Of course twelve or more, but then again you probably don't realize that the wife's conception of small is 10-12 people. I have to pull several cases from the cellar when she says it will be a medium sized get together.

offgridmanpolktn wrote:Of course twelve or more, but then again you probably don't realize that the wife's conception of small is 10-12 people. I have to pull several cases from the cellar when she says it will be a medium sized get together.

You make the correct point that 'small' is relative. I suspect what they mean is 4-8 people, in which case something like six to eight bottles will give you enough for a glass with each of three courses.

We normally figure 1/2 bottle per person, plus a bit more for hors d'oeuvres and perhaps something with dessert.

Depends on the crowd, of course. We've had dinner parties over the years where we've served as much as two bottles per person over a long evening.

rpm wrote:You make the correct point that 'small' is relative. I suspect what they mean is 4-8 people, in which case something like six to eight bottles will give you enough for a glass with each of three courses.

We normally figure 1/2 bottle per person, plus a bit more for hors d'oeuvres and perhaps something with dessert.

Depends on the crowd, of course. We've had dinner parties over the years where we've served as much as two bottles per person over a long evening.

I would love to be a guest at one of your (and swmbo's) dinner parties! That would be a grand adventure!

cjsiege wrote:I would love to be a guest at one of your (and swmbo's) dinner parties! That would be a grand adventure!

+1 on that.
At our last Shakespeare benefit dinner party, where we serve 8 guests, plus the 2 of us, we poured 2 or 3 bottles of IH Wedding Cuvée with the hors d'oeuvres, a von Hövel Riesling with the soup, a magnum of 1998 Macyacamas Chard with the scallops, a 3-year vertical '03, '04, '05 Ilona from Burgess Cellars with the beef tenderloin, an '07 InZinerator with the salad, and a lovely vintage Port with the Bailey's cheesecake. Started at 6, ended up around midnight. 10 or 11 bottles. Not bad.

ddeuddeg wrote:+1 on that.
At our last Shakespeare benefit dinner party, where we serve 8 guests, plus the 2 of us, we poured 2 or 3 bottles of IH Wedding Cuvée with the hors d'oeuvres, a von Hövel Riesling with the soup, a magnum of 1998 Macyacamas Chard with the scallops, a 3-year vertical '03, '04, '05 Ilona from Burgess Cellars with the beef tenderloin, an '07 InZinerator with the salad, and a lovely vintage Port with the Bailey's cheesecake. Started at 6, ended up around midnight. 10 or 11 bottles. Not bad.

I like the direction this thread is taking!

The answer to the poll obviously depends on the size of the party, and the people at the party as well.

For New Years 2 years ago, SWMBO and I had another couple over, and went through 6 bottles over the course of 5 or 6 hours - started with a sparkling California white (can't remember the label) that we had with just small bites and cheeses, then moved onto a Chalone Estate Chardonnay ('07 I think), of which we had 2 bottles with swiss fondue and some spiced steamed mussels SWMBO made (half a bottle of the Chard went into the fondue). Main course was classic steak & lobster, with a bottle of '06 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir (not the best pairing, and probably the weakest wine of the night), followed dessert (creme brulee) by a bottle of vintage port (Warres, IIRC). Then a break, with a bottle of Dom Perignon at midnight. That was a fun night, and amazingly enough the next morning wasn't really all that bad - pacing and eating must have helped a ton.


Generally our dinner parties end up closer to half a bottle a person than 2 bottles a person, though.

Have one bottle person available.