Food & Wine Parties
Many people are afraid to host a food and wine party because they don't think they know enough about either. But you can host a wonderful food and wine party and know litterally nothing about food or wine. These are called Cork & Fork parties, and are the easiest and most fun parties you can have! The concept is simple, guests bring a bottle of wine and a food they feel compliments that wine and vice versa. On arrival guests sign-in, receive a pairing number and fill out a card describing their wine and food which is placed next to their pairing. The guest’s name does not appear on the card, only the pairing number, so that the judging is somewhat blind. Guests sample all of the wine and food pairings and vote, by number, for the pairing they liked the best. The host tallies the votes and awards a prize. What better party to host than one where the guests bring all of the food and drink!

What Guests Provide
Guests are responsible for bringing a wine and food that goes with it. The food should be something that is easy to serve, easy to eat and fits on a small plate. “Bite size” and small portions work the best. The guests should also bring anything necessary to serve or eat the food beyond what the host is providing. This would include serving spoons, bowls for soups, etc. The wine choice is unlimited unless the host has decided to put restrictions on the wine to make the party more interesting. For instance requiring the wine be from Spain or can’t be any of the typical varieties like Cabernet, Merlot or Chardonnay will force the guests to try something new. If you decide to place restrictions on the wine, be sure to spell them out in the informal “save the date” invitation.

What the Host Provides

• Sign-in Sheet, Pairing Description Cards, Scoring Sheets, voting slips (samples forms here)
• Pens and/or pencils
• Paper or plastic plates (small)
• Plastic knives, forks and spoons
• Wine glasses – plastic works but real stemware is better
• Cocktail napkins, toothpicks & paper doilies
• Name tags and felt pens
• Ice Bucket(s) – plastic paint buckets will work as ice buckets
• Cork Screws – more than one
• Wine glass charms to identify guest’s glasses (if using stemware), These are optional but helpful.

Inviting The Guests
This type of party works best with no more than about 8 food and wine pairings. That is about as many as the average person can deal with in one evening. If most of the quests are couples, then 8 couples would be about as many as you want to invite. If you invite some singles, adjust accordingly to still have no more than about 8 food and wine pairings. You can use real mail to invite the guests, but email is much easier. Send out an informal “save the date” invitation 4 or 5 weeks in advance of the party so guests can fit the party into their busy schedules. Be sure to ask for an RSVP so you can begin to get an idea of attendance. Send the official invitation about two weeks prior to the party then follow-up with those who haven’t replied. You don’t want fewer than 5 food and wine pairings so you might need to invite additional guests if RSVPs fall short of yielding that number. Be sure the invitation tells guests how Society of the Cork & Fork parties work and what they are expected to provide (sample invitation).

Setting Up
Each guest couple will need a space for their wine and food, and an ice bucket if they are bringing white wine. Decide where each guest’s area will be and use a couple of paper doilies to mark each area. This makes it easier for guests to find a spot and helps with cleanup. Put all of the plates, plasticware, napkins, glasses, ice buckets, etc. in one central location. Guests can get what they need as and when they need it. Setup the sign-in area away from the front door and the food areas. This will help prevent it becoming a bottleneck when guests are arriving and setting up their food and wine. This area should contain the sign-in sheet, pairing cards, scoring sheets, name tags, pens and voting slips.

The Party
The hosts’ work is pretty much all done prior to the party. Now their function is primarily as master of ceremonies. The Hosts do not provide wine and food for judging, but might consider providing a white or light wine and light appetizers for guests during the arrival and set-up time When everyone has arrived and their wine and food are setup the hosts will make the welcoming announcements. Be sure to include:

• Welcome
• The Progression and rules of the evening
• Roughly when the voting will begin and end

At this point, each guest will briefly describe their wine and food pairing, telling about the wine and why they feel their pairing works. Only after each guest has had the opportunity to describe their pairing does the tasting begin. Now just enjoy the party and be gracious hosts. When sufficient time has passed for everyone to have sampled all of the food and wine, announce that the voting will begin. Guests will write the pairing number of their favorite wine and food combination on a slip of paper and put it in a ballot box or basket. Allow about 15 minutes for voting. The hosts tally the votes and announce the winner. Remember the number on the ballot slip corresponds to a guest’s name on the sign-in sheet. Awarding a prize that has something to do with wine and food is appropriate. A nice corkscrew, bottle of wine, serving piece, etc. are typical prizes, but use your imagination.

The Next Party
To insure that the Society of the Cork & Fork is perpetuated, tradition dictates that the couple who brought the winning pairing must host the next Cork & Fork party. With a little luck, hosts will be invited to two or three parties hosted by guests from their parties. And, if each host includes new guests at their party, the Society of the Cork & Fork will go on forever.