Many of my friends ask what is the best wine to use for wedding banquet. As a bridegroom to be, I am going through the same dilemma as them, and honestly, I could entirely understand and appreciate the constant fear an anxiety building up in their guts.

Tell me who wouldn’t wish their wedding to be the best and most memorable in their life? Definitely not many could withstand the harsh criticism that the wine tasted like cat piss albeit directed at you.

Put it another way, face value is invisible, intangible and provides low return. Yet, most Asian society places high premium on it. But really, taste and preferences varies. What’s more with 300-500 guests to grace your night, I am not about to admit that I can guarantee 100% satisfactions in their experience, not to mention I have my own $$$ constraints to meet.

By all means if you are flushed with cash, go for Fullerton Hotel and make sure you prepare a bottle of Chateau Lynch Bages for each table. I am sure the wealthy uncles and aunties as well as your upper echelon associates would be wildly impressed. Nevermind, the hotel charges you $30 per bottle corkage. That only account for less than a fifth of Lynch Bages price tag. But hey, remember, that’s face value.
 
In reality, most of us are down-to-earth, while pursuing such extravagant wedding is nothing more than fleeting idealism. When reality sets in, we have many factors to look into when making our decisions.

When it boils down to choose wine for wedding, there are a few criteria that I can use:
1) The Hotel
2) Food
3) Guests
4) Budget $$$

Hotel - My reasons for classifying them in this order are simple. For most average Janes and Joes, you already have a hotel and budget in mind. What wine this hotel provides you is immaterial or unlikely to sway your choice. Most hotels carry their own range of wines. They typically would have gone through internal tasting and food pairings. Unless the hotel specifically does not provide wine, it is usually safe to go with their recommendations. Some hotels imposed exorbitant corkage charge ($30 and above) that is meant to deter you from bringing your own. In that case, do your sum. Is it worth to pay $20-$25 for their house wine or to bring your own and get charged for the corkage?  Suppose your wine is worth $18 a bottle, effectively you are paying $18+$30 = $48 per bottle.

Food - Often than not, food is a determining factor to your choice of wine. Most Chinese sit down banquet dinner are oily and heavy in white meat dishes. Red wine typically goes well to wash away the oiliness as well as complement the meaty dishes. Some say merlot is good, other says Cabernet Sauvignon is more popular. Personally I prefer Shiraz because merlot is a tat too light to go with heavy meals with the tendency of being concealed by the heavily seasoned dishes, while Cabernet Sauvignon may be too bold and spicy for some to accept. Shiraz although full-bodied is typically concentrated with rich berries, coffee and dark chocolate which from past experience seems to be more acceptable to non wine drinkers. The balanced spicy notes and acidity works very well to complement with chilly dishes and most meat. One label that I always like to recommend is Australian Yellow Tail Shiraz. This wine is easy going for non wine drinkers, not too spicy, yet intense and flavoursome to appeal to wine drinkers. The best part is that it goes especially well with oily and meaty dishes, even sharks’ fins. Because Italian wines tend to be very bold, intense and spicy I usually recommend against it unless you’ve personally tasted a good one.

Guest - Usually your guests play an important aspect in determining your choice. If you know that majority of your guests are whiskey drinkers, then there is really no point in paying more for good red wine. If most are non wine drinker, then a $15 and a $30 wine probably wouldn’t make much a difference to them. If you have wine connossieurs attending your wedding, specially cater good wines for them. It’s cheaper this way.

Budget - Having said that, the bottom line is still budget, budget and budget! Stop lamenting if you failed to bargain for free corkage. It’s not the end of the day. Look through the wine your hotel has to offer. Trust your own taste. Arrange to try the wine and choose the one you like and is within your budget. Wine is all about preference. Remember, it not possible to please every single person. What’s important is that you are comfortable paying for it.

Whatever it is, at the end of the day the entire banquet is all about your wedding and the feast, not wine. Let get real, you are not organizing a Vintner wine dinner of wine and food pairing. I am sure your relatives and friends are forgiving enough overlook this