The catering industry, like any other industry, ebbs and flows with the times. Trends come, and trends go.

But the key to thriving in a competitive business is keeping up with those trends and offeringclientele whatever food and drink are hot at the time.

As far as drink goes during the 2007 holiday season, what's hot is also what's simple — red wine and vodka.

“Red wine is extremely popular right now,” said Matt Strange, vice president of Don Strange of Texas, a San Antonio-based catering company. “I'm not a wine drinker, so I ask my friends and my wife about what is good red wine, and stock up on that ..... But vodka seems to be the hottest thing right now.”

Vodka's popularity, local bartenders/caterers contend, stems from its relative neutrality.

“You can do so much with vodka,” said Richard Ramos, head bartender and supervisor at Hotel Valencia's Vbar. “It's really easy to drink, and it's pretty much odorless and tasteless. You can't really say that about any other” liquor.

Keep that in mind, party-throwers, when you're preparing to entertain guests this holiday season.

Said Strange and Ramos, who combine for a couple of decades' worth of experience in the bartending/catering business, simplicity is key when it comes to selecting alcohol for holiday soirées.

“Keep your choices limited so you don't have to do a whole lot of shopping, and don't turn it into such a challenge that you don't enjoy yourself,” Strange said. “Keep the selections simple.”

And keep others in mind when making those selections.

“What some people don't do is buy or set up for what their friends drink,” Strange said. “They set up for what they like to drink. Analyze who's coming over and their tendencies, and stock those things.”

As for what types of alcohol people should stock, both Strange and Ramos agree on the essentials: vodka, rum, bourbon, gin, champagne, wine and beer.
 Other nonalcoholic must-haves include juice (namely, cranberry, orange and grapefruit), tonic, soda, a variety of fruit and ice. And maybe some nonalcoholic beer, champagne and soft drinks for the designated drivers and non-drinking friends.

The ice from your freezer, however, will not suffice.

“I recommend bagged iced from the grocery store,” Ramos said. “The ice you get out of the dispenser at home, it doesn't break off that well ..... It's really cloudy ice, and really cloudy ice can throw off the flavor of a drink and what you're trying to accomplish ..... I truly believe that ice is one of the biggest (factors) in making a good drink.”

As for what he likes to serve during the holidays, Strange finds champagne (with a holiday twist, of course) to be quite fashionable.

“I can't explain it, but everyone wants champagne,” he said. “What we like to do is drop in a cranberry or a strawberry. It gets that red look, and it turns a champagne drink into a holiday drink.”

CLINT HALE | 210SA