How much wine should you plan for a corporate event?

A badly calculated order shows straight away. Either the service runs dry in the middle of a speech, or you leave with whole cases and an unnecessarily inflated bill. Between these two extremes, a few benchmarks are enough to get it right, provided you start from the glass rather than the bottle.

Think in glasses before thinking in bottles

The conversion rule, for its part, never changes. A 75 cl bottle equals six 12.5 cl glasses, and this is the basis on which corporate caterers, such as Ensuite, build their estimates. What remains is to work out how many glasses each guest will actually drink, which depends above all on the format chosen.

Seated meals

For a business lunch, two glasses per person is a solid basis. In the evening, the length of the meal and the more relaxed atmosphere bring that figure up to three. At a gala dinner served in several courses, the trade tends to allow the equivalent of half a bottle per guest. In practical terms, twenty people gathered for lunch means around forty glasses, or about seven bottles.

Standing formats

At a buffet-style cocktail reception, wine goes faster, quite simply because guests circulate and nibble continuously. Allow one bottle for every three people when wine is the only alcoholic drink, and one for every four as soon as beer is on offer. Consumption also follows a fairly regular curve, with two glasses in the first hour and then one glass per hour after that. For an after-work drinks or a leaving do, one glass per person is enough.

Adjust to the audience and the season

These benchmarks are only a starting point. A seminar made up mostly of people in their thirties will not drink like an end-of-year party, especially as habits are changing fast. The proportion of guests who don’t drink alcohol is rising markedly, which justifies setting aside at least a third of the order for alcohol-free drinks and allowing one litre of water per person.

The season matters just as much. In winter, red accounts for around two thirds of the wine volume. As soon as the fine weather arrives, the split evens out between red, white and rosé, while water consumption climbs. In any case, keep a margin of 15 to 20%, because running out in the middle of the evening costs far more than a slight surplus.

Take the applicable rules into account

One point often escapes organisers. In French workplaces, only wine, beer, cider and perry are allowed; spirits remain prohibited even at a reception organised by management. The internal company rules may also restrict this tolerance further, particularly when certain jobs involve a safety risk. Check this point before finalising the drinks list: it avoids a nasty surprise the day before.

Coordinate the order with your caterer

The quantity of wine is never decided in isolation. A generous, highly seasoned buffet will call for more drinks than a light selection of canapés, so thepairing with the menu deserves to be discussed in advance. Take the opportunity to ask two practical questions: one about taking back unopened bottles, which is often possible, and the other about how the service is organised. Setting up several serving points keeps things flowing once you go beyond fifty or so guests.

Finally, bring the stock out gradually rather than all at once. That way you stay in control of quantities, adjust as you go and end the evening without waste.