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We\u2019ve teamed up with our friends at Wairau River Wines<\/a> to help you plan the season\u2019s best and most festive dinner parties.<\/em><\/p>\n With cooler weather here to stay, it\u2019s time for long, boozy nights with all our nearest and dearest to celebrate the holiday season. Of course, no dinner party is complete without wine, and I\u2019m loving Wairau River\u2019s Sauvignon Blanc<\/a> and Pinot Noir<\/a> from Marlborough, New Zealand for the occasion. Here, I\u2019ve curated two five-course dinner menus that highlight the versatility of each variety. Whether you\u2019re looking for a bright seafood feast or something perfect for your Francophile friends, there\u2019s a Wairau River wine for every occasion.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t get enough of seafood, and if you\u2019re anything like me, this is the perfect menu to pair with Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc<\/a>. This wine balances fruity notes of grapefruit and nectarine with acidity for a crisp, elegant, and supremely drinkable wine.<\/p>\n Kick off dinner with a platter of Broiled Oysters with Sriracha Lime Butter<\/a>. Broiling oysters helps concentrate the briny flavor while simultaneously poaching them in the punchy, buttery sauce. For our vegetarian friends, I love serving Burrata and Olive Tapenade Crostini<\/a>. The tapenade can be made up to one week in advance, making this snack especially easy to assemble right before the party\u2014just top toasted bread with a hunk of burrata and your desired amount of tapenade.<\/p>\n For the main course, serve a classic Bouillabaisse<\/a> with a side of asparagus with Hollandaise<\/a> and some crusty bread. If you\u2019re unfamiliar, Bouillabaisse is a traditional dish from Marseille, France which combines a myriad of seafood, like mussels, shrimp, clams, and white fish, in a tomato and saffron-based broth. My perfect bite involves dipping a piece of bread into the broth and then through the Hollandaise. This hearty French dish is intensely flavorful and calls to be married with the crisp, refreshing notes of Wairau River\u2019s Sauvignon Blanc. The key to this pairing is that the wine tempers the fruit concentration with subtle herb and floral notes, which balance the Bouillabaisse.<\/p>\n End the meal with my all time favorite dessert, Berries and Cream Pavlova<\/a>. There\u2019s a few things to keep in mind when making a successful pavlova. First, meringue is best made on cool, dry days which help keep the sugars intact and prevent the pavlova from weeping. The finer the sugar the more stable the meringue will be. If you can\u2019t find caster sugar, add regular ol\u2019 granulated sugar to a food processor and pulse until fine. What makes this recipe particularly special is the addition of cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche to the whipped cream, which simultaneously helps stabilize it while adding some tanginess to cut the sweetness of the meringue.<\/p>\n
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