Tag Archives: Wine
Holiday hosting adviceParty planning on 660News
I had a blast talking holiday hosting with Cindy White at 660News
Happy hosting!
Holiday hosting made easy with etiquette expert Karen Cleveland and Jackson-Triggs
I love Christmas! Do you realize it’s just over two months away? It’ll be here before we know it.
So, I did a little online Christmas shopping before heading to work this morning. And I’ve already extended invitations to family and friends for festive get-togethers, so they could mark them on their calendars before they get completely booked up.
‘Tis the season to entertain. I always appreciate tips that make hosting: holiday gatherings easy. So this media release from Jackson-Triggs piqued my interest. It shows us how to channel our inner host with expert advice from hosting guru Karen Cleveland.
Here’s the release:
The holiday season is upon us and we all know that means: holiday parties, and lots of them! While guests have it made, hosts have some work to do. Jackson-Triggs has collaborated with hosting expert Karen Cleveland to create the ultimate holiday hosting guide, sure to help any host – first-time or experienced – to create the ultimate holiday experience for their guests.
“I was inspired by the challenges I’ve faced as a host when entertaining over the holiday season,” says hosting expert Karen Cleveland, who works for St. Joseph Media by day. “We’ve created an easy to follow guide that can help even a novice host sparkle and deliver a holiday experience their guests won’t soon forget.”
A Selection of Tips from the Jackson-Triggs Guide to Hosting
• List everything you need to buy and set mini deadlines for getting it all. If any of the prep work can be done early, get it all out of the way.
• When stocking up, scope out the boxed wine selection too. They’re a cinch if you’re pre-pouring a few trays of wine to have ready as guests arrive.
• Don’t stress about decor – keep it basic. Try all white with tons of greenery like magnolia and boxwood. They last and look great without being overdone.
• Anticipate guests’ arrival by having music on, wine pre-poured, snacks ready – like cheese, and a place for coats, accessories, and boots.
• Don’t be a slave to the party. Freshen food and guests’ glass throughout the night, but remember to get out and enjoy your own party!
• Last but not least, plan your revelry! Take some unabashed relaxation time the next day to put your feet up and bask in your hosting success.
“Above all, my best piece of advice is to keep it simple,” says Karen Cleveland. “Hosting with ease is the name of the game. Boxed wine is a logical choice for entertaining over the holidays, whether you’re planning one big hurrah or a few smaller parties.”
Five great reasons to consider boxed wine over the holidays:
• Value. It holds more than 5 bottles and still costs less.
• Convenience. It is easy to open and fits nicely into the fridge or pantry.
• Less packaging. Only 1 bag vs. 5 bottles.
• Portability. It’s easy to carry, without glass or bulky bottles to worry about.
• Freshness. Boxed wine stays fresh for up to 6 weeks.
With Jackson-Triggs guide to hosting, guests will look back days after the party and remember one thing: the gracious host. What more could any one ask for?
For a full list of Karen Cleveland’s hosting tips, visit: http://pinterest.com/jacksontriggs/hosting-tips-a-toast-to-the-host
Follow Irene Seiberling on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ISeiberling
(First published in The Leader Post, October 2012)
Five Unique Hostess Gifts For That Last Summer Invite
There’s no more avoiding the obvious: the last weekend of summer is looming. Hopefully the past few months held long, languorous days devoted to soaking up the sun in good company. If a trip away for Labour Day weekend is in the cards, bringing along something nice for your host could keep you as a guest in good standing.
Flowers or a great bottle of wine are always good, safe bets, but if you’re jockeying to be top of mind for the first long weekend invite for next spring, it might be time to stock some other gifts.
Books
- Nothing says unabashed relaxation more than being horizontal with a book. If you know your host well enough, you could pick up a display-worthy coffee table book on a topic they are into. If you know them intimately and think they share your taste in literature, you could pick up copies of some of your favourite reads.
Magazines For The Year
- Magazine subscriptions are the gift that keeps on giving. If you have a sense of what they read and subscribe to, you could bring the latest issue of a magazine with a note explaining that you’ve arranged for year’s subscription.
Food
- Foods that can be lazily grazed on are perfect because they don’t impede your host’s planned menu or cramp their kitchen. Bring along fresh baked goods to add to tomorrow’s breakfast table, or visit a great patisserie for treats — like fresh marshmallows and macaroons — that will last for a few days. Buy twice the amount and you’ll even have excellent snacks for the drive….
Booze
- Not to knock the ubiquitous bottle of wine, but there are boundless options when it comes to boozy gifts. Bring along the ingredients for a classic cocktail (Negronis are my favourite) and a classic shaker, or find a gorgeous pitcher and whip up a few batches of sangria. Just ensure you’ve brought all the ingredients to keep out of your host’s hair.
Coffee and tea
- Put together a basket of some freshly ground high-end coffee and some gorgeous teas. It could also be packaged prettily into a teapot or a French press — salvation for a die-hard coffee drinker should they find themselves a guest in the home of a non-coffee drinking host.
(Published first on The Huffington Post Canada, August 2012)
Travel Tips: 5 Expert Bring-Your-Own-Wine (BYOW) Tips at Restaurants
Restaurant bring-your-own-wine (BYOW) policies for patrons continues to spread across Canada (welcome to the club, British Columbia), with some savvy venues enticing diners with reduced corkage fees, or sometimes waiving them entirely.
Considering wine markups at most restaurants, this could save customers a bundle, though it puts a twist conventional wine service.
Here are some etiquette tips for bringing along your own bottle:
- Do some digging to avoid bringing a bottle that is already on the restaurant’s wine list.
- Feel free to ask for your server to decant or put your bottle on ice, though dropping it off earlier in the day might be wise if it requires serious chilling.
- Consider putting your server’s pairing prowess to good use for choosing pre-dinner aperitifs or a dessert wines.
- As a courtesy, offer to pour a taste from your bottle for the restaurant’s sommelier or your server.
- When calculating gratuity on your bill, account for the corkage fee. If the restaurant charges a $30 corkage fee and you are planning a 20 per cent tip, consider adding an additional $6 in gratuity. If the corkage fee is waived entirely (lucky you!) tip based on what the retail value of the bottle would be if it were on the restaurant’s wine list.
(First published for Where, August 2012)
Five Unique Hostess Gifts For That Last Summer Invite
There’s no more avoiding the obvious: the last weekend of summer is looming. Hopefully the past few months held long, languorous days devoted to soaking up the sun in good company. If a trip away for Labour Day weekend is in the cards, bringing along something nice for your host could keep you as a guest in good standing.
Flowers or a great bottle of wine are always good, safe bets, but if you’re jockeying to be top of mind for the first long weekend invite for next spring, it might be time to stock some other gifts.
Books
- Nothing says unabashed relaxation more than being horizontal with a book. If you know your host well enough, you could pick up a display-worthy coffee table book on a topic they are into. If you know them intimately and think they share your taste in literature, you could pick up copies of some of your favourite reads.
Magazines For The Year
- Magazine subscriptions are the gift that keeps on giving. If you have a sense of what they read and subscribe to, you could bring the latest issue of a magazine with a note explaining that you’ve arranged for year’s subscription.
Food
- Foods that can be lazily grazed on are perfect because they don’t impede your host’s planned menu or cramp their kitchen. Bring along fresh baked goods to add to tomorrow’s breakfast table, or visit a great patisserie for treats — like fresh marshmallows and macaroons — that will last for a few days. Buy twice the amount and you’ll even have excellent snacks for the drive….
Booze
- Not to knock the ubiquitous bottle of wine, but there are boundless options when it comes to boozy gifts. Bring along the ingredients for a classic cocktail (Negronis are my favourite) and a classic shaker, or find a gorgeous pitcher and whip up a few batches of sangria. Just ensure you’ve brought all the ingredients to keep out of your host’s hair.
Coffee and tea
- Put together a basket of some freshly ground high-end coffee and some gorgeous teas. It could also be packaged prettily into a teapot or a French press — salvation for a die-hard coffee drinker should they find themselves a guest in the home of a non-coffee drinking host.
(Published first on The Huffington Post Canada, August 2012)
Developing a crush on Matt Dees. Oh, and his wines. Jonata wine tasting at The DepARTment
A dozen or so of Toronto’s oenophiles (and one aspiring one, ahem, me) congregated at a Dundas West gallery for a Friday evening that felt like a dinner party – but with a twist. The gathering doubled as a sweet send-off for The Department (the gallery space will soon be converted to a hair salon) and as a casual setting for Matt Dees of Jonata wines to walk attendees through an intimate tasting of his Santa Ynez, California offerings.
Organized by Jamie Drummond and Malcolm Jolley of Good Food Revolution, the vibe was decidedly unpretentious, hit home perhaps by the fact that beers were cracked and casually consumed before a bottle of wine was even opened. Then, things got serious. Well, not too serious. Dees struck a perfect balance by geeking out over soil (he has a degree in it, as Shinan prompted me to remember) and keeping his references completely accessible. Some of my favourites include….
- “Saying wine is food friendly is like saying hats are head friendly.”
- “Wine is almost made before it even gets to the winery.”
- “There is a food for every wine.”
A purist, Dees makes his wines aided by his degree in dirt, lunar cycle and the help of clever goats. With the shy pride of a new father, he describes his wine like promising progenies. While the entire tasting flight was delicious, I fell instantly in love with his 2006 La Fuerza da Jonata Petit Verdot that I suspect you need a secret handshake or special insignia tattoo to find. Very little of this wine was made and even less of it is still available. Its inky, almost sappy, blackness stained the glass on contact and the taste had me immediately wanting to explore outside of Napa for my next California wine purchase.
Does the thought really count?
Regifting is a teensy bit deceitful, isn’t it? Only if you get caught.
Some gifts are harder than others to smoothly pass off as an original (a monogrammed hand knit sweater, perhaps?) while others can be quite stealthy – like a bottle of wine. A caveat before reading further: the following is not an endorsement of regifting. Avoid regifting at all costs (or rather, for a reasonable cost). If, in spite of this caution, you choose to regift a bottle of wine – hell, we’ve all done it – here’s how to do it suavely.
Keep track and cover your tracks
Ensure that the bottle of wine you are looking to regift bears no signs of its previous sender. Remove any telltale bows, ribbon or gift tags. And for heaven’s sake, do not give the same bottle back to the person that gifted it to you.
Do your homework
Some quick digging will reveal if the wine you are considering passing along is a dud, or a gem that you actually might want to hold on to for yourself. Take care to ensure that the wine is in drinkable condition. Is it an older vintage that might not have been properly stored? Is this wine from a homemade batch, labelled with a Sharpie? Do your homework to make certain that the bottle is worthy of gifting. Like any gift, the item should be suited to the recipient, so if you are considering regifting a mediocre bottle to a wine buff, you may very well end up insulting them.
Feeling guilty but going to do it anyways?
If the notion of blatant regifting makes you squirm, but you are too busy or broke to buy a gift, find a happy medium. Keep the bottle unwrapped and when you pass it along, tell the recipient you ended up with a duplicate of this fantastic bottle and wanted to share it with them. You are still offering them a great bottle of wine (score!) while softening in a truth-y way how you came by this particular bottle (double score!).
To help you avoid this worst case scenario, have a look at the holiday and gift suggestions put together by Winefox’s experts.
(First published in Winefox, December 2011)
Be the ultimate guest
A long, languorous dinner with good company is the perfect antidote to the mayhem that is the bustling holiday party circuit. And while the vibe is hopefully relaxed and your host can step away from the kitchen to enjoy themselves as their guests do, they inevitably put a lot of work into their hospitality. Show them some love by being a great guest.
If you think you might need directions or the scoop on where to park, get this information in advance. Your host’s time is better spent on preparing dinner than trying to answer frantic last-minute texts to navigate you to their home. And make every effort to be on time. If you are running late, message your host to let them know when you will arrive so they can arrange food accordingly. If you are considerably late (tsk, tsk) do not be surprised or upset if your hosts and other dinner guests have started without you.
An offer to help your host with pre-meal preparations might be meet with joyful acceptance (roll up your sleeves!) or a polite decline — either way, heed their wishes and try not to get in the way. Sometimes last-minute prep can frazzle even the coolest of hosts, which an audience can exaggerate. If you get the feeling that your host is stressed, make conversation with other guests and lure them away from the frantic cook.
A savvy guest never arrives empty-handed and the holidays are a great time to get something a bit more special than you normally would. Fresh flowers are lovely, though pre-cut and already arranged in a vase makes them an effortless gift for your host to receive. If you’re spending the night, some fresh baked goods for the following morning will ease your host’s day.
A great bottle of wine is a perennial favourite to bring to dinner, though resist the temptation to grab what is nearest the check out. A bit of thinking before your purchase goes a long way. When selecting a wine with which to dazzle your hosts, look to them for cues. Do they often wax about their incredible vacation in Australia? A peppery Shiraz from this region might be perfect. Do they love to cook all-out Italian feasts? A plush Valpolicella would fit nicely into their recipe repertoire. Is your host renowned for their sweet tooth? A silky, tawny port would pair well with their next chocolate fix. Try to match the wine to your host, or if in doubt, to the season.
Winter is perfect for the cozy-cable-knit-sweaters of wine: rich, bold reds (incidentally with higher alcohol content) warm up the season and are right at home beside heady comfort foods. Look to Southern Italy for full, lush Aglianico and bolder Chianti wines, with a great price range under $30 a bottle.
Regardless of how stellar a bottle of wine you bring, do not fret if your hosts do not uncork it that evening. They might have already put some serious thought into matching what wines they what they plans to serve for dinner. Regardless of what bottles get opened over dinner, nothing will please your host more than you enjoying yourself. As you imbibe, however, keep an eye on how quickly you empty your wine and water glasses — if you are depleting your wine glass at a far quicker rate than your water glass, you might be writing a sheepish apology note the next morning to your host. Everything in moderation….
As the party comes to a close, offer to help clear plates and wash up, though if your host refuses, don’t force the matter. It is their dinner, after all. Be sure to follow up with a nice handwritten note thanking your host for the lovely evening.
Did you bring the right bottle for your host? Here are some ideas for how to choose the right wine for each person on your list. We’ve also got ideas on how to make perfect white and red wine cheese plates for when it’s your turn to host.
(First published in Winefox, November 2011)