A Heart of the Desert-inspired Christmas Party

Christmas is nearly upon us.  How are you celebrating with your family and friends?  The ugly sweater contest has had its day.  Are you ready to elevate your celebrations to the next level?  Consider incorporating winery treats and Heart of the Desert-themed touches to your party.

The Wine:

There are two ways to go here.  You can incorporate a wine tasting or make up a batch of delicious, mulled wine which is super popular in Europe over the holidays.

Mulled Wine:  Mulled wine is simply wine that has been spiced, sweetened, and served warm, often with a shot of hard liquor.  It goes by many different names with slightly different variations throughout Europe and the US.  You’ll want to start with a base of dry red wine.  We like to use the Heart of the Desert Cabernet Sauvignon. For a recipe, check out our blog from November 2019, Mulled Wine for the Holidays.

Wine Tasting: Pick a variety of wines that will pair nicely with whatever you are serving and will also provide options for everyone’s taste buds.  Some people like dry reds, some like dry whites, and some like sweet wines. Heart of the Desert offers all of the above, so you can select four different varietals for people to choose from.

Crafts:

Having a craft table is always an excellent way to go.  You can either set it up for guests to decorate your tree or let them take home whatever they design.  This gives guests something to do and it’s an excellent conversation starter. Consider supplying wine corks, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, mini pom poms, toothpicks, ribbons, strings, and whatever else you can think of to create wine cork reindeer. You can find some great examples here.

The Menu:

You can either go with a high-end wine-paired dinner or set up a lovely charcuterie display to nosh on.

Wine-paired Dinner:  Plan to do a 4-course meal.  Perhaps hire a chef to do the cooking to save yourself the hassle…unless you love to cook and entertain of course.  Choose a Heart of the Desert wine to go with the appetizer, soup/salad, entrée, and dessert. For the salad dish consider pairing with the Heart of the Desert Reisling. For red meat dishes, choose a dry red such as the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Royal Zinphony.  For a seafood or poultry course, go with a dry white such as Chardonnay. For dessert choose the Gewurztraminer or Malvasia Bianca. Consider encrusting your entrée meat with pistachios.  A little crunch and seasoning go lovely with beef, fish, and chicken.

Charcuterie Display:  Heart of the Desert offers so many yummy things to incorporate into your display.  For your basic staples, there are cheeses and dried meats to choose from.  Pistachios themselves add a lovely touch.  Heart of the Desert offers a large selection of sweet treats to incorporate.  You can also include flavored oils and vinegars to dip some French bread in or some delicious dips for chips and veggies.

The Gifts:

Consider getting some stockings and filling them with Heart of the Desert 3 oz bags of sweet treats such as Sea Salt Caramels, Chocolate Tortugas, Pistachio Toffee, or Pistachio Bark.  All of these options are addictive.  Your guests will be talking about this gift for weeks!

The Attire:

Is it a cocktail party? A formal dinner? A casual gathering?  Do you want people to dress festive or does anything go?  You get to decide.  Just make sure to share with your guests what your expectations are so everyone is comfortable.  The ladies will call each other to find out what others are wearing…it’s a given!

The Invitations:

A lot depends on whether you are doing a formal dinner or a casual gathering.  A formal dinner calls for a printed invitation that is mailed or delivered.  You can easily design something on your computer, Canva is great for this, and print at home or send your design to a local printer to keep the revenue in your town.  Otherwise, use evite if you have everyone’s email, or set up a private event on Facebook or even send a design you created through text. Just make sure to include who it’s for, where it’s at, times, and any expectations such as dress and what they should bring.

The Decorations: 

This is the best part.  Your house is probably already decorated so you don’t need to do much except maybe enhance your table décor if you are doing a sit-down dinner.  Easy Peasy!

Have fun prepping your holiday party and enjoying your guests.  Heart of the Desert has all of the tasty treats you need to take your party to the next level.  We look forward to being a part of your holiday festivities!

Heart of the Desert is a working pistachio ranch and vineyard with three retail establishments in New Mexico. They are best known for their farm-fresh pistachios and Award-Winning New Mexico wines. Each store offers wine and pistachio tastings. They offer worldwide shipping and produce attractive gourmet baskets that make great corporate and family gifts. The main store, on the ranch in Alamogordo, offers farm tours that showcase how pistachios are grown and processed, as well as a stunning Tuscany-themed patio that overlooks the groves and is available for weddings, private parties, or enjoying a relaxing glass of wine.