PG- Has the wine been properly cellared (asks the wine snob)? If so, feel free to share what the bottles are!!
That dead bird guy is my high school classmate! Or- his clone. He wanted to not pay the full amount for the reunion because he was going to step outside when the dead birds and animals were served. Even with vegetarian options, he couldn’t dine with us. He threatened to sue us and cause trouble. We didn’t send him an invitation.
I am ROFL!!! That is too funny, MOfWC.
Where are you guys finding these “guests”! LOL
Really! With friends like that who needs enemies!?!
I’m assigned cheese/crackers/humus/veggies/pita chips for t’giving. I am bringing cousin a bottle of wine for a hostess gift and S asked what he can bring and I told him chocolates would be nice. I will pay attention and see if either of those things are served.
They are just sitting in my bar in my family room, so not cellared.
You guys will get a kick out of this. I have a bar area in my family room that has those criss-cross wood panels that you lay bottles of wine into. Spurred by this thread, I went down to check the bottles of wine (since there are always a couple in there that wind up getting dusty). As it turns out, I had had a bottle of bubble bath that was in a wine bottle with a cork, that I had had sitting on the edge of my tub and I never used. It disappeared some time ago and I had wondered where it had gone. Turns out my housekeeper put it in the wine rack! I really did LOL when I saw it!
So the moral of the story is … if you come to my house, I uncork the wine and it starts making bubbles, run!
^ I’ll make note of that.
But feel free to bring the Frango mints to my place in lieu of a bottle of sparkling wine.
You can have 'em! Like nottelling, I think they are completely no big deal, and I’ve thought so ever since I first came to Chicago and people oohed and aahed over them.
I think I won’t drink at your house, PG, unless I bring my own little airplane bottle. The wine could be bubbles or vinegar, having sat so long. I’d trust MOWC or EBee better.
I’m having T-day at g/f’s house, which I’ve done a dozen times. I don’t recall alcohol there, but now I’ll pay attention.
You SHOULD trust MOWC or EBee with alcohol choices over me!
Years ago, H and I went to Ireland. A friend of ours is a big beer connoisseur and he went on and on about how it was so awesome to be able to get real Guinness from the tap. Neither of us particularly like beer, but we took his word - ok, it must be quite the treat. We went to a small Irish town, sat in the pub, fire blazing, one of those pubs that’s been around for hundreds of years - could not have been more authentic if we tried. Ordered the Guinness. The largest size, of course! Got the video camera ready because this was going to be The Big Moment that we were going to send our friend who was going to live vicariously through our great Guinness adventure. We each took a sip. Blech! We thought it was disgusting!
A little beer knowledge goes a long way. Next time, stick to ale. :))
You can all come to my house. And if I run out of wine I’ll just go take some from my neighbors who always have several cases on hand (I have done that in real life even if they aren’t home for me to ask.)
I love Guinness but don’t like that they serve beer warm in the UK so I drink Pimms when I’m there.
LOL, PG! Guess those bubbles are not champagne! We also have bubblebath in the shape of champagne bottles from a spa visit once, but the bottle and contents are blue!
For those of you with wine you do want to keep at the right temperature, consider a small wine fridge for your kitchen. They will protect the wine from light and uneven temperatures.
Folks who know me know I am into wine (and have many, as in probably around 200, bottles in the cellar) and usually am the one to bring wine to meals and such. But I learned the hard way, a long time ago, that since you usually dont know the tastes/preferences of many of the guests, thats not the time to bring good stuff. That said, there are many very good, reasonably priced wines out there. We’ve had threads on this topic in the past.
I like an occasional beer but definitely do not like Guinness. H likes it a lot but to me it has a bitterness that is overwhelming.
I like a pale ale - Leffe Blonde is my and H’s favorite right now. Goes down really easy.
“Where are you guys finding these “guests”! LOL”
This is what could happen when you graciously open your door to strangers… The Baptist guy was from a religious refugee family that we were helping to settle in the US. After several such fiascos, I put my foot forward and said never again 
I’m not a wine expert at all and tend to like sweeter wines than many folks do. We don’t buy pricey wines. I like a lot of wines, and I trust my daughter and son in law to pick the right stuff! I’m better with beer.
At church supper group I got introduced to Fire and Fireball cinnamon whiskey. It’s great for after dinner sipping.
Dont think there is one “right” answer to OP’s query. If alcohol is something that OP doesnt want to serve, then that is what she should do, especially since it is a rehearsal dinner. If her son and future DIL are fine with that, I wouldnt worry. For a wedding reception, I might compromise and have alcohol if I knew one of the families and their guests expected that.
Question–I thought Marshall Field’s didnt exist anymore. Are the frango mints still around. I never liked them because I dont like chocolate or mint.
Nope…my dinner, my menu, my choice.
If they bring me a bottle of wine as a hostess gift, it is just that…a hostess gift. If I didn’t plan to serve wine with my planned dinner, I would not serve a bottle just because a guest brought one. But my friends know that.
Now…if an invited friend asks if they can bring something to contribute to the dinner…and suggests wine, and I say “fine”…then their wine would be served…because it was planned to be served with dinner.
But a hostess gift? I would politely say “thank you” and put it away.
Bromfield,
It wasn’t that the OP didn’t want to serve alcohol, its that the venue they like best doesn’t allow it. Guess its a testament to the facility that it can do well in spite of that policy for parties and private events.