From Saruman's Wine Cellar
Tablescapes of Middle-earth
Back when I started collaborating with Vinos Pingüinos on the wine and cider pairings for Hobbit Day this year, he inquired if I was serving anything associated with wizards. As there were no meals to speak of during any of the scenes with Gandalf and Saruman, the thought had never occurred to me. That’s when the suggestion came to have a “wizard wine”…. perhaps one of the dainties that Saruman kept for himself in his deep cellars. I’ll be serving Dme. du Mas Blanc Banyuls 'Le Colloque'. It’s a fortified wine with beautiful complexity, and rare; qualities I imagine would have been prized by Saruman.
This isn’t a full-fledged tablescape, as I will only be serving wine, and in the theater room during the film at that!
However, I did want the serving tray to evoke a certain “Isengardian” aesthetic, while also offering stability for the full drinks as I walk them in to my waiting guests.
I thrifted a tray of hammered metal, and discovered that there exists in the world a rubberizing spray called “Plasti Dip”. Amazing. One blistering afternoon recently, I taped off everything except for the bottom of the inside of the tray and layered on about 4 coats of the stuff. It worked like a charm, and I can now safely and confidently carry a serving tray loaded with ten full cordial glasses from one room to the next, timing the offering perfectly with the scene where Gandalf is inside Orthanc, holding a glass of red wine.
The shorter cordial glasses were my partner’s grandfather’s. I thrifted the taller cordial glasses recently, and they are amazingly almost the exact same shape as the cordials that we already owned, except for being taller. I’m quite pleased with the results, and feel that even this small tray of fortified wine will help to immerse my guests in Middle-earth.