Recently I hosted a wine pairing dinner featuring 6 delicious Rodney Strong wines to celebrate 25 years of Klein family ownership of Rodney Strong Vineyards.
During the party, several of my guests asked for my catering and grocery list so they could re-create the pairings at home. All the food I served came from the new Whole Foods Market near my home.
Of course I was delighted they asked and so, instead of just keeping it to ourselves, I thought I’d share with the rest of the MomsToolbox community, as well.
This dinner was so simply pulled together that I have no doubt you could pull it off this Saturday night, if you’d like.
Before I get to the lists, let me tell you a bit more about why I hosted the party…
My little gathering was one of 9 blogger parties held simultaneously with 4 additional parties at swanky restaurants across the country with celebrity chefs. It was truly an amazing event to coordinate all of us, and it was a blast to take part!
Rodney Strong Vineyards provided each blogger host with two bottles of five of the wines and one bottle of the Gentleman’s Port and $250 in Visa gift cards to cover our groceries for dinner.
Some bloggers went all swanky with the silver anniversary theme.
I took another route and invited a group of my mom friends over for a somewhat Girls Night Out. (The kids where with us, but they were pretty much busy doing their own thing… Except when the chicken wings came out and another time when the younger girls decided to put on a skit for us. THAT was priceless!) But, for the most part, it was moms-only and it was a great opportunity to catch up and enjoy delicious food and wine at the same time.
Of course I invited everyone to whip out their iPhones (or iPads), download my free app, Wine4.Me, and rate the wines in the app so they could get better personalized rankings of more wines they might enjoy. (The more wines you rate, the more precise your personal profile and personalized rankings in the app will become.)
I prepared a menu pairing Texas barbecue from Whole Foods with the Rodney Strong wines. It turned out to be one of the best night of pairings I have ever done… yet. :) I’I have no doubt the company made everything even better, though!
Here’s what we ate (and drank):
First Course: Rodney Strong Charlotte’s Home Sauvignon Blanc
- Artichoke Feta Lemon Fritters (catered by Whole Foods)
- Assorted cheeses including Drunken Goat, Comte- Les Trois Comptois, Manchego, Gruyere Reserve, Reserve Gouda, and Murcia Curado
- Raw almonds and green grapes
Second Course: Rodney Strong Chardonnay
- Smokehouse Chicken Wings (catered by Whole Foods)
- Guacamole, salsa and tortilla chips
- Cut fruit– mango, cantaloupe, watermelon
Third Course: Rodney Strong Pinot Noir
- Smoked Ribs
- Smoked Beef Brisket
- Mashed Potatoes
- Grilled Herbed Vegetables
- (All food for the Pinot Noir course was catered by Whole Foods.)
Rodney Strong Symmetry
Rodney Strong Brothers Ridge Cabernet
Rodney Strong Gentleman’s Port
- Assorted cheeses, including St. Aguar and Tellaggio, and assorted dark chocolates
As I said, everything went together quite well… It was amazing how we would try the wines, try the foods and be amazed at how each really did make the flavors of both even better. When you put together pairings like that you know you have a winner.
If you’ve always wanted to have a wine pairing dinner in your home but wasn’t sure what to serve, this is your answer. Most of the Rodney Strong wines we served are easy to find and the food is as easy to arrange from Whole Foods. It was definitely a home run at my house!
Cheers to great tastes and cheers to Rodney Strong for 25 years of Klein family ownership!
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