Dinner Parties

It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation when it comes to serving wine. Every style of wine has different characteristics (think of a tannic red Bordeaux vs Prosecco, for example), so in order to really get the most out of the wine you’re opening, you need to be pouring it into a glass shape that enhances its key features. Follow our easy glassware guide to nail the basics.

What better way to welcome your guests than with a delicious aperitif. Something to refresh the palate and whet the appetite, while not being too too heavy or alcoholic. We’ve come up with a shortlist of the most effective pre-dinner tipples, including a bit of insight into what makes them great arrival drinks and key ingredients you’ll need to make them.

Now, if you really want to impress your guests, why not attempt this phenomenal red wine-poached monkfish. After trying one of our Aussie Pinot Noirs, head chef at The Laughing Heart, Tom Anglesea, designed this daring dish especially for us, crafted to perfectly match our Pinot Noir. We’ve got the recipe and wine pairing right here for you.

When it comes to pairing wine with our cooking, we often focus all of our attention on the main course and savoury dishes. But a little drop of sweet wine can be a divine addition to a dessert course, and a nice finishing touch to your menu. Delve into our detailed dessert pairing guide to find out if you need a Port or a Riesling with that decadent chocolate pudding you’re planning.

So, you’ve served your fancy meal and your guests are pretty stuffed. You want to end the evening in style with a nice nightcap that will help your guests’ dinner settle rather than risk them feeling sluggish and uncomfortably full! It’s important to choose drinks that not only suit the mood but also aid digestion, and you can find out which styles of alcohol make the best digestifs in our handy guide.

A good quality wine can be a fantastic ingredient in cooking. Used in a similar fashion to seasoning, it can accentuate and complement the tastes that already exist in the dish, as well as infuse its own fabulous flavours and characteristics into the food. Read on for ways to incorporate red and white wine into your recipes, and cooking methods to use.

It may sound pretentious, but we promise you it’s not! If you’ve spent time researching the perfect wines to pair with your dishes, the last thing you want to do is inadvertently diminish their quality by keeping the bottles in an area of the house that gets too hot. We take you through a few simple storage tips that will protect your wine collection so that every bottle is at its best when opened.

Try out our incredible ‘Wine Buff Machine’, which spouts out handy phrases about the wine you’re drinking so you can look like a total know-it-all! Simply choose your wine and wait for the ‘Wine Buff Machine’ to fire up an answer. A fun thing to browse at the table with your guests (or keep it to yourself and memorise a few phrases before your guests arrive!).

An enticing wine alternative for your non-drinking guests. This is a non-alcoholic sparkling fermented tea that can be found in over 50 Michelin star restaurants. Adored by so many chefs for its elegance and ability to complement food so well, this intriguing wine is not only a cracking alcohol-free aperitif but also ideal for serving with your meal.