Food for wine tasting

[ncbergs]

Hi,
I am "hosting" a wine tasting at a local wine shop. Luckily, the wine expert is taking care of the wine. I just have to take care of the food! We are drinking 3 whites and 3 reds from Italy. Any suggestions? Anything good to buy at a warehouse club like BJs or Sams?

Thanks!

[Tastevin]

Hi,
Bearing in mind there's a multitude of different Italian wine styles, may I suggest you post details of the wines you intend showing, for instance - brand name, grape, year, whether dry, sweet, medium dry, sparkling.
Armed with that information I'm sure a member will be able to make some suggestions regarding food. Presumably, the food is not for a 'sit-down' meal, or is it? Good luck at the tasting.

[Innkeeper]

One thing you can never go wrong with at a wine tasting is bread. Some people tend to think singularly when thinking of bread, e.g. "Bread? OK I'll pick up a baguette." A variety of breads and rolls, so long as none are sweet or too complex will do the trick.

[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 01-15-2004).]

[wondersofwine]

May want to add some varieties of cheese as well, both soft and hard cheeses. Maybe grapes. For more specific appetizers it would help to know what wines will be served.

[Tyrrell]

A general rule that I've noticed (that I'd even be confident enough to volunteer without knowing what wines you'll be serving) is to avoid most fruit. Fruit will often overwhelm some of your mouth's taste receptors and make some wines (whites especially) taste like flat Zima.

[wineguruchgo]

I would go with bread and cheese, but Italian cheese. Mozzarella, Fontina, Provolone, Gorgonzola and Parmigiano Reggiano. People love little snack foods and it clears their palate. You also could do a meat tray of salami, mortadella, proscuitto. The sky is the limit here, it's just a matter of how much you want to spend.

JMHO