Planning a wedding? Got a staff Christmas function to arrange later in the year? Family birthday celebration or christening to arrange?

Whatever the event, there will be a bunch of people there who will need feeding and watering to some extent.

I am regularly asked how much wine to buy for a party, wedding, function, event… and how much of each type.

Now of course every situation and group of people is different but below is my ’magic formula’ for working out how much wine to serve – magic because it is usually pretty accurate!

Darryl’s Magic Wine Consumption Formula

1. Take the number of adults and multiply by 0.65 to give you the number of ‘bottles’ of wine you will need (about two-thirds of a bottle per person – some will drink more, some will drink less).
2. Divide that number by three (1/3) to give the number of bottles of red to order. The other two thirds are white (including sparkling).

So lets say you are expecting 90 adults…

90 x 0.65 = 59. Lets round that up to 60 bottles needed.

60 divided by 3 = 20 bottles of red. Subtracted from the total 60 bottles needed = 40 bottles of white.

I suggest you split the white about 50/50, say Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, so you might order 20 bottles of Sav and 20 of Chardonnay.

Depending on the occasion consider…

• A little more red and less white in winter.
• Making the white portion 1/3 each of sparkling and two still whites.
• Making one of the whites a little sweeter (say Riesling) and the other dry.

Make sure you have tubs to put bottles and ice in.

Finally, when ordering wine it is better to have a bit too much than looking like a scrooge and being remembered for eternity as ‘the host who ran out’!

Most wineries and stores will be happy to sell on a ’sale or return’ basis if you place a decent order, provided you return the bottles in the same condition you bought them – so don’t tip everything into the ice tubs!

Of course the alternative, especially if you are near Auckland, is to come to Ascension and we will look after it all for you!

Have a safe and enjoyable event!

This entry was posted on Thursday 5th August 2010 and is filed under Wine. Both comments and pings are currently closed.