Thanksgiving Wine Tips
It’s almost time to bust out the holiday aprons and prep the ingredients for our favorite Thanksgiving dishes – there’s no such thing as being too prepared when it comes time for the holidays. When mentally planning for the November feast, most of us tend to focus on which wine should be paired with which food staple—whether a port will complement the pumpkin pie, or perhaps a sparkling wine might best accent the turkey this year. While these are all necessary questions, no host can afford to neglect these few simple precautions that won’t leave you in a tizzy come Thanksgiving Day.
Stock Your Cellar Early. Amidst the holiday shopping chaos, most people wait until the last minute and end up having to buy wine at a local supermarket, which can mean having to settle for a poorer quality bottle after everyone has played the same waiting game. However, if you place an order through our online store, you’re given the option of listing your desired delivery date so you can avoid the last minute madness and the fear of facing a supermarket shortage.
When making your wine purchase ahead of time, it’s important not to forget the rules of wine temperature. Any space with a temperature below 75 degrees is the recommended spot for storage. This means avoiding kitchen countertops and wine racks situated next to your refrigerator or oven. Ideally a wine fridge is the preferred storage method, but your home’s basement or a cooler spot beneath your staircase is also completely suitable.
Make Sure to Buy Enough. If you already know how often you’ll be entertaining, plan to buy enough while we’re still in the early stages of the holiday season. There are many factors to consider when making these party guess-timations. We find this little formula helpful in projecting how much wine each guest will need:
1) Assume that each guest will drink one to two glasses an hour
2) Factor in the amount of time you spend enjoying appetizers before the meal and the amount of time your company likes to carouse over the dinner table
3) Multiply:
- The number of hours you plan to entertain
- x the number of guests
- x two drinks per guest
- = The number of glasses of wine you need
4) When serving a standard 750-mL bottle, assume you’ll get about four glasses per bottle. Now divide your glass number by 4 to find out how many bottles you need. Simple!
- Guests x hours x 2 = glasses
- Glasses / 4 = number of bottles
Or, you can always plan to just have one bottle on hand for each of your wine-drinking guests. If entertaining a crowd of more than 6-8 people, it is wise to buy duplicates just in case the bounty runs out. Luckily, if you buy more than 10 boxes of any one of our Holiday Gift Boxes, you’ll receive 10% off your order – Buy 20 or more gift boxes and get 15% off your order. What could be more perfect!
Consider the Chances of Serving a Corked Bottle. One of the most important things to remember about wine is the likelihood of opening a bottle that is corked. No one wants to have their guests drinking wine that tastes like the s the little ones’ shoes after they just came in from the traditional Thanksgiving family football game. Just for good measure, it’s important to have at least one bottle as a back up.
Do You Have the Proper Supplies? Wine is just as important as its serving tools. If you’re like us, you’re sure to encounter an inevitable broken glass stem or a sink-shattering scuffle. Double-check your cabinets to make sure you have enough glassware to serve everyone. Have anywhere from 2-8 extra pieces of dishware.
Having a few back up corkscrews on hand is also important. Attempting to finagle a bottle open with an unreliable corkscrew shouldn’t happen after things have run this smoothly! Simply tack on a few of our durable corkscrews onto your order while you stock up for Thanksgiving.
One of the last steps you’ll want to take just before you serve Mira wine is one that will make a difference for your taste buds. We suggest decanting the wine before pouring a glass. If you don’t have a fancy decanter, pour it in a glass carafe or water pitcher. Exposing the wine to a bit of oxygen before you serve will provide for its optimal flavor.