Best Wine Party Recipes

Olive oil and cocoa butter make this lemony curd extraordinarily creamy and luscious. Spread on baguette toasts, it becomes a fantastic dessert.

This supersavory party appetizer features pureed shrimp and crunchy seasame seeds, giving guests a uniquely textured bite they'll be sure to revisit throughout the evening.

F&W's Marcia Kiesel likes to whiz smoked mozzarella in the food processor with sun-dried tomato pesto and olive oil

Bread that's grilled over an outdoor fire has a delicious, woodsy flavor and needs only the simplest of toppings.

This reimagined cheese plate combines roasted figs, pears and quince with blue cheese and toasted hazelnuts.

Mixing popcorn with glazed pistachios creates a sweet-salty snack that's fantastic with cocktails.

Simple, sweet, and totally indulgent, these figs will be the talk of your party... even though they will be the easiest appetizer to make!

Maria Helm Sinskey likes to use Italian Fontina cheese, which melts beautifully, but young Gouda would be equally delicious.

If you need an easy nosh for a party, these herb-roasted olives are an elegant, simple hors d'oeuvre that everyone will appreciate having to snack on.

Salty and savory appetizers, like this prosciutto and bruschetta combination, pair well with a variety of wines and cocktails making your gathering a flavorful and inspiring evening.

TV chef Carla Hall makes her own crunchy crackers to serve with her cheese spread, a riff on a Southern classic.

What makes this tapenade special is the clever mix of oil- and brine-cured olives and the surprise of sweet, fresh and tangy notes from the dried figs, mint and capers.

"My friend Natalie's mother, who lives in Amsterdam, brings me aged Gouda each year," chef Barbara Lynch says. "I wanted to serve it as a fondue instead of on its own as an hors d'oeuvre." For those without an overseas cheese connection, Lynch suggests buying an eight-month-aged Gouda--"Nothing too smoky; just a beautiful, salty Gouda."

If you're in need of a quick and stunning appetizer, this simple crostini will not disappoint. Seasoned lentials and olives spread across a crispy crostini bread will satisfy all of your hungry guests.

This fantastic sweet-savory mix of pecans, almonds and walnuts from The Casual Vineyard Table, by Carolyn Wente and Kimball Jones, makes a great gift.

Leyden, a Dutch cheese flecked with cumin seeds, inspired Laura Werlin to create this cumin-spiced Gouda fondue. Serve it with soft, warm pretzels or pickled vegetables for dipping.

"At the restaurant, I used to take slices of bacon off trays, stuff them in a roll and eat that as a snack," says chef Jeremy Sewall of Lineage in Brookline, Massachusetts, who has lost about 40 pounds. He now stashes healthy snacks, like this roasted nut mix, everywhere to help him resist other temptations.

Salty, creamy (and even a little crunchy), this recipe is the ultimate party snack for when you are looking to go far beyond the average bowl of onion dip.

With walnuts, mayonnaise, apples and grapes, this recipe is a riff on classic Waldorf salad.

This delicious homemade grown-up version of Fig Newtons calls for adding red wine and anise seeds to the jammy fig filling. The crust gets even more tender the day after baking.