Which wine with a cold buffet?

Build the buffet

The cold buffet is preset as the main course, with a charcuterie board as a starter, a cheese platter and a fruit dessert. The balance shown is about 38% red, 50% rosé and 13% sparkling, with no white: the selector files the “cold buffet” line under rosé, when it works for rosé and dry white alike. Count it half and half. For a summer buffet with a salad starter and no cheese, the balance moves to 57% rosé, 29% white and 14% sparkling, with no red. Change each line: the appellation, age and price follow, with no château.

Three wines for the whole buffet

Standing or seated buffet: not the same figure

A standing buffet drinks like a cocktail party: two glasses in the first hour, one glass an hour after that, so four glasses per drinker over three hours. A buffet where everyone fills their plate and then sits down drinks like a meal: three glasses, one bottle for two drinkers. A standing buffet therefore needs more wine, not because people drink faster, but because it lasts and the glass gets topped up on every trip. The table assumes 80% drinkers and six glasses per bottle.

Margin of 8% standing, 10% seated, total rounded to the case of 6. Suggested split: two fifths rosé, two fifths dry white, one fifth young red. The general calculator rounds each colour to the case and may show one case more; it also handles an aperitif before the buffet or an evening party after. Unopened cases are not taken back: the margin is worked out with that in mind.

Serving wine at a buffet

At a buffet, guests often help themselves, with open bottles on the table. Two consequences. First, temperature: a rosé and a white standing next to the food are lukewarm within twenty minutes. Keep the bottles in an ice tub and bring out only two or three at a time; the detail by number of bottles is on the page chilling 50 bottles quickly. Then glasses: standing up, people put their glass down and pick up another. Allow two glasses per guest, and more if the buffet goes on.

If a caterer is preparing the buffet, ask whether they supply the wine and at what price, or whether they accept the wine you bring. Many charge a service fee per bottle; the page wine for caterers explains how we work with them, event by event, with delivery to the venue.

The classic mistakes

• Betting everything on red. At a cold buffet, red only goes with the charcuterie and the cheese. With vinaigrette, fish and eggs, it turns bitter. One fifth of the wine is enough.
• Buying a fine wine. Nobody tastes it between the tabbouleh and the jambon persillé. A buffet is the place for young wines at €7–12.
• Counting a standing buffet like a meal. Three hours on your feet means a quarter more wine. The table above shows the difference.
• Leaving the bottles on the table. Lukewarm rosé is the first thing people leave in the glass. Ice tub, and few bottles open at once.

For a buffet that starts with a board at the aperitif, the page wine with charcuterie covers the pairing; for a cocktail reception where people eat small bites standing up rather than a buffet, see wine for a cocktail reception.