accompany it.
• Dinner Party: The quantity and selection of wine will vary depending on the kind of dinner party you are planning, but ˝ a bottle per person for dinner parties is the standard.
• Wine Tasting: You will need a larger number of bottles than a regular dinner party. Even though you will likely be pouring only a couple of ounces per wine, you will need enough of each type in order to provide a taste of each for every guest. Also, people may want to re-taste favorites.
• Weddings and large receptions: half a bottle per person for the still wine, 2 glasses per person for the sparkling wine (this covers a glass per person to start plus a glass for the toast. If you just want sparkling wine for the toast you can cover about 12 people with one bottle.
Know Your Party:
• Type of Function: At more formal functions less wine tends to be consumed, while a relaxed event will have more life and encourage greater consumption.
• Season: People tend to drink more white wine in the summer than in cooler seasons.
• Time: People may feel more comfortable drinking more on the weekend rather than a weekday. Also, people tend to drink more at evening functions than at daytime functions.
• Duration: The longer the event, the more you’ll have to buy.
• Food: Pair your beverages with your menu – refer to our Wine and Food Pairing Guide.
• Location: The destination of the party may affect the amount consumed. If people have to travel far afterwards, they may be inclined to drink less.
Know Your Guests:
• Type of crowd: Perhaps some of your guests are pregnant or non-drinkers or a high proportion may prefer beer to wine. Perhaps the guest list includes a number of children.
• Names: Label glasses at a wine tasting to avoid confusion.
• Age: what is the average age of your guests? A younger group will consume more than an older group.
• Taste: It is important to know and understand the taste of the people you have invited.
• Number: Catering to a large crowd? A wine with mass appeal, such as a conservative Chardonnay and Cabernet selection. Small group of close friends? They may be more open to experimentation and a more adventurous choice of wines may be appropriate.
Ordering and Delivery:
• Taste an array of wines! Try to taste the sample wines when you are trying the sample menu.
• If we have to order the wine to accommodate the quantity, it may take 7-10 days to arrive in the store.
At the Party:
• Make arrangements for chilling any wines well in advance. Try to chill as you go so that you can easily store any leftover wine.
• Tell the wait staff not to open all of the bottles right away, as it can lead to a huge waste if you do not drink all of the wine.
• Make sure that servers know not to fill the glasses completely. It is easier to enjoy the wine if the glass is not full.
• Have a list of the wines available with the menu so that your guests can remember all the great wine that they tried!
Now
In: Wine and Health
You may remember the startling report about 15 years ago by Morley Safer on ’60 Minutes’ regarding the ‘The French Paradox?’ The French were able to consume a high fat diet, yet had a much lower risk of coronary heart disease than a typical American would experience. The reason for this paradox was perceived to be the French population’s higher level of red wine consumption.
Recently, a study co-authored by researchers from Harvard University and the National Institutes of Health that found that resveratrol, a substance found in red wine, extended the life and improved the health of middle-aged, overweight mice. Why should we care about resveratrol or obese mice? Resveratrol is found in red wines and also produced by a variety of plants (including vines) when put under stress.
Resveratrol
Resveratrol appears to be associated with anti-aging and preventing the effects of diseases of aging, such as diabetes, cancer and dementia. Using a high calorie diet on mice, researchers found that among the overweight mice, giving a control group resveratrol reduced the negative impact of being obese. When the mice were 60 weeks old, those mice receiving resveratrol showed a three- to four-month increase in survival, compared to mice not receiving the compound. By 114 weeks, when the mice reached old age, more than half of the animals on a high-fat diet alone had died, compared to less than one-third of those receiving resveratrol. "Resveratrol extends the lifespan of every species we have fed it to," said lead researcher David Sinclair, an associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School. "We are now showing that this is also possible for mice on a high-fat diet," he added. Resveratrol is said to stabilize blood sugar and other effects of obesity. Astoundingly, the organs of the fat mice that got the wine extract looked normal when they shouldn’t have, said study lead author Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School. And Sinclair said other preliminary work still being done in the lab shows the wine ingredient has promise in lengthening the life span of normal-sized mice, too. The resveratrol-treated 55 obese mice on a high-calorie diet (one scientist called it a “McDonald’s diet”) are not only about as healthy as normal mice, they are as agile and active on exercise equipment as their lean cousins, showing what can be considered a normal quality of life, higher than usual for obese mice, said study co-author Rafael de Cabo of the National Institute on Aging.
Heart Disease
Over the past several decades, many studies have been published in scientific journals about how drinking alcohol may be associated with reduced mortality due to heart disease in some populations. Some researchers have suggested that the benefit may be due to wine, especially red wine. Others are examining the potential benefits of components in red wine such as flavonoids and other antioxidants in reducing heart disease risk. Some of these components may be found in other foods such as grapes or red grape juice. The linkage reported in many of these studies may be due to other lifestyle factors rather than alcohol. Such factors may include increased physical activity, and a diet high in fruits and vegetables and lower in saturated fats.
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According to the relatively conservative American Heart Association, research is being done to find out what the apparent benefits of drinking wine or alcohol in some populations may be due to, including the role of antioxidants, an increase in HDL ("good") cholesterol or anti-clotting properties. “Clinical trials of other antioxidants such as vitamin E have not shown any cardio-protective effect. Also, even if they were protective, antioxidants can be obtained from many fruits and vegetables, including red grape juice. The best-known effect of alcohol is a small increase in HDL cholesterol. However, regular physical activity is another effective way to raise HDL cholesterol, and niacin can be prescribed to raise it to a greater degree. Alcohol or some substances such as resveratrol found in alcoholic beverages may prevent platelets in the blood from sticking together.” On my last physical, my HDL level was 92 with the LDL being 88 (total cholesterol of 180). My doctor said that this was the first time that he had seen a higher HDL than LDL (bad cholesterol) where LDL is typically around 3x HDL. Another doctor friend of mine who previously did research in labs said that red wine is partially to receive the credit here, but the fact that I regularly exercise contributed as well.
Alzheimer's
According to new animal research, drinking red wine may help prevent Alzheimer's disease. In a research study, mice that were given cabernet sauvignon experienced significantly reduced Alzheimer's disease-type brain deterioration of memory function compared to mice that received ethanol or water.
The researchers, from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, found that cabernet sauvignon's benefits were due to its ability to prevent the generation of proteins that cause plaque buildup in the brain, which is the main characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. "This study supports epidemiological evidence indicating that moderate wine consumption, defined as one drink per day for women and two for men, may help reduce the relative risk for AD clinical dementia," said researchers Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti and Dr. Jun Wang.
Diabetes
For humans, high calorie diets can increase glucose and insulin levels leading to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. In the Harvard study, researchers found biomarkers that might predict diabetes, including increased levels of insulin, glucose and insulin-like growth factor-1 in the non-resveratrol fed mice. For example, a standard diabetes glucose test on the resveratrol fed group found considerably higher insulin sensitivity, meaning the resveratrol group had a lower disposition toward diabetes than the non-resveratrol fed group. Lower insulin levels predicted increased lifespans in the mice. This is a tough prevention/cure dilemma as many doctors suggest their diabetic patients to stay away from wine due to wine’s natural grape sugars. It is best to consult your physician with any questions here.
Heart and Liver
In the Harvard study, researchers found that the livers of mice at 18 months of age on the non-resveratrol diet were greatly increased in size and weight. Liver tissue studies of these mice showed a loss of cellular integrity, and a build-up of lipids, which is common to high fat diets. In contrast, the resveratrol group had normal, healthy livers.
Immune System
Unlike many other alcoholic beverages, red wine does not suppress the immune system, according to preliminary studies at the University of Florida. While red wine has been reported to aid in the prevention of coronary heart disease and some cancers, no one had studied whether its alcohol content might offset any benefits, said food science and human nutrition researcher Susan Percival.
Percival, who specializes in nutrition and immunity, conducted a study to find out if red wine affects the immune system. Her research shows that the circulating white blood cells that fight infection are neither helped nor hurt by red wine. The study was designed to replicate moderate alcohol consumption for people, so the mice were given the equivalent of two or three glasses, or servings, of wine or alcohol per day.
Moderation
It is important to stress that this blog is neither condoning nor encouraging the consumption of alcohol. Over consumption of ethanol (alcohol) has shown itself to be more harmful than beneficial as will be explained below by the “J shaped curve.” Please note though that other benefits of moderate consumption that have been researched but not covered here are ethanol’s role in the prevention against strokes and in increased bone density in the elderly.
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J Shaped Curve
OK, take a large population of people with the knowledge of their average daily alcohol consumption, and their mortality. Plot the mortality on the upright axis, and on the horizontal axis take alcohol average daily consumption. Now fit a curve to the data points. If you have a large enough population, you'll see a nice curve that has the shape of a J. That is, those who drink nothing, have what is estimated to be a baseline mortality, or the risk of death used as a reference point. As daily consumption increases, that risk of death drops slightly. Then, as alcohol consumption increases, the risk of death increases until it reaches the baseline (these people have the same risk of death as those who drink nothing at all), and as drinking gets heavier, the risk of death continues to increase steadily. This is called the J-shaped curve, and is a remarkably consistent finding from many large studies. It is the solid body of data that has led to the conclusion that moderate drinking is indeed beneficial to health. Yet, over-consumption will reduce the benefits and actually have negative consequences.
Resveratrol in Wine
When resveratrol data first began coming out around ten years ago, many presumed it would be the red grapes with the thickest skins that would contain the highest concentrations of resveratrol since resveratrol is found in the skins. Turns out that the thicker skinned varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, produce less resveratrol than thin skinned varieties such as Pinot Noir, as they have less stress protecting themselves against moulds and vineyard pests. ‘As if’ Pinot Noir needs another reason for us to drink it? We at WW have a terrific selection of Pinot Noirs in that are worth trying from Burgundy in France and other areas around the world. Ask your store manager for their favorites.
Now In: Evaluating Flawed Wine
Wine Faults, from www.wineanorak.com
Acetic Acid
A volatile organic acid often encountered in food, this is the main acid responsible for the flavor of vinegar. From this you'll have gathered that it is not a desirable component of wine. If you leave a bottle of wine open for a couple of weeks, a bug called Acetobacter will turn the alcohol into acetic acid, and you'll have vinegar.
Astringent
Unflattering tasting term describing an unpleasant, dry, mouth-puckering sensation usually caused by excess acidity or bitterness. The excessive tannins in young, overextracted red wines are the usual culprits.
Austere
Wine-buff speak for a wine that is a bit too severe or restrained on the palate. Usually uncomplimentary, although some young wines destined for greater things may be 'austere' in their youth. Commonly used to describe young Bordeaux reds.
Brettanomyces
Have you ever had a wine that tasted of a mixture of farmyards, cheesy feet and animal poop? The chances are, this wine was infected by the yeast-like fungus Brettanomyces (often abbreviated to just 'brett'). It is often encountered in red wines from warm regions such as the South of France. In small doses can add complexity, but in higher concentrations is thought to be a fault. Once present in a winery Brettanomyces is quite difficult to remove.
Clean
A wine which doesn't have any off-flavors or taints is called 'clean'. Most wines on the market these days are 'clean.'
Corked
Have you ever opened a bottle, and instead of clean, fruity aromas found that it smells of moldy cellars and damp cardboard? This is what a corked wine smells like. Contrary to popular opinion a corked wine is not one that has bits of cork floating in it (this is totally harmless, fish the bits out and the wine will be fine); instead, it is a wine that has been contaminated by a chemical called trichloroanisole (TCA). The human nose is extremely sensitive to this contaminant (it can be detected at concentrations as low as parts per trillion!), which is a result of a chemical reaction between chlorine and cork. It is a major problem, spoiling between 2% and 7% of all wines, depending on who you listen to. This is why artificial corks are increasingly being used, especially on inexpensive wines not destined for ageing. The degree of cork-taint can vary, but you'll find that almost all retailers will replace a corked bottle without question if you return it.
Flabby
A word used to describe a wine that doesn't have enough acidity to balance the other elements. Buttery Chardonnays with rich tropical fruit flavors from warm-climate regions are most likely to show this sort of character, especially if they are a few years old.
Gamey
Imprecise taste term usually reserved for older wines that exhibit smells and flavors associated with damp undergrowth, mushrooms, well hung pheasants and unwashed farmers' feet.
Hard
A negative tasting term for a wine has a tough tannic structure, perhaps also with high acidity or bitterness, and very little *fruit to provide balance. Such wines are joyless bottles, unpleasant to drink. Hardness can be contributed by unripe grapes, too long a maceration, or overextraction. However, all is not necessarily lost, because some wines destined for long ageing often start out tasting 'hard' in their youth, and then mellow with time. A good example of a hard wine might be a young Barolo, from Piedmont in Italy.
Lean
Tasting term referring to a wine that has high acidity and not much fruit.
Musty
Think of damp cellars, think of moldy potatoes at the bottom of the bag, think of railway arches -- these smells can be described as musty, and when you encounter mustiness in a wine, it could well be because it is *corked.
Oxidized
A term describing a commonly encountered wine fault, caused by the exposure of a wine to oxygen, which eventually turns the alcohol to *acetic acid. Net result is vinegar. Yuk. A mildly oxidized red wine will have a brownish color, with high *volatile acidity. A mildly oxidized white wine will have a deep yellow/gold color and unappealing flavors of butterscotch and coffee, perhaps also with some volatility on the nose. The most common cause of oxidation is cork failure, letting air into the wine, although white wines intended for early consumption that have been cellared for too long will also display these characters to varying degrees.
Reduction
'Reduction' is the term used to describe the presence of volatile sulfur compounds in wine. It’s actually a bit of a misnomer. Let me try to explain why. Reduction and oxidation are two different chemical processes that complement each other. In a chemical reaction, electrons change hands, and as one compound is oxidized another is reduced. If there is plenty of oxygen around, then chemical components in a wine will be gradually oxidized (the electrons are transferred from the chemical components in the wine to the oxygen). The end result is an oxidized wine. During fermentation the yeasts need oxygen, and in the early stages of red wine development a little oxygen is helpful because it allows the oxidation of some ethanol to acetaldeyde (also known as ethanal) which can then help with the development of tannins and pigmented polymers that are important in building structure and colour (this is the theory behind microoxygenation). But after this, wine development is largely reductive: that is, it occurs best in the relative absence of oxygen.
TCA
An abbreviation for the chemical trichloranisole, which ruins an enormous amount of wine every year (see *corked).
Volatile Acidity
Volatile acidity (VA) is caused by naturally occurring chemicals in wine, produced by the actions of acetic bacteria. It can be shown that there are measurable levels of VA in all wine. VA is split between two types of chemical – acetic acid and ethyl acetate. Rightly or wrongly, I tend to think of the acetic acid affecting the taste with the sourness or edge to a wine which recalls vinegar, with the ethyl acetate leading to various volatile traits from a mild ‘lift’ to the nose which isn’t directly noticeable, through a boot polish kind of aroma, to nail varnish remover in the worst cases. The fact is that acetic acid and ethyl acetate are formed together and such a distinction may not in fact be so straightforward. But then that’s wine for you – it is more than likely that a complex picture of elements are involved in whether we perceive an issue or not. In the case of VA, it’s not just the level – but also the wine style and type. The richer, bigger wines (Port, for example) can carry greater amounts of VA without detriment. In fact, the sweet dessert wines styles affected by noble rot actually seem to need high levels of VA in order to help form the nose. Without these more volatile elements, the heavy, sugary wine would not give much on the nose at all, and the VA provides an essential ‘lift’ to bring the less volatile elements to our nose.
