Advice Sought for a "professional" quandry

I'm in the process of choosing the menu for my boss' upcoming manager's meeting at the Borgata in AC, and I can't decide whether or not to tamper with the wine selection. Our bar choice automatically gets us:

Bacchus Chardonnay
Jean Marie Merlot
Sutter Home White Zinfandel

I've chosen the standard dual-plated surf and turf option for the entree...filet and sea-bass. I was considering replacing the above bar/table service options with the following from their selection (price IS a consideration, and these are mostly in keeping with the prices of the above-mentioned):

Castell Riog Brut (to replace the white zin)
Dom. Fichet Bourgogne (Pinot Noir)
Serge Lalou Sancerre

I've never had any of these, but the general theme is more to my liking than the standard option. Of course, I'm not the only one who will be drinking the wine, so I guess my question to all of you is...do you think my replacement choices are "mainstream" enough to be pleasing to a general audience??

I'd tread lightly - personally, I prefer your choices, but the question is, will the guests?
Ask yourself what the upside is? Will you be congratulated on your wine choices? Or will people be put off by wine with which they are unfamiliar? Will they even notice?
Red. White. Pink. You're good to go, IMO.

Thanks, John. You're probably right, the only upside would be that I'll be drinking it as well and those would be what I'd prefer, but it's probably better to just stick with what's offered, since I doubt many people will really care all that much anyway.

[Robin Garr]

Thanks, John. You're probably right, the only upside would be that I'll be drinking it as well and those would be what I'd prefer, but it's probably better to just stick with what's offered, since I doubt many people will really care all that much anyway.

K, do you have to change the whole trio? Maybe accept two of the mass-market options and one that's a little "better," and plan to drink that one yourself. Just about everybody's happy, and the non-geeks either won't notice that one of the three is "different," or else they'll just pass it by.

so, how does a brut sub for a white zin? how about a decent vouvray for a sub? there should be a relatively inexpensive one on the list. nothing wrong with your other choices - pinot noir is now more popular than merlot for the masses, so.... and just tell everyone that the dry white is a sauv. blanc and they will be fine with it. btw, the borgata really has that dippy a normal bar selection. they are supposed to have a good rep!

K, do you have to change the whole trio? Maybe accept two of the mass-market options and one that's a little "better," and plan to drink that one yourself. Just about everybody's happy, and the non-geeks either won't notice that one of the three is "different," or else they'll just pass it by.

Good point, Robin. However I already emailed my contact there and just told her to revert to the standard selection. I probably would have changed the merlot for the pinot noir.

so, how does a brut sub for a white zin? how about a decent vouvray for a sub? there should be a relatively inexpensive one on the list. nothing wrong with your other choices - pinot noir is now more popular than merlot for the masses, so.... and just tell everyone that the dry white is a sauv. blanc and they will be fine with it. btw, the borgata really has that dippy a normal bar selection. they are supposed to have a good rep!

.

David, the brut really wouldn't, but since I couldn't find a rose option I thought that this might at least be a good apertif choice, as well as an adequate food accompaniment (I wasn't really looking to "sub" the white zin...I was looking to lose the concept altogether!). I also realized that the sancerre might not have been the best option for a white, maybe a pinot blanc would have been better. Moot point now though. And yeah, I was pretty surprised and disappointed by the wine selection offered for their banquet clients. However, I have had their banquet food and it's pretty darn good.

Will they even notice? Red. White. Pink. You're good to go, IMO.

I'm with John on this - To please a crowd, get crowd pleasers, not what any particular individual would like, even if that individual is you. For my last shindig I got Whoop Whoop Shiraz and some other similar-styled white wine, not too, too dry. Everyone thought the Whoop was great; no doubt, for some of them, just because of the name.

Too late now but I would have gone with the Bourgogne. If it's Philippe Fichet, I know the producer more for very attractive Puligny-Montrachet white wines but would trust the red also. And who doesn't like a good Sancerre? (although I'm not familiar with that particular producer.) On second thought though, you were slated for beef and Merlot might be a better match than a light generic red Burgundy. You probably done fine K.