Wine Tasting, Fall & The Moon

Hubby and I hosted a Wine Tasting party for a few of his business colleagues. My parents arrived that morning from California, so they got to join in the festivities.  I only invited 3 other couples, but only 2 couples could make it.  There were 4 couples total, which actually was perfect. There was a military veteran from the Army, Navy and the Marines represented at the party and we still got along!  Of course, with a little fun banter here and there.  Haha! (GO NAVY!)

Fall Theme

There were two themes for the evening - Fall and Moon. The Fall theme was because it's Fall. That was a no-brainer! The napkins and plates had the Fall theme with colorful leaves and apples. I used real leaves from our yard as labels for the food and wine. We only have about a million of them on the ground right now.  So, we had some to spare.

Remember all the hoopla about the Red Moon?  Well, that is where I got the second theme.  I also got it from perusing the wine aisle at Trader Joe's where I noticed a few bottles that had the name Moon. TJ's has a Moon line, which I never tried before. Can you believe it?!?! 

For the food, I spent hours and hours in the kitchen making everything from scratch.  LMAO!  (I didn't even believe that one as I was typing it.)  You should know by now that I'm NOT that chick. So, I had a little help from TJ's frozen section. All I had to do was put food in oven and put food on pretty plates. Done! I did make the dessert...pumpkin bars...from a box. It was good though.

Food: Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms, Pastry Bites with Feta Cheese and Carmelized Onions, Spizzico di Pizza, Chicken Yakatori Skewers, Sweet Balls of Fire (Turkey Meatballs with Sweet & Sour Sauce), Prosciutto, Salame, Capicola, Soppresetta
Cheese: Brie, Sharp Cheddar, Bleu, Smoked Gouda, Goat, Parmegiano Reggiano, Asiago

Crackers: 6 different cracker varieties
Wines: Honey Moon - Vognier, Venetian Moon - Pinot Grigio, Bay Moon - Sauvignon Blanc, Purple Moon - Shiraz, Chardonnay, and Merlot, Velvet Moon - Cabernet Sauvignon, Old Moon - Zinfandel, ONX Moon - Dark Red Blend, Le Grotte - Lambrusco Dell'Emilia Bianco & Reggiano Lambrusco.

(The wine prices ranged from $6.99 - $12.99.)

I searched online for ideas on how to do a Wine Tasting at home and I got frustrated because there were soo many ideas.  Some were easy and some were way too complicated.  I ended up doing the same way Hubby and I taste wine at home....we opened the bottles and said GO!  LOL!

Although we didn't do the "traditional" wine tasting, I bought wine glasses for everyone to take home. I found the cutest wine glasses at Dollar Tree for $1 each. Super cheap for a super cool idea.  

Toward the end of the party I went around and asked everyone to share their favorite wine(s).  The favorites were ONX Moon, Purple Moon Merlot and the Lambrusco Dell'Emilia Bianco.

The Merlot was my favorite and it will be a permanent resident in the wine fridge.

Crowd Favorites

I had a really good time.  The company was wonderful.  The conversation flowed like we all had known each other for years.  I'd definitely do it again. One suggestion was to have a Craft Beer or a Tequila party.  I don't drink beer, but the Tequila party sounds like a good idea.

Oh! The best thing about the party....I hosted the entire party in my slippers!  I totally forgot that I still had them on until I started to walk our guests outside.  LOL!!!





Salute!

MommyReserve