I’ve never been the biggest fan of Valentine’s Day. But I do love the idea of Galentine’s and celebrating all the ladies in your life. So every year I throw a Galentine’s party to celebrate with my girlfriends. This year I planned a Galentine’s Wine Tasting Party, called ‘You Had me at Merlot’. You can probably guess from the event name, ‘You Had me at Merlot’, that we tasted Merlot wines at this Galentine’s party. I think it was my favourite Galentine’s yet! Continue reading to find out why and maybe get some inspiration for your own Galentine’s wine tasting party!
The evening began with a pink bubbly welcome drink – because is there any other way to start a Galentine’s party?! I offered the sparkling rosé Lily by Colio winery. I seriously can’t get enough of this sparkling wine! Once everyone had arrived, we began the Merlot wine tasting. I had eight different Ontario Merlots for the ladies to taste – Jackson-Triggs Grand Reserve Merlot, Copper Moon Merlot, Huff Estates South Bay Merlot, Peninsula Ridge Merlot, G. Marquis Red Line Merlot, Pelee Island Merlot, Huff Estates Merlot, and Konzelmann Merlot. All of the wines went over very well and each of the Merlots have some new admirers!
For food, I put out a variety of different items that pair well with Merlot. I encouraged everyone to try the foods with the Merlots to see how well they go together. Merlot is a great wine for food pairing, as the low tannins and higher acidity allow it match with a lot of different foods. Another bonus point for Merlot! The food that I had out was: barbeque chicken wings, stuffed goat cheese mushrooms, beef kebobs, pizza, seafood antipasto crostini’s and cheese tortellini’s with tomato sauce. Guests at my Galentine’s party were all pleasantly surprised by how well Merlot paired with all these foods.
Guests at my Galentine’s Wine Tasting Party all left with a pretty Galentine’s Day card. They also left with a newfound love for Merlot and some new favourite Ontario red wines. I definitely had everyone at Merlot!
Cheers!~GDW
Girl Drinks Wine 