NYE guest, serve homemade?

[NorCal]

Guest coming over. I'd say B+ level wine drinkers, which is above the wine I have made so far (based on silver medals at CA state fair). Should I offer some nice commercial wine and leave mine in the box?

 

[jgmann67]

Guest coming over. I'd say B+ level wine drinkers, which is above the wine I have made so far (based on silver medals at CA state fair). Should I offer some nice commercial wine and leave mine in the box?

I wouldn't hesitate to put out wines that I like. Maybe you put out a mix of commercial and yours.

At Christmas dinner, I brought three different wines that I made to my brother's house . We opened them during appetizers - everyone knew I started making wines a couple years ago. But, most of the family hadn't tried them yet. So, it was its own "thing." Eventually the homemade wines were gone and we changed gears to my brother's commercial wines.

My guess is that your guests would love to sample your wines. So, make it its own thing. [emoji41]

 

[Boatboy24]

Agree with Jim. Go with a mix and let people choose.

 

[Floandgary]

A gracious guest should be adamant about tasting yours.. and honest about the experience as well!! Nothing wrong with showing off a bit either

 

[ibglowin]

A mix for sure. You can serve yours as the "warm up wine" with apps and then pull out the big gun for dinner or go the opposite way and serve yours as the 2nd or 3rd bottle depending on the amount of guest over when you need more wine and don't want to necessarily pull out another big gun and perhaps waste it if nobody really wants any more.

I have actually had guest say mine was better than what I pulled out of the cellar (commercial wise). That is a nice compliment to hear for sure!

 

[Johny99]

I also say go with a mix. I like to open them all, breathing is good anyway and let folks taste and choose.

Happy New Year

 

[NorCal]

A mix it is. Thanks for the responses. I may to a little barrel tasting and let them play with blending (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre)

 

[Boatboy24]

A mix it is. Thanks for the responses. I may to a little barrel tasting and let them play with blending (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre)

I have a couple friends that whenever they're over, we end up heading downstairs for barrel tasting.

 

[Arne]

I have a couple friends that whenever they're over, we end up heading downstairs for barrel tasting.

And the wine gremlins arrive at your house. Sure screws with the levels in the carboys when they arrive. Good luck, Arne.

 

[NorCal]

Interesting night. They brought a real nice Chardonnay, which we had with dinner. We also broke open a nice Cab. We got on the topic of the influence of a French Oak on the taste and went and opened up a Barbera that I overoaked in a French Barrel this year. They loved it, I wanted to dump it, because it is not my cup of tea.

I decided to pull a 500 ml bottle of the 2016 Syrah and a 500 ml of the 2016/2015 Grenache/Mourvèdre from the barrel ahead of time. I brought out the graduated cylinders and tried different blending ratios. It was a nice evening and a combination of commercial wine and playing winemaker with this year's wine was a fun activity. Happy New Year!

 

[GreenEnvy22]

I always offer a mix of my own and commercial. I only have 2 varieties of my own wine so far to offer (Muscat and Riesling), so it doesn't always fit the setting. In a couple more years I should have some more variety.

 

[PhilDarby]

I love blending my own wines and if I make one a bit off, tend to keep them and blend them with suitable wines.