If the featured wine is Shiraz...you pretty well have to do chocolate! The grape used to make a shiraz is the sirah and that's what it's called in France and in the US. Australia calls that grape Shiraz. It's a heavy red, often in a high tannin wine that will age well. Not sure I would call it "informal" but I guess it's all in how you use it. The lamb kabobs are good with it...as are the grilled veggies. How about this tart? Chocolate Hazelnut tart 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3 eggs, beaten 1 1/2 cups peeled, chopped, and toasted hazelnuts 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup) 1 cup corn syrup 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 store bought frozen pie crust, defrosted Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and the flour. Add the eggs, hazelnuts, chocolate chips, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir well. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 1 hour. Cool the tart for at least 30 minutes before serving. Or this The recipe is from last month's Cooking Light COCOA FUDGE COOKIES 1 cup flour tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp salt 5 Tbsp butter 7 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa 2/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt 1 tsp vanilla extract Cooking spray 1. Preheat oven to 350° 2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, soda and salt; set aside. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in cocoa powder and sugars (mixture will resemble coarse sand). Add yogurt and vanilla, stirring to combine Add flour mixture, stirring until moist. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. 3. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2-3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen cookies. Or if you really want to knoci their sox off....try this... CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY GANACHE CAKE This pull-out-all-the-stops cake for special occasions may be prepared in steps in advance and glazes on the day it is to be served. For genoise 1/3 cup sifted unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder such as Droste (sift before measuring) 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup cornstarch a pinch baking soda 3 large whole eggs 3 large egg yolks 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt For syrup 1/3 cup water 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup raspberry liqueur such as Chambord For ganache 1 1/4 cups heavy cream 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons light corn syrup 1 pound semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped coarse 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam For glaze 1 cup heavy cream 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped coarse Garnish: fresh raspberries Make genoise: Preheat oven to 350F. Butter an 9-inch round cake pan (about 2 inches deep) and line bottom with a round of parchment paper or foil. In a small bowl whisk together cocoa powder, flour, cornstarch, and baking soda. In a metal bowl whisk together whole eggs, yolk, sugar, and salt until combined. Set mixture over a saucepan of simmering water and continue to whisk until lukewarm. Remove bowl from heat and with an electric mixer beat mixture at high speed until it has cooled and doubled in volume. Sift one third cocoa mixture over egg mixture and fold in. Sift and fold in remaining cocoa mixture, half at a time, in same manner. Pour batter into pan and smooth top. Bake genoise in middle of oven for 30 minutes, or until it is firm to the touch and pulls away slightly from side of pan. Invert genoise onto a rack and immediately invert onto another rack to cool right side up. Genoise may be wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled 1 week or frozen 1 month. Thaw genoise before assembling cake. Make syrup: In a small saucepan bring water and sugar to a boil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Cool syrup and stir in liqueur. Syrup may be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered. Make ganache: In a saucepan bring cream, butter, and corn syrup to a boil over moderate heat and remove pan from heat. Add chocolate, swirling pan to submerge chocolate in hot mixture, and let stand 3 minutes. Whisk ganache until smooth and transfer to a bowl. Chill ganache, covered, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. Assemble cake: Let ganache stand at room temperature until slightly softened and pliable but still cool. With a whisk or electric mixer beat ganache just until light and fluffy. Remove parchment paper from genoise and with a long serrated knife cut cake horizontally into 3 rounds. Invert top layer of genoise onto a springform pan base or a 9-inch cardboard round and brush with one third syrup. Spread layer with half of jam and spread one third ganache over jam. Top ganache with middle layer of genoise and repeat layering of syrup, jam, and ganache. Top with third layer of genoise, smooth-side up, and brush with remaining syrup. Spread top and side of cake with remaining ganache. Chill cake until ganache is set, about 30 minutes. Cake may be assembled ahead, wrapped in plastic wrap, and chilled 5 days or frozen 1 month. Thaw cake before proceeding. Make glaze: In a saucepan bring cream to a boil and remove pan from heat. Add chocolate, swirling pan to submerge chocolate in hot cream, and let stand 2 minutes. Whisk glaze until smooth and pour through a sieve set over a bowl. Cool glaze to room temperature. With cake on a rack set over a pan (to catch drips) pour glaze through sieve onto center of cake. Quickly spread glaze evenly over top and sides of cake with a long, narrow, metal spatula. Let cake stand until glaze is set, about 5 minutes. Garnish cake with raspberries and keep at cool room temperature until ready to serve. Gourmet February 1997 Or a flourless chocolate cake! Sounds like a great party! Linda C

I have bought all my wine themed fabrics online from different collections, and was amazed how they all went together. I made 2 Wine Themed Quilts for Christmas Gifts - a His & Hers for the same household (Federal Hill)so they needed to be similar, but distinctively different. The book is worth buying, especially for a special quilt. It would be perfect for this occasion. 61w x 66l 61w x 66l They like the longer one better - they noticed the difference! and mentioned it to me :) I quilted them in wine leaves, swirls and grape bunches. If you want to see some detail pics, I can post them. I highly recommend reading/buying the book to grasp the concept of the 9PP. It is a fun and quick quilt to make. Your friend~Sylvia (LOL) Here is a link that might be useful: 9-Patch Pizzazz

A spreadsheet. I'm assuming you do it blind but you dont' have to. One column for the number or letter if you have bagged the bottles (e.g. Wine A, B, ...). Next column left blank for you to fill in the name when you uncover them. Then you can have one large space for notes, or divide that into separate parts too - Visual - you can note clear or cloudy, for reds whether more towards garnet / brown or on the purple side (i.e. possibly younger), lighter seeming (you can see thru) or heavier seeming (you can't), and whatever else you pick up. Aroma - you can record your impressions - does it smell like matchsticks (that's possibly the sulfur added to preserve), or does it smell like vanilla or berries or pineapple or apples or cherries or tobacco or tea or chocolate or green pepper or spice? If you pour a cab franc for example, or sometimes a merlot or cab sauvignon, you get some of those vegetal, green notes on the nose, unless it from a really warm and ripe vintage like Napa California in 2001. Some spice comes from the oak barrels, some toast notes as well. In whites, you get some grassiness, typical in a sauvignon blanc, and in some of them you get a distinct note of cat pee, which you will understand immediately. The visual and aromatic info can give you SOME info about a wine's age, grapes, and origin. But they can also be misleading. Then the larger column for taste - how it is when it hits your mouth, when you taste it, and after you swallow, called the "finish". This is where people get creative, but it is also where you figure out what kind of taster you are. If you take an old red wine, say 25 years or older, you might have a lighter-colored, garnet/brown liquid that you can see through. It will smell like leather and mushrooms and earth and will taste perhaps like dry strawberries, tea, tart raspberry fruit, leather, tobacco, and it will hopefully have a nice long finish that lingers. If you take a much younger one, you might get a dark purple wine that smells and tastes of black cherries, cloves and spice and vanilla and that has a very dry tannic finish that puckers your mouth. Tannin is the slight bitterness that feels chalky. Acid is the tartness that also puckers your mouth, but differently. You want them to be balanced out by the fruit. Younger wines are more fruity in general and these flavors recede in time. And then the last column for your rank or score. You can add one or two more - one for the group's rank or score and then for your rankings, if you didn't rank to start. The easiest is just rank from your fave to your least favorite. Say 1 - 10. That way you know what to buy next time. But this is only useful if you have similar wines. If you taste chardonnay and merlot and some nebbiolo, say, comparing them is kind of useless. In that case, just record your impressions and remember the ones you liked. Cheers.

I think switching to cognac at the end sounds great. And stinky cheese. Taste buds will be dulled, anyway, and something that requires little sips and more just glass holding sounds good. Re the heavy reds, sometimes you have to serve your menu. With the progression you have, a good cab with the meat sounds great. Even with small servings and sorbet, people's tasters will be tired and mellowed. Something bold is called for. This might be a time to try modern tech kinds of glasses, but if not, definitely aerate the wine. It makes a huge difference. If they will just pass, rather than giving it a chance, maybe try an old vine wine, like a Spanish granacha? Very full bodied and flavorful, very "red", some tannins but not heavy with tannins like a cabernet. Excellent with beef.