I'd definitely buy enough to cover the full guest list, to be on the safe side. I'd maybe weight purchases more toward hard cheeses that have a longer life, just in case you don't go through it all.

How many people are you inviting? I usually buy 1.5 bottles per person, but that is if no one is bringing their own...

I would definitely advise erring on the side of "too much wine" rather than the alternative.

A piece of unsolicited advice: Keep a close eye on guests' glasses and keep them full of wine...no need to ask for permission when refilling a glass. :) I do this and my parties, I've gotta say, turn out fabulously!

Well, you can never have too much wine and cheese the way I see it. I'd say pick out a budget and get as much as that buys.

Admittedly not helpful for this particular party, but for the future: I have a friend that always asks folks to bring stuff based on odd or even. She might use street address or birthday. For example, she'll say "if your street address is odd, like 4105, please bring wine. If it's even, like 3824, please bring cheese." Somehow it always manages to work out about 50/50 which makes it a little bit easier to plan.

I've only had the opportunity to use this once (half beer, half soft drinks for an outdoor party) and it worked out perfectly.

I agree with the 1.5 bottles of wine per person on the list. That changes, of course, if you invited 20+ people - because that is a pretty huge expense to you. It definitely depends on the number of people you invite. I would definitely check with people to see if they are planning on bringing anything, then I would get enough to fill in the spots + 5 extra bottles?

Just overbuy (especially on the wine)! My husband and I overbought by about 25% for the alcohol at our wedding, but now we love that the booze is always on hand for any occasion. If you want to keep the costs low, just fill in with bread and cheap cheese. No one will care if it's Cracker Barrel (or even store brand) if you're having a good time!

Get one nice big cheese that will keep if not all eaten, and extra wine (it'll keep if not needed.) Don't forget good bread/herbed crackers, olives, nuts and fresh fruit. If you can find some, quince jelly is good with cheese.

While this is a nice party idea in theory, what if everyone shows up with a wedge of brie? It would make for a pretty boring party. Try to have a good basic variety on hand just in case everyone skews the same way. At Whole Foods, they have a basket called small cheeses; they're irregular or small cuts that are a good sample size -- getting a few of those might be a good way to round out your selection without swimming in leftovers.

Ditto to PEARMELON on having accompanying snacks. And stocking up on wine before a party is never a bad idea. If you don't use it up, then it's always there for next time, and if you do, then it was a great party.

I like to host potluck style get togethers but my friends are pretty terrible at RSVP-ing and telling me what they plan on bringing. I used to worry about having enough food/ dessert/ wine but it turned out fine every single time. I usually over-buy slightly on a couple of basics then i just sit back and enjoy the party. Even if your friends bring too many desserts and not enough salad, it isn't the end of the world, everyone will have fun anyway. A host stressing about the food is much more likely to put a damper on the party than an imbalance in the types of cheese.

Not particularly relevant for this party, but I recently hosted a cheese-luck. I provided crackers, wine and other cheese accoutrements and asked all of my friends to bring one interesting cheese for the group to try, it turned out to be a very diverse cheese tasting without breaking anyone's budget.

I'm a tambourine playing teetotaler (my brother's term for me) so I asked around and they said 1-2 glasses per person.

I guess if you have too much you could always make some coq au vin the next day.