Hosting a French Wine and Cheese Party

Are you hosting a French Wine and Cheese Party?  Here are some tips on how to choose the right wine and food pairings, share your love of wine and have a wonderful classy evening with friends!

If wine + cheese is your thing, you’ll also love this post on How to Picnic + Wine

Recently my friends and I got together with multiple bottles of wine, a delicious spread of food and laughter.  I absolutely love planning a party.  Whether it’s on a large-scale or a smaller one, parties are my jam!

When I was sent these delicious bottles of wine to sample I immediately starting to think of how I was going to host the party.  What foods would I feature that would highlight the wines?  How can my girlfriends remember the wines they drank for when they’re out shopping?  I hit the grocery store running!

This might be embarrassing to admit but I would rather go grocery shopping than clothes shopping.  Yeah, I know.  The new shoe store opened in town, so what did I do?  Naturally I went to the new grocery store.  #foodieproblems.

I wasn’t very familiar with French wines but I was eager to get this party started and explore the different flavors of the different regions.  I began my research by going to each brand’s page to learn a little more about their heritage, their family and how they got into the wine business.  The first stop Alsace, France to visit Trimbach.

Trimbach has been around for centuries and 13 generations.   The vineyard is located Northeast of France. It is bordered on the west by the Vosges Mountains and on the east by the Rhine, which separates it from Germany.  We sampled Riesling 2014 and Pinot Gris 2013.  The riesling has a nice floral and sweet fragrance with a clean, dry finish.

From the same vineyard, we sampled Pinot Gris.  With the aroma of peaches and pear, I knew this would be a favorite of mine as I’m partial to sweet fruity flavors.  Trimbach Pinot Gris has a slightly nutty finish which was only complemented by the tropical fruit flavors.  This quickly rose to my favorite but we still had 3 more to go.  Onto Mas De Saumas Gassac in Languedoc, France…

The roots of the Mas De Saumas Gassac estate were founded in the 1970’s.  It was then the ground work was laid to grow grapes in some of the richest soil around.  In 1978 Production of the first Mas de Daumas Gassac Red wine was began.  They have been organic farming since 1940 and have no GMO’s and no chemicals in their production.

I can’t mention Mas de Daumas Gassac Red without letting you know that my girlfriend Jen fell in love with this wine.  She is a red wine drinker and after the first sip and the exclamation, “OMG!”  She was in red wine Heaven.  This red wine is a Cabernet Sauvignon with about 18 other grape variety blended in such as Pinot Noir, Malvec and Dolcetto.    It has a long maturation and very low yield making this a superior among its counterparts.  It has amazing depth and complexity!  This was the favorite of the night!

Next up from Mas de Daumas Gassac was sparkling Rosé 2016 which I was most excited to try as I love a good Rosé.  As sweet as this wine may be, there is no sugar added and gets it’s lovely smooth fruity aromas from young Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards.  We also enjoyed this one very much and it paired beautifully with raspberries.

Last but certainly not least, we headed to Provence, France to sample Whispering Angel Rosé 2016 from Chateau D’esclans.    They produced the industry’s leasing Rosé wines.  The winery has become the fastest growing range of fine wines to be introduced globally over the last 2 decades in the rose category and is the #1 premium rose in the US.

Whispering Angel Rosé had a sweet smell of berries and a slightly floral note to it.  After one sip, I knew this was the new Rosé in my life.  It had no stingy after bite like some rose’ I’ve had.  It had a crisp clean finish and will definitely be a new wine to add to my bar cart.

In addition to some very delicious French wines, we also sampled some amazing French butter and cheese.  All I can say is, the US has nothing on the French when it comes to butter and cheese.

First up, was the President unsalted butter.  If it was acceptable and calorie free, I’d eat it with a spoon.  Instead, we opted to spread it on French baguette slices and top with prosciutto.  I highly encourage you to do so.  The rich, savory butter paired with the salty dry-cured ham was Heavenly.  It is the #1 butter in France and I can completely understand why.  It’s made from the highest quality cream in North Western France.  Simply, it’s amazing and 100% necessary if you are throwing a French inspired party.  My advice, get some, stat.

We also sampled Le Chatelain brie.  Which, if you are familiar with wine and cheese and a charcuterie board, you know brie is a must.  It’s absolutely delicious, creamy and goes well with, well everything. Le Chatelain brie is considered one of the only pasteurized milk bries that embodies the very same luscious, complex taste of raw milk brie.  It’s won countless awards and tastes incredible.  We also spread the brie onto French baguette slices and topped with strawberry jalapeno jam.  Creamy, spicy and sweet.  The perfect appetizer for your wine and cheese plate.

In addition to the French wine, butter and cheese, I also added in a few more nibbles and bites to complement all palates.

I chose cornichons and olives for a briny flavor, dried apricots and raspberries for a sweet element.  As for the meat, I went with dry cured salami and prosciutto which are both essential to a meat and cheese tray.  As for crackers I went with simple butter crackers and a rosemary olive oil cracker.

Everything you see here on this tray was devoured and enjoyed.  I also quickly made up a “Wine Tasting Sheet” for each of my girlfriends to write down exactly how each wine smelled, tasted and how well they enjoyed it.  If you are interested in this printable, feel free to write me a comment and I’ll be sure to send it over.

This was by far one of the most engaging, simple but elegant get-togethers I’ve had with my girlfriends and I look forward to throwing more wine and cheese parties with them.

This concludes our tips on Hosting a French Wine and Cheese Party.  This party couldn’t have been possible without the French Ministry of Agriculture shipping us these wonderful products from France.

I hope this party inspires you to locate these wines, cheese and butter and host your own French Wine and Cheese Party.  You’re friends will certainly thank you for introducing them to a love of French wine and culture.

Be sure to visit each vineyards page to learn a little more about how they cultivate their wines.

Trimbach

Mas de Daumas Gassac

Château D’Esclans

Président® Cheese

Le Châtelain

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