2015 Clos Junet and party wines

[barsacpinci]

Found this bottle in the cellar after rearranging things for a new rack I set up (which I really like). I can’t remember buying the wine. But nice nose, lots of fruit and tannins work well with it. Nothing terribly special but a good daily drinker with a meal or to serve to friends/relatives who don’t really know much about wine. Which got me to thinking about party wines. I’m having a party soon and I struggled to find 20 bottles in my cellar I’d open for these friends/relatives who are the folks that fill the wine glass to the rim and drink it like beer. I always want to serve wine they’ll like as well as something I’d like. This wine fits that bill as do some inexpensive champagne and Rieslings I have.

What are your party wines?

[Betthoi]

I like 1996 L'Evangile. But I prefer to drink something easier when I am with friends who know nothing about wine. Good wine is a thing which I enjoy alone or with something who likes it

[jckba]

While I own several vintages of Evangile and some of which in case quantity, I can only dream of it being my party wine.

On my front, there are a number of wines that I buy year in and year out because I like them, I drink them and I don’t mind sharing them so they serve the purpose of being cellar defenders. The wines will generally fall into that $20-$35 price-point and can range from from Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre, to Pepiere Muscadet in either the Briords, Clisson or Thebaud, to PVG Eclat de Calcaire Bourgogne Blanc, to Thivin Cote de Brouilly, to the Clos de la Roilette Fleuries, to Olga Raffault Chinon Les Picasses, to Bernard Baudry Chinon Les Grezeaux, Chave Cotes du Rhone Mon Coeur, to La Rioja Alta Vina Ardanza or Vina Alberdi, to Burlotto Langhe, Dolcetto or Pelaverga, to Terre Nere Etna Rosso, to Azienda Agricola Sofia Etna Rosso, to Felsina Chianti Classico etc.

[AKR]

I think some of the names jckba mentions might be too flavorful for a party wine. In some ways, I think drinks that are less distinctive, more innoucuous are better for an event where people are standing around, drinking, maybe having a snack. Fruity and supple would be the main dimensions I'd look for.

And hopefully not so much $$$ so that no one is sad looking at lots of half filled, wasted glasses of wine at the end of the evening!

[stefan]

For large parties I try what is available locally in petit chateau Bordeaux and select a few of the ones I like the most. I always have a Macon. Then I throw in a few odds and ends for variety. Almost all are in the $15-25 range. You can drink surprisingly well without paying a lot of money even if we never drink our party wines by ourselves or with small groups of friends.