What should I bring to a soup party?!

Penpal

The problem's actually really simple, a bunch of my lady-friends are holding a soup party. It basically started last week when one of them started going on about how awesome her soups are... and it basically got out of hand. Anyway, a bunch of us are heading to her house for her soup, and we're all supposed to bring something.

Someone has dibs on paninis. Someone else is bringing a cake for dessert.

I thought I could bring wine, but I have absolutely NO idea what type of wine to get or if I could bring anything else!

PA forums, help. Me. Please.

rfalias

Soup, maybe? :-P

Wine is likely a good choice.
Though the selection would depend on the type of soups I imagine.

Red Rover

Spoons!

Merkwurdigliebe Ph.D

I suggest a good loaf of bread. No soup is complete without bad ass bread. The type kind of depends on the type of soup but sourdoughs are generally pretty decent. You just want something that is crunchy enough in the crust to give that satisfying crackle but fluffy enough inside to soak up all the delicious soup juices.

Shit, now I have to go get bread and soup for dinner tonight.

thisisntwally

I recommend a nice Sangiovese, or a Valpolicella. Light, good humored (not too dry) red wines.

edit: oooh I second the bread! A nice crusty loaf... as they say, nom... bread and wine...

KalTorak

Assortment of soup crackers.

Alternately, bread bowls.

Trowizilla

You could always bring some really nice cheese and crackers.

NotMeguChan

I second the bread bowls. Or you could bring some sort of appetizer-ish dish.

DeathPrawn

Yeah, I think bread or crackers is a great idea. Bonus points if you make it yourself.

Merkwurdigliebe Ph.D

I present to you not cheese, not cracker, but the...

CHEESE CRACKER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9araqUkEkQ

seriously they're real easy to make and pretty impressive looking

Mai-Kero

Merkwurdigliebe Ph.D wrote: »

I present to you not cheese, not cracker, but the...

CHEESE CRACKER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9araqUkEkQ

seriously they're real easy to make and pretty impressive looking

That is glorious.

What this guy said. Bring some of those.

Zombiemambo

Cheese, bread and/or wine. All good choices.

reminderGTO

I stole this from about.com, regarding wine/soup pairings.

Chicken Noodle Soup would pair well with a Pinot Noir or perhaps a Chenin Blanc.

A Cream of Chicken Soup on the other hand would likely prefer a Sauvignon Blanc or Viognier.

If you are going for Gumbo consider a Pinot Noir.

For French Onion Soup give a French Beaujolais or Beaujolais Nouveau a go or perhaps opt for a White Burgundy.

If you are serving a Seafood Bisque or Stew you will want to grab a Sauvignon Blanc - the earthy tones, mixed with a citrusy spike will complement a myriad of sea creatures.

A hearty Chicken Tortilla Soup will appreciate a staple Spanish wine like a Rioja.

A New England Clam Chowder needs a well oaked Chardonnay. Speaking of chowder, perhaps you are a Corn Chowder fan, if so grab the nearest bottle of German Riesling (dry) and let it knock your socks off!

Finally, if Beef Stew with Vegetables is your gig, then you can't go wrong with a Cab or Shiraz for red wine lovers and if your preferences lean towards white wines, give a Gewurztraminer a go.

Really you don't need to go hogwild with wine and I expect a soup party is going to serve at least one cream-based soup so maybe you could take a trip and buy some 7-15$ Chardonnay.

EggyToast

Technically it's not a soup party if only one person makes soup -- it's a potluck. edit: oh, unless she actually makes a shitload of soups. You should be prepared to call her on this if she really only meant "I make one soup, and I really like it." Soups are generally easy to make.

But yeah, wine works. Get a Riesling (white, usually sweet, agreeable to non-wine drinkers) and a mellow red like mentioned above. I'm partial to Grenache/Granacha, personally, but you have to get one from 2005 or 2007 -- the 2006 crop was pretty bad all around.

Penpal

The Parmesan cheese cracker is fucking gold. Thank you.

Also, I've been told by a friend to go to the wine section at the liquor store and find an Australian wine that has a yellow label. He doesn't remember the brand, but it's red and so far that seems to be a good pair.

Thanks for the advice, I'm a complete wine virgin.

AND

Yes, the host is making the soup, everyone else is bringing everything else, basically.

EDIT: So bring a red and a white wine?

juggerbot

I know of this Australian wine you're talking about. I'm fairly sure it's called yellow label but I know it has the silhouette of a kangaroo on it, so you really can't miss it. It's really cheap, and with wine cheap usually mean sucks. This one isn't too bad, for a cheap red.

Atlus Parker

Yellow Tail is the wine you're both thinking of.

juggerbot

Yes, that's it. Yellow Tail came to mind but I thought "no, that's a fish."

EggyToast

It's also not very good. I mean, it's passable, but there's nothing special about any of the wines from Yellow Tail. They also make more than a single red, afaik. They make wine for 50 year olds who grew up during the merlot/chardonnay era.

Pheezer

No, he's not talking about Yellow Tail. Yellow Tail is nobody's go-to wine.

He very, very, very likely means Wolf Blass Yellow Label. It's a very nice cabernet sauvignon, not very dry, not too sweet, very mild and well balanced. It's the best red wine you're likely to buy before you make the leap from the $15 wines to the $50 wines (in Canadian liquor prices, I suspect down south these numbers would be markedly lower)

Pheezer

No, seriously, please don't buy Yellow Tail. That stuff really doesn't impress anyone. The Wolf Blass is the one you're being told to get, and if I'm wrong and it isn't, I'm telling you right now that if you want to impress people, this is the one you get.

I don't really drink white wine at all, so no help for you there.

You do know that the other alternative here is to just make soup, right?

Ritchmeister

Haha, i used to work in the wines and spirits department of a supermarket and after reading the "yellow label, sillhouette of a kangaroo description", I was thinking Wolf Blass, then you said that yellow tail shit and it kind of put me off, but yes it is definitely Wolf Blass you are talking about.

Thanatos

If you're going to pick up a Chardonnay, make it a Jacob's Creek.

Capt Howdy

GluhWein. You will not find it in a grocery store. You will like it more than the soup. Just remember you have to heat it, but remove it from the heat BEFORE it gets to boiling point. It's a good spice wine that matches soup in the winter comfort department.

Penpal

It was actually the Wolf Blass Yellow Label wine, and it was actually great with the soup and the samosas that we had.

Can I turn this into "Inform me about wines?" thread?

Trillian

Pheezer wrote: »

No, he's not talking about Yellow Tail. Yellow Tail is nobody's go-to wine.

He very, very, very likely means Wolf Blass Yellow Label. It's a very nice cabernet sauvignon, not very dry, not too sweet, very mild and well balanced. It's the best red wine you're likely to buy before you make the leap from the $15 wines to the $50 wines (in Canadian liquor prices, I suspect down south these numbers would be markedly lower)

Yeah, our neighbours to the south can expect to pay maybe $20 for Wolf Blass, while the Yellow Tail goes for $7 a bottle.
It's not fair.

mooshoepork

Malingering Layabout Scumbag wrote: »

If you're going to pick up a Chardonnay, make it a Jacob's Creek.

This man knows what he is saying. Do it.

The Cat

Pheezer wrote: »

No, he's not talking about Yellow Tail. Yellow Tail is nobody's go-to wine.

He very, very, very likely means Wolf Blass Yellow Label. It's a very nice cabernet sauvignon, not very dry, not too sweet, very mild and well balanced. It's the best red wine you're likely to buy before you make the leap from the $15 wines to the $50 wines (in Canadian liquor prices, I suspect down south these numbers would be markedly lower)

There's no critters on the Wolf Blass label, though, so he probably is thinking of yellowtail.

Buy the Wolf Blass, dude.

mts

for whites, i have been liking Merryvale out of Napa, quite good though a touch expensive, but still under 20 i think

Pheezer

Okay, so here are my go-to wines in terms of Canadian pricing:
Nero - It's a cabernet sauvignon, it's Canadian, and it's dirt cheap. It's like $14 for the 1.5L bottle (which I refer to as the magnum size). The thing about this is that while yes, it's bargain bin wine, it's really tasty and far smoother than one would ever expect. A tiny touch towards the dry side but so are most cabernets.
Wolf Blass Yellow Label - You've had it now, so you know why I recommended it. You're unlikely to find a better red for the money.

The thing is, these are both cabernets, just at different price points. Try out a syrah, and a shiraz. A syrah will be sweeter than most reds and very easy to just guzzle back. The shiraz will be spicier tasting and the best sangria I ever had was made using a peppery shiraz, sriracha sauce, and citrus fruit. Fucking amazing. I have no specific recommendations for either, though. Usually I just ask an employee for a decent one.

Penpal

I wasn't told to look for a wine with any animals on it, just a "yellow label" australian wine which the friend had forgotten was called "Yellow Label". It was great.

If you don't mind me asking, what's the difference between whites and reds, dry and not dry, etc?
Rather than look it up on say, about.com, I want to actually learn from people.

mts

dry refers to sugar conent, dryer it is the less sweet.

reds have skins left on while fermenting and as a result have an earthier more tanniny taste, they are also more dry than whites typically.

also different grapes for red vs white