The simple way to choose wine for a dinner party is to let the menu decide, then pour from light to full. The Table is built that way. Six bottles, three white and three red, chosen to go with a dinner from the first course to the last. Here is what to pour, and when.
To start
Babuna White is bright and direct. Herbaceous, with intense white peach, then lemon and grapefruit, all cut clean. It has a natural affinity with cream sauces, so if the starter comes with one, pour this.
Alexandria Premium Cuvée White has a gently oily texture. White flowers and pear, then citrus and wet stone, and a long lemon-cream finish. It suits mussels, sea perch or a Mediterranean salad.
With fish or chicken
Bela Voda White is full and dry. Pear and white peach, a little orange peel and vanilla, then citrus and green apple to keep it fresh, and a buttery finish. Pour it with sea bass or sea bream. It also stands up to chicken, or veal in a mushroom sauce. This is our flagship white.
With red meat and hard cheese
Alexandria Premium Cuvée Red is soft and generous. Redcurrant and cherry up front, sweet spice and vanilla behind, gentle tannins. Roast veal, grilled pork, aged hard cheese.
Barovo Red is dark and powerful. Prune, sour cherry and blackberry, then vanilla and chocolate, with pepper, anise and a little cinnamon. The alcohol is high, but it sits inside the wine. Lamb or prime rib. Give it a big glass and a little air. This is our flagship red.
After dinner
T'ga za Jug is semi-dry, so there is a real touch of sweetness in it. Overripe sour cherry, raspberry and a little raisin, soft, with a long finish. Keep it for the end of the evening, when the plates are cleared.
Serving temperatures
Too cold and a white tastes of very little. Too warm and a red tastes of alcohol.
- Babuna White: 8 to 9°C
- Alexandria Premium Cuvée White: 10 to 12°C
- Bela Voda White: 10 to 12°C
- Alexandria Premium Cuvée Red: 14 to 16°C
- Barovo Red: 16 to 18°C
In practice, the whites go in the fridge a couple of hours before dinner and come out a few minutes before you pour. In a warm room, give the reds twenty minutes in the fridge too.
A few things that help
- Choose from the menu, not the guest list. Match the wine to the sauce as much as the meat. Light sauce, lighter wine. Rich sauce, fuller wine.
- Buying ahead? Keep the bottles lying down somewhere cool and dark until the day.
- A bottle pours about five glasses at a standard 150ml. Smaller pours suit a long dinner. A third of a glass leaves room for the aroma, and everyone gets to taste each wine.
- Put water on the table, and give people a fresh glass when you move from white to red.
- Anything left goes back in the fridge with the cork in, reds included. Most still wines keep three to five days that way.
Why these six
We chose them to follow a meal. Two fresh whites to open, a white for fish, two reds for meat, and something with a touch of sweetness to finish. Both flagships are in the box, Bela Voda White and Barovo Red, and each wine has its own page if you want to know more. All six are from Tikveš, which has made wine since 1885.
You can buy them together as The Table.