There are a couple of instances in which you may have to choose what we will call the classy party wine. That is, which bottle of wine you’re going to take to semi-grown-up, fancy dinner parties, those you’re perhaps reaching via waterloo limo companies. This may sound simple, but I’m afraid it’s not. We must initially consider the host of the party. Is it a close friend, or someone you know pretty well, and you’re super sure is chilled out about cheap-ass wine? If so, feel free to go with some cheap-ass wine. We are Millennials, hear our bank accounts groan. We all get it. If I invite someone over to dinner, and they bring a cheap bottle of wine, I get that. In fact, I kind of expect it. We’re trying to adult, sure, heck, we’re having someone over for dinner, aren’t we? But we have not evolved to full adult yet. We still revel in the joy that is inexpensive alcohol.
Okay, next tier is a some sort of fancy get-together with people you don’t know super well, but are mostly in your age group. Maybe a work party, or a the party of a friend of a friend, where you don’t know people super well, but you know no one’s going to be busting out forty dollar bottles of wine. In this case, don’t cheap out, but also don’t go overboard. You don’t want to look cheap, but you also don’t want to blow your bank account (and really, can anyone even taste the damn difference, as long as it’s not totally awful? I call bull.) So something like … I don’t know, fifteen bucks? Anything under that, and maybe they’re a little younger than you, or you’re not really looking to impress, whereas anything over, maybe a few of your managers are going to be there, but you don’t want to get snooty.
Finally, there’s the real life adult party. Maybe you’ve been invited, along with your significant other, to a party of one of your parents’ friends. Or maybe you’re one of the youngest ones in an office full of actual real adults. Or maybe you’re receiving an award! (I don’t know, I thought that would be fun.) It’s time to bust out the big guns. I’m talking maybe twenty or twenty-five bucks. I know that sounds steep, but think about it: the more seasoned and sophisticated the hosts, probably the better (i.e. more expensive) the food is going to be, so pay your dues, and bring some dece booze!
When it comes time to make the decision between red and white, that’s where you’ll have to take the reins. Ideally, you’ll know your host, and what they like. If not, maybe you know what they’re serving? Red meat, you bring red, poultry or fish, you bring white. Pizza, you shouldn’t be thinking that hard about what wine to bring, just grab the cheapest thing you can find and roll with it. Don’t bring rosé. I don’t know why, but I always get a look when I bring rosé home. I like it, but I might be the only one.