5 Tips to Serve Wine Like a Pro at Your Holiday Party — and What to Avoid

There are three things that are certain in life: death, taxes, and the fact that if you are a wine writer, you will write holiday wine columns. I’ve learned many things over the years doing this, offering an alarming number of options of wines to pair with turkey (not exactly a challenge — turkey, being one of the milder of our feathered and roasted friends, goes with damn near everything), what to pair with everything other than the turkey, fancy wines for fancy dinners, bargain wines for big parties, the best bubblies for Christmas, everything to drink around New Years, and more.

But beyond all the bottle recommendations, I’ve also learned a thing or two about how to serve wine around the holidays, and what to avoid. Here are my ten dos and don’ts for hosting a sommelier-worthy party, or at the very least, for not running out of wine mid-meal. 

What to do

Buy wine by the case

When you buy twelve bottles at a time you’ll usually get a discount (10% is common), and unlike the shrimp cocktail you’re serving, unused wine doesn’t go bad. Save whatever is leftover for the next party. Since most wine shops will let you build a mixed case of wine, stock up on different styles – a few bottles of everyday red, a food-friendly white wine, and a couple bottles of bubbly will do just fine.

Screw-tops make it easy 

Consider screw-top bottles for affordable party wines. Compared to wines sealed with corks that require a corkscrew (and baseline knowledge on how to use a corkscrew), screw-top wines are super-quick to open. That makes your life easier as the host – you won’t spend valuable hosting time trying to remember where you set down the corkscrew.

Tailor the wine to your guests

When it comes to serving wine for a crowd, know your audience. Even if you love weird, skin-contact white wines and kombucha-flavored Pét-Nats, your beloved, White Zinfandel–loving grandmother definitely does not. Holidays are for making people happy, not educating them about your personal taste.

Rent wine glasses

For big parties, save yourself the trouble of storing and washing dozens of glasses and rent them from a party rental supply company. They get delivered before the party, they get picked up afterward, and you don’t have to wash them (though some companies have a “return dirty” fee).

Have non-alcoholic options too

Be sure to have non-alcoholic options for any guests abstaining from alcohol or those looking to mix something zero-proof in amongst the copious quantities of wine they’re consuming. Ideally, make it something other than just water. Extra seltzers on hand are great to have, but even better is having a cool, tasty, n/a drink like a Nonalcoholic Champagne Spritz to serve your eight-months pregnant cousin. 

What not to do

Don’t go over-the-top with pairings 

Don’t worry about pairing specific wines to specific dishes, especially when there are a lot of different foods on the table. Planning in advance and choosing delicious wines that go with a broad range of foods will help keep you sane. It’s a holiday party, remember, not a dinner for wine collectors.

Don’t forget to chill the Champagne

Unless you want to spray your guests/table/the dog with warm Champagne, don’t forget to chill bottles of sparkling wine well in advance. Place bottles in a refrigerator for two hours before serving, in the freezer for 45 minutes (don’t forget they’re in there!), or sink them in a bucket filled with half ice and half water to chill things down ultra-fast (20 minutes or so). Icy-cold bottles won’t foam over once opened.

Save gifted bottles for later

Don’t worry about serving bottles of wine that guests bring—you can if you like, but you don’t have to. A bottle someone brought is a gift, not an obligation. Conversely, if you bring wine as a gift yourself, don’t get bent out of shape if your host doesn’t serve it.

Don’t run out of wine

Calculate the number of bottles you actually need based on how many people are coming over. Generally speaking, for dinner parties, take the number of guests and divide by two to get the number of bottles you’ll need (assuming two glasses of wine per person, which is standard). But it’s always a good idea buy a few extra bottles, just in case.