Maybe you're having a wine-tasting party and want to serve appetizers to go with it. Or maybe you're just looking for something to nibble on while you and some friends enjoy a glass or two.
Whatever your reason, appetizers with wine are a fantastic mix.
But, choose carefully. Pick the wrong appy to go with your wine and you might end up throwing off your palette. That makes for a sub-par wine experience, and who wants that?
Rule One for appetizers with wine: keep it simple.
No need to distract from the wine by anything overly fancy. After all, it's the wine that's on stage and not the food.
Rule Two is about staying practical. Finger food is best.
Guests usually will have a glass in hand, so serving something that needs a fork makes for awkward moments.
Rule Three: keep it clean.
Messy foods can be fun, but messy fingers, messy drippings, and messy wine glasses are less-than-fun. Keep clean-up in mind.
Now that we have the rules out of the way, here's a few ideas that even a novice in the kitchen can pull off easily and in very little time.
6 Ideas for Appetizers with Wine
Idea 1: Cheese
I admit it. I'm a sucker for wine and cheese. As food-and-wine pairings go, this has to be my all-time favourite. I like it best when I have a selection of both hard and soft cheeses to go with my wine. As the night goes on, this can help keep things fresh and new.
A word of warning, though. Try to avoid cheeses that have too strong a flavour. One time I had a Danish blue cheese which completely overpowered everything I tasted afterwards for a good while.
Learn from my taste-mistake.
Idea 2: Bread
Hosting a wine-tasting party? Make sure you have some bread available. It's great for cleansing the palette between wines. Plus, it's a great nibbling food.
Avoid serving sweetbreads or strongly flavoured breads. (I'm looking at you, jalapeno bread.)
My recommendation? French baguette.
Idea 3: Crackers
Again, a great palette cleanser. Just like with bred, avoid strongly-flavoured crackers. But also, overly salted crackers can change a wine's taste.
If you're serving cheese (which you should be), crackers go extra well.
Idea 4: Olives
I like olives as a change of taste at wine parties. It's refreshing to the palette and keeps things interesting. Olives make a nice counter-balance to cheese.
Avoid too-spicy olives, or olives that have a strikingly strong flavour. (Noticing a pattern yet?)
Idea 5: Fruit
Other than olives, all of our ideas have been dry. While it's nice to turn to your wine glass for some moisture, fruit gives a great alternative and a mild sweetness.
Consider serving melon (balled melon if you feel fancy), pears, raspberries, peaches, and apples. I'd go for fruits that are local and in season, myself.
Dried fruit can work well too, but sometimes is a touch sweet.
Idea 6: Nuts
A different flavour altogether, adding to the spectrum.
Try not to serve salted nuts, but very lightly salted is fine.
Serve wine appetizers by letting guests help themselves. It's best for mingling.
Enjoy!
