How to pick a wine for a dinner party

With so many choices out there in Beijing, sometimes it's hard to choose a wine to drink or bring to a dinner party based on just a price. Probably at one time or another we have all gone by the Beijing rule, if it's under 100 yuan it probably won't taste as good as something over 100 yuan. That is only partially true.

We invited both Gabriel Suk and Dorian Tang to gives us some tips and value vintages that will not only taste good, but are easy on the wallet too. Suk is author of the Wine Guide 2008. Tang has over 13 years of experience in the wine industry and is also a wine educator at wine distributor ASC.

Suk said the key to successfully serving wine at a holiday dinner party is to focus on "providing the right quantity, quality and consistency of options."

He suggests to start off by planning for about three fourths of a bottle per person for a sit down dinner.

Since people will be bringing varying levels of wine knowledge and appreciation to the table, he does not suggest going all out to pour the best wines from your collection or just picking out something a sales person said.

Instead, he said, "focus on a good bottle of wine or two that you have tried recently and enjoyed. Pick one white and one red (and a sparkling/Champagne to start off with if you feel like classing it up a bit).

"The best values are going to come from the New World. Try a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or Australian Riesling for your white and a California Pinot Noir or Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon for red."

While Suk suggested that we try a few wines to make sure we like them before serving them to our guests at dinner, what can we bring if we are invited as guests, especially to those informal BYOB (bring your own bottle) gatherings?

Tang, wine educator at ASC, suggests several bottles, most of which are around 100 yuan.

For a good gift at a great price, Tang notes the themed holiday bottle Fortant for 70-80 yuan.

Fortant is produced by the Skalli family. Starting in the 1980's, Robert Skalli began introducing "new world" varieties to the southern vineyards of France and the wines produced by his family have now a steady reputation that has reached to over 70 countries in around the world.

Made with 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, Tang describes the wine as having "full body and concentrated in flavor," and suggests pairing it with "roast turkey and beef".

"You can even pair it with hot pot (non-spicy)," she said.

All the wines she mentioned can be bought at Carrefour, SOGO and Kempinski supermarket.

She recommended Freixenet, a sparkling wine from Spain, that runs for about 120 yuan. Hailing from the world's number one sparkling wine producer, it is made in Spain using the traditional method of secondary fermentation inside the bottle.

As Tang explained, the Freixenet gets its smaller and more consistent bubbles from its fermentation method. She said that sparkling wines made by this traditional method will probably taste better than the sparkling wines that get injected with CO2 that have bigger and thus harsh tasting bubbles.

Since Freixenet is semi-dry, Tang suggested pairing it with spicy dishes.

Founded by Wolf Blass in Australia in 1961, the Wolf Blass family has been rewarded with more than 3,000 trophies and diplomas for their consistent investments in vineyards across South East Australia. Wolf Blass wines can be easily recognized by their different colored labels.

Made out of 70 percent Shiraz and 30 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, the Wolf Blass red label can be paired with red meat and even some seafood. Tang's favorite pairing with this wine is the Douchi Baoyu, or Abalone with salty black bean sauce.

A wine that the ladies might enjoy is the Beringer White Zinfendel for 115 yuan.

Produced by Beringer Vineyards in California's famous Napa Valley region, it is now in its third century of crafting classic wines. It is the oldest continuously operating winery in the Napa Valley and was named Winery of the Year in 2001 by both Wine Enthusiast Magazine and Wine & Spirits Magazine.

Made from the red grape, Tang loves its "beautiful blushed rose color".

She added that the ladies will "like the sweet tropical fruit taste such as pear, pineapple, cherry, strawberry." Because of its sweet taste, Tang suggested pairing it with Asian cuisine such as Thai or Chinese food.

For a good dessert wine, try the Inniskillin Ice Wine (900 yuan retail for 375 ml)

The Inniskillin winery is located in the Niagara region in Canada. They produced their very first Inniskillin Ice wine in 1984 and are now recognized as the undisputed leader of VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) ice wine.

Tang explained that ice wines are usually more expensive than other vintages because they have to keep the fruit well after the usual September to October harvesting months. Handpicked in December and January, they have to wait for the fruit to be at least -8 C.

"Inniskillin goes above the standard and is handpicked at -12 C, before noon even, when the grape is the coldest," Tang said. "Plus, with global warming, you might not get such cold weather conditions every year, so it's a gamble."

For some great values on reds, she chose the Wolf Blass red label (105 yuan) or the Penfolds Bin 128 (300 yuan).

Penfolds was established in 1844 when Doctor Christopher Rawson Penfold migrated from England to Australia.

He obtained vine cuttings from the south of France and planted around a modest stone cottage on the outskirts of Adelaide name "Grange" after his wife Mary's home in England.

The introduction of the Penfolds Grange vintage effectively put Australia on the map as a producer of fine wines.

The berries are selected from South Australia and are 100 percent Shiraz. Deep opel in color, it is concentrated in flavor.

Tang noted that "there are hints of blueberry, black currant, black chocolate, cider, and sometimes mint depending on the vintage".

She suggested pairing it with red meat, such as rack of lamb, steak, even Dongporou pork!"