Weddings and Wine: Selecting and Serving the Perfect Wine

Like weddings, wine is also a symbol of deep joy, gladness, and celebration! Today more couples are opting for wines to be served and paired with the meal at their event than ever before.

Trying to figure out the right wines and how to serve them can be a little confusing.

You both may have a wine that you enjoy and would like to incorporate into the menu. Your caterer can help you pair the wines to compliment your meal. White wines usually go well with chicken or fish, the reds usually beef, pork, and red sauces. Of course champagne and sparkling wines are at home with appetizers as well as desserts. Imagine champagne with crab cakes as an appetizer or strawberries and chocolate for dessert.

Typically most people will drink a white wine, chardonnay being the favored. Between 40% and50% of the guests will drink a red wine, most popular is Cabernet, however; Merlot and Shiraz are a second favorite. The White Zinfandels are a little more specific to a smaller crowd but equally delicious.

The vote being in it is said women are more likely to drink white wine and men are red wine drinkers. One perk to imbibing in wine is the low carb count. Since the process in turning grapes into wine is called the fermentation process there is not much natural sugars, thus low carbs. The carb counts vary from locations and winemakers and generally is placed at about 5 carbs per glass for a dryer wine, up to 10 carbs in a sweet wine or champagne. However winemakers are now offering even lower carb counts (as low as 1) with some specialty wines.

Knowing how much wine to buy is important, the last thing you want to do is run out in the middle of your celebration.

Again your caterer should be able to assist in the process, depending on your crowd some people may not drink at all while others may over indulge so you’ll need a balance. Pairing the wines with dinner is a beautiful touch as the waiters pass around the tables and refill the glasses as needed, it controls the flow and everyone feels pampered.

Finding the right tasting wine is very important, something that everyone’s palette can enjoy. There are so many good wineries to choose from and today there are many celebrities in the wine industry.

Lorraine Bracco known for her roles in The Sopranos, Goodfella’s, and Medicine Man, has a rich understanding of wine, winemaking and food pairing. Lorraine has her own selection of Italian wines that she has carefully handpicked for the Bracco Wine Portfolio.

“Selecting a wine though, with so many regions, grape varitels, and other choices can be very intimidating for people,” suggests Lorraine. “Living in Europe opened my eyes to the craftsmanship of wine, the different types of grapes, and the many steps and process it takes to make a good wine. “With Bracco Wines, my goal is to share my love and passion for good wine and provide great wine selections that best represent the regions of Italy for people to enjoy with their family and friends.”

Lorraine’s collection includes a Chianti Classico, which is a perfect companion to red meats, and poultry, a Montepulciano d’ Abruzzo that is an intense wine, goes well with pasta and is an elegant addition to any occasion. For the complete collection of Bracco wines visit www.braccowines.com.

Sparkling Wines traditionally served as a toast, are finally being appreciated with appetizers, main courses and desserts. The Vineyard of Domaine Carneros famous for their production of sparkling wine in the Napa Valley has these suggestions for your soiree:

The Brut Rose can be paired with appetizers and goes well with cheeses and fruit. If you would like to serve it through dinner it is excellent with salmon or duck and their brut vintage is very pleasing with whitefish, shellfish and fowl.

Mumm Napa Sparkling wines, which have been a hallmark in the Napa Valley Wine region, has three very popular bubblies, which include, Mumm Napa Blanc de Noir, Mumm Napa Brut Prestige and Mumm Napa Cuvee.

An interactive wine guide on their website proves invaluable as it has great tips for food pairing, quantity guidelines, tasting notes, personalizing your list and a variety of other pertinent information– www.mummnapa.com.

For those couples looking for an authentic French sparkling wine, the region of Alsace in France, Cremant D’Alsace has an ideal climate for white grapes where the traditional champagne method is used to produce delicious sparkling wines. Lucian Albrecht, Albert Mann, and Willm are a few of the popular brands offered from this region.

The winemakers at O’Brien vineyards have produced the ultimate romantic wine for wedding nights and honeymoons called Seduction. Seduction is a wonderful wine for newlyweds to have waiting for them in their wedding suite at the end of their special day. Now in its third vintage Seduction is a limited availability Napa Valley blend of Cabernet Savignon, Cabernet Franc, and merlot.

The wine is encased in an elegant red and black gift box that features a romantic message written by the O’Brien’s: “Lovers are the winds of passion-fill your sails”. “Friends are the harbor of calm-anchor your soul.”  “You are the waters of clarity-live your dreams”. For an added touch of elegance it comes wrapped in a crimson organza bag. www.seductionwine.com

Personalizing the wine is also becoming a favorite of the bride and groom. Signature Wines can create labels with the couple’s image and sentiment. They work with a variety of very fine vineyards such as Kendall-Jackson that supply their bottles of wine for these special labels. www.SignatureWines.com

Whether your celebration is large or small wine will add to it with great joy and romance as well as great taste great taste.

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