Holiday Cheers

With the holidays fast approaching, I often find myself in one of the most stressful times of the year. No, I’m not worried about family get togethers, painful travel, or finding appropriate presents for loved ones.  Every year at this time, I have to start selecting wines for the annual Sagient holiday party.  Over the years, the company has grown and the holiday party has grown with it.  What once was a small group of people sharing a table in a downtown steak house has become a full restaurant buy-out complete with multi-coursed tasting menus and paired wine selections.

As with any large party, picking the appropriate food and wine can be a major pain.  This year, however, I’m feeling more pressure than usual.  Maybe since I’m now “in the business,” I feel that my wine selections for the party will be more carefully scrutinized.  Maybe it’s because we have more wine drinkers in the office these days and so the standard cabernet/chardonnay selection just ain’t going to cut it anymore.  Or maybe it’s because in this tight economy I feel obligated to get a little more cost-conscious on selections without giving up on quality.  Whatever the reason, it is crunch time on wine selections with the party only four weeks away.

And so it was with much amusement (and just a little bit of envy) that I came across a posting on a NY Times blog about the recent holiday party held by Paulson & Co.  Paulson & Co. made about a zillion dollars last year shorting the subprime housing market and apparently is on track to do quite well again this year (shorting is betting on a price or asset to decrease in value).  So, what did these “master of the universe” types have for their holiday party? All first growth Bordeaux.  Not too bad, right?  You can see the menu below and read the article and see the full menu by clicking here.

For the Sagient team members who follow this blog - sorry, no first growth Bordeaux this year.  What is on tap?  Well, I enjoy torturing the staff a little bit so we’re going to keep the selections (and the location) secret for a while longer.  One thing that I can disclose is our final “wine” selection of the evening.  Nothing like a shot of cheap jet fuel grappa to end the year!

Here’s looking forward to the 2009 holiday party where we’ll hopefully be toasting with some Bruliam pinot noir!