Okay, confession time: I haven’t written in a while. Life got busy, the wine kept calling, and apparently “keep a blog up to date” wasn’t high on the list. But here I am, slightly more sober than last week, ready to fill you in on what’s been happening lately...wine-themed, of course.
Dominic and I recently hosted a birthday dinner party for him. Which sounds classy and organized when you say it like that.
In reality, it was about 15 people, a Spanish-themed wine pairing menu, a fire going in the backyard, and me slowly getting drunk at my own party.
But let's start at the beginning.
Operation: Make it Look Fancy
If you’re going to host a themed wine dinner, you have to commit.
Which meant Spanish wines, Spanish-style food, and *most importantly* proper glasses.
I decided that if people were going to drink good wine, they deserved to feel fancy doing it. Which meant no plastic cups.
So… I did what any reasonable person would do: I went to the op shop and bought a chaotic assortment of wine glasses. Different shapes, different sizes, absolutely no consistency whatsoever. I even found champagne flutes so that when people arrived they could feel immediately fancy.
Honestly, nothing says an “elevated wine experience” like mismatched thrift-store glassware.
But it worked!
The Welcome Wine
As people arrived, we started with 1+1=3 Cava Cygnus Sador Brut.
Cava is the perfect party starter because:
-
It’s bubbly.
-
It’s Spanish.
-
And most importantly… it convinces everyone the night is going to be classy.
Glasses in hand, the sun still shining, we naturally gravitated to the fire pit. It ended up being the best decision of the night. People could wander, chat, and sip without feeling like they were stuck in a formal tasting.
Dominic was in his element, tending the fire he’d been talking about all winter. I swear there’s something about a man and a fire… it just seems to unlock some primal satisfaction.
Also, a little-known hosting secret: people tend to drink more wine when they’re standing around a fire. Something about the warmth and the glow makes everything taste better.
Courses of Consequence
The Pre-Game Cheese Situation
Before the official courses started, we had a cheese board out.
Was it part of the pairing menu?
No.
Did it prevent people from drinking sparkling wine on an empty stomach?
Also no.
But it made everyone happy and gave people something to snack on while I finished pretending I had everything under control in the kitchen.
Course One: Garlic, Peppers, & Albariño
The first course was garlic shrimp and shishito peppers, paired with Gran Bazán Albariño Verde.
Albariño is basically the dream wine for seafood. It’s bright, citrusy, a little salty, and feels like it came directly from the ocean specifically to go with shrimp.
Add garlic and olive oil and suddenly everyone thinks you know what you're doing.
This was also the moment when the pacing of the wine began to escalate slightly.
Because while the Albariño was the official pairing, we also had Paddy Borthwick Sauvignon Blanc open.
Now technically this wine is not Spanish. In fact, nothing technical about it… it is very much a New Zealand wine.
But we had an entire case of it, and as it turns out, 15 people sitting around a fire will absolutely demolish a case of Sauvignon Blanc, without hesitation.
Mind you, we also had a whole case of the other Spanish wines.
But I can’t blame them for loving an NZ Sauv… although I might be slightly biased on that one.
By the end of the evening the entire case was gone, which either means:
-
It paired very well with the food
-
People were thirsty
-
Or both
Science may never know.
Course Two: Lamb, Herbs, & Red Wine by the Fire
The main course was lamb racks with sage and rosemary from the garden, served along side patatas bravas.
We paired this with La Figuera Montsant 'Sindicat' Garnacha.
Garnacha is one of my favorite wines for lamb because it’s juicy, slightly spicy, and doesn’t overpower the meat.
By this point, we had fully migrated to the fire pit, but would come inside to eat. My living room doesn’t normally host so many people, so plates were balanced on laps while I flailed around trying to add more seating, until Dom reminded me to relax.
As soon as we’d scarfed down the food, we were back outside, refilling glasses and discovering that a few cigarettes had made an appearance.
Which brings me to a crucial wine-pairing tip: Red wine pairs incredibly well with a cigarette around a fire.
It’s smoky, warm… and somehow feels exactly right.
Highly recommend.
The Final Wine (And My Downfall)
The last wine of the evening was Prima Toro.
Bold, structured, and exactly the kind of wine you open when everyone is warm, happy, and sitting around a fire talking about absolutely nothing important… and maybe a bit of rugby.
And then it hit me...the hard truth about hosting your own wine-pairing dinner:
You drink every wine.
Because when you’re making sure no one else’s glass goes empty… well, that apparently includes your own.
Somewhere around the reds, it became obvious: the person most successfully enjoying the pairings was me.
Yes. I was drunk.
At my own party.
So, in a moment of what I can only describe as responsible hosting, I did the only sensible thing: I went to bed.
The host quietly disappeared while everyone else carried on drinking around the fire.
So, my tried-and-true advice for anyone hoping to get properly drunk at their own dinner party: serve killer wines, pair them with delicious food, and drink freely. After all… it is your party.
Final Sips
Despite my early retirement from the evening, the party was perfect.
The weather stayed warm, the fire crackled all night, and people drank good wine, ate delicious food, and laughed until it hurt... exactly the kind of chaos I’d hoped for.
Honestly? This is the kind of wine night that makes it all worth it.
Because the truth is, the best wine pairing isn’t shrimp or lamb or cheese.
It’s good people, a fire, and a slightly irresponsible number of open bottles.
So if you’re wondering what wine pairs best with getting drunk at your own dinner party, I have a professional recommendation:
Start with bubbles.
Add Albariño.
Include a full case of Sauvignon Blanc.
Finish with two Spanish reds.
And most importantly:
Pair more wine with laugher, than actual food
