Wine and Cheese Parties

So I thought I would have to post about our first try at hosting a Wine and Cheese Party. I knew ideally a small and intimate group would be best, and we decided on a New Mexico Wine theme. Although Joel is somewhat of a wine connoisseur, I mainly prefer to just drink the wine, so we thought it would be fun to share our favorite NM wines with some close friends.

Most of the grocery and liquor stores carry wines from the local vineyards, although some from the smaller wineries can be tough to find. (Last year we visited almost all of the 40 vineyards in NM, almost enough to win the free wine honeymoon/cruise to the Mediterranean!)  During our parties we sampled wines from Casa Rodena (a beautiful site and a very special place for Joel and I, with decent wine and a pompous owner/sommelier--@ Megan J ), St. Claire (always a favorite and very easy to find), Santa Fe Vineyards (the Estrella Del Norte Winery shares their tasting room in Santa Fe, their wines are excellent but not sold in Albuquerque), and Ponderosa (my favorite for both reds and whites).

The Santa Fe Vineyards Tinto del Sol was one of the favorites, as well as Casa Rodena's La Sobrina's Table, although after a few tastings I think we lost track. The best thing to share about these wines is that they are all very reasonably priced between $9-$15.  It was so nice to visit and catch up with our dear friends Megan and Mike and Carmela. Mike and Carmela's boys even entertained us with all of their "Lady Gaga" dances and I think I have two new BFF's! This was also one of our new puppy's first introductions to kids, and even the little boy who was afraid of dogs was petting her by the end of the night!

I also had my sister Stephany over to celebrate her 25th birthday and my mom too. While she complained about how OLD 25 is, it was very nice to catch up.

I was excited about the new appetizers I tried for both of the wine tasting/birthday parties, and the best thing about them was being able to serve things in stages with the wine while still being able to relax and socialize with everyone.

I am so excited that I was able to make everything in advance, and I (finally) realized this was part of what made both of these nights so much fun. This was the first time hosting a party that I really felt like I could relax and socialize with my guests without having to spend the whole night cooking and preparing the food. So I thought I would share since best of all, the apps were a hit!

First was a garlic marinated cheese. My sister-in-law Jill and my mother-in-law Vicki have made this before and brought it to our last Christmas party, and everyone was asking me to make it. Went great with the Casa Rodena Seranade or a Pinot Gris.

It's so easy to make, and ideally making it the day before or night before works best.

A stand by favorite was pigs in blankets, also easy to pop in the oven before guests arrive, and the kiddos loved them too.

This year our garden went crazy with jalapeños, basil, and tomatoes so I was trying to find some fun recipes to use these fresh ingredients.

I ended up going with a tomato and basil brushetta, which went perfectly with the finger food and wine theme and went especially well with the reds. I also made some mini grilled cheese jalapeño, bacon, and cream cheese sandwiches.

To top it all off we finished with a simple dessert, the St. Claire Mimbers Red with chocolate and strawberries and the NM Chimayo Red Chili Wine. I think people were surprised with the red chili wine, but it was a great compliment to the chocolate.