Reception

[richmke]

My son is getting married, and asked if I would provide the wine for the reception. Fortunately, I have been on a wine making binge, and have enough that will be ready in time.

I thought I would bring a selection, big red, white, fruity, etc. Fortunately, I do not have to cross state lines with them (Wisconsin).

Any rule of thumb on the ratio of bottles per adult?
Any words of wisdom?

I was also thinking about making a batch of beer and having that available too.

 

[salcoco]

normal etiquette that I have read for a party is to plan on one bottle of wine per guest. For a wedding reception the problem will be the experience of each of the guests to drinking wine. as you may have quite a few novices more of the fruity sweet wine may be required than a balanced or dry red. Have fun. Have you thought of making labels honoring the wedding. I did that for my Goddaughter and it was a big hit. some quests took the empty bottles home as souvenirs. Congratulations

 

[JohnT]

My son is getting married, and asked if I would provide the wine for the reception. Fortunately, I have been on a wine making binge, and have enough that will be ready in time.

I thought I would bring a selection, big red, white, fruity, etc. Fortunately, I do not have to cross state lines with them (Wisconsin).

Any rule of thumb on the ratio of bottles per adult?
Any words of wisdom?

I was also thinking about making a batch of beer and having that available too.

I agree that you should plan on 1 bottle per adult, but my suggestion is to have your son a future bride come over for a tasting. Let them decide what wines they would like at their reception. This is what I do whenever a niece or nephew gets married. The "nuptials tasting" is now a bit of a tradition.

 

[richmke]

1 bottle per adult is a lot of wine. My wife and I could not polish off a bottle in one sitting.

It will be a "relatively" small reception - about 100 people (including kids). I was going to bring an assortment, serve it by the glass, and and also let people take a bottle of what they like back to the table.

I will have ready:

Reds: Eclipse Old Vine Zinfandel, LE 2012 Argentine Malbec, Selection Australian Petit Verdot
Whites: Eclipse Sauvignon Blanc, Eclipse Gewurztraminer, World Vinyard Moscato
Island Mist: Green Apple Riesling, Black Berry Cabernet, and Exotic Fruit white Zinfandel

The Petit Verdot and Moscato I started in January, and would bottle them about a month prior to the reception. Everything else has been in bottles for a while.

Should I bring along the Dragon Blood batch I made? I am guessing the IM's and maybe the Dragon Blood will be popular with the novices, and whites for those with more discriminating pallets, and the Reds for the true winos.

 

[cmason1957]

Based on what I see from other wine drinkers, not wine makers. Sweet will be requested more often than dry, maybe not quite 2 to 1. So I would plan accordingly and have mostly that. Unless you know that the group as a whole are discriminating wine drinkers.

 

[ibglowin]

Our daughter got married two years ago this August and I did all the wines for the reception. The wines consumed depends a lot on what food is being served at the reception. Reds are usually preferred 2-1 over whites.

Oh and I would plan on 1 bottle per 2 guest unless you want a bunch of drunk guest on your hands!

 

[tonyt]

I too believe a bottle per adult is too much. Sending a bottle to a table will waste lots of wine, I suggest you rethink that. 2-1 red to white might be a bit light on white given a wedding. When folks are dressed up they lean more to the white, both of my kids weddings went 50/50. Although we did serve beer also that took some of the guys out of the wine mix. If your local liquor stores cater I would call one of the large ones and ask them, they'll have the best answer for your local population. They will also tell you how many bottles to plan.

Congratulations in advance.

 

[JohnT]

1 bottle per adult is a lot of wine.

Not in my family (LOL)...

 

[ibglowin]

LOL

We had a Mobile Pizza Oven cater our daughters. They served Anti-pasta and several salads first then they started bringing out wood fired pizza's for a couple hours and most all them them went with Red's. As we had this event in our back yard it was only a few steps to the winery to grab more of whatever was needed.

Pics are here: http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f25/chateau-michaelena-vineyard-28047/index32.html#post369552

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

If this is a typical WI wedding, one bottle per adult would not be close! Or that's just my experience

However, even at open bar weddings I've been to, beer is the drink of choice. It will depend a lot on the families and the crowds the newly weds hang out with. Its hard to dance or move around with a glass of wine and not spill. People don't seem to care as much if you spill some Busch Light, though

 

[salcoco]

if you have a case of wine for each of the wines you mentioned you are at over 100 bottles, enough for your reception. also the advice on beer is also true, beer drinkers will take away from the wine drinkers.

 

[Gracie]

I think 1 bottle per guest is entirely reasonable. Remember that people who drink moderately may drink more on a special occasion. People who drink heavily will drink even more, and people who rarely drink will at least pour a glass, whether they drink it or not. Better to have too much wine than not enough. Remember Jesus and his first miracle was with a host who didn't plan for enough wine!


Sent from my iPad using Wine Making

 

[jojabri]

Having some beer would definitely be a good thing. I also think having a few Dragon Bloods is a plus, I know several people who don't even like grape wines but love DB & DB variants. Perhaps its the fruit.

The amount should totally be based on the guests. Perhaps you should ask your son if HE thinks that would be enough. Him and his fiancee would know their guests a bit better I would think.

Never hurts to bring more than enough. Running out would really stink!

 

[richmke]

It is not a problem bringing that much wine. It just seemed like a lot. I suppose it is over a couple of hours, and not just dinner. Anything not consumed will be put back in the cellar, so not a big deal.

I was thinking about making my first batch of SP. I should have started it a few months ago. But, given this cold summer, it will probably be ready just in time.