Bring a bottle - but which one?

Should you take a bottle of wine when you go to dinner with someone - and if so, which one? And if you’re a host should you open the bottle your guests have bought? These are more questions of etiquette than wine know-how but here’s what I would do . . .

Should you take a bottle and, if so, which type?
It depends how well you know your hosts. If you’ve never been to their house before you might want to ask if you can bring something rather than just turn up with something you’ve picked up from the off-licence on the way. On the other hand no-one’s going to be sniffy about a bottle of champagne, Chablis or Chateauneuf-du-Pape. With good friends it’s fine to ask what they’d like you to bring or what they’re making so you can choose something appropriate.

What if they're really knowledgeable about wine?
Avoid wines where you need a great deal of expertise to pick well (so no Bordeaux or Burgundy). The best bets I find are unusual dessert wines or an authentic Spanish sherry, both popular with wine buffs and which which won’t get in the way of the wine they’ve chosen to go with the main course. (Or a bottle of good extra virgin olive oil if you lose your nerve!)

How many bottles should you take?
Depends on the numbers. For four of you one is fine. For six or eight you might want to take two (It’s better to take the same type so everyone gets a chance to try it) If you’re cautious by nature you could always take a back-up in case one is corked but you then run the risk of looking a bit mean if you take it home with you.

And how much should you spend?
An amount that won’t embarrass your hosts and make them feel you would expect them to spend as much if they came to you. Not less than 7 ($14) and not more than 15 ($30) for a still wine is a reasonable price range unless they’re wine nuts or the bottle is something from your cellar you want to share.

If you are going to friends for a weekend should you take several bottles?
If they’ve got a weekend’s cooking to do they might appreciate it more if you brought something in the food line such as a really nice cake or a pat rather than extra booze! (On the other hand if they’re keen cooks but hard-up, bottles might be just the thing)

If you've brought along an unusual wine should you explain to your hosts what it is?
Yes, but not in such a way that you imply they don’t know much about wine!
More like “knowing how much you like pinot grigio/chardonnay I thought you might like to try this albarino/viognier I’ve just discovered. It’s my favourite new wine . . .”

As a host should you open the wine your guests have brought?
The trickiest issue, of all. It depends how it’s presented. If they bring along an unchilled bottle of champagne I think it’s fair to accept that as a private treat to enjoy on another occasion. If they produce a bottle they’re clearly excited about the indications are they want to share it with you. If they bring an absolutely horrendous bottle conveniently ‘forget’ it, unless they suggest you open it. (Then leave it on their side of the table . . . )

This article is edited from one first published in Sainsbury’s Magazine.

Two questions about wine and weddings

Q We’re getting married shortly and thought we’d ask our friends to give us wine as we’d like to start putting together a cellar. Do you have any ideas on the type of wines we should include and who could help us?

A It depends on several factors, most importantly the kind of wines you both like, the sort of food you enjoy and how much wine you want to keep for the longer term. As a general rule it’s good to have a minimum of one white and one red for everyday drinking, a slightly better selection of wines for entertaining family and friends and some ageworthy wines that you can bring out for special occasions.

Which wines to pick depends on your personal preferences. If you particularly enjoy fish, for example, or if one of you is a vegetarian, the balance of your wines may tip towards whites. If you regularly have a Sunday roast and also enjoy eating meat a couple of times a week you’ll probably want more reds.

Is there a particular country whose food and wine you enjoy and would like to explore further? Italian food and wine, for example? If so your list could include a few Italian cases, at least some of them mixed to enable you to experiment and try different wines. If you like spicy south-east Asian food on the other hand you might want a case or two of riesling, Gruner Veltliner (see yesterday’s article on wines for spring) or modern Australian whites.

It would also be good to have a few dessert wines and fortified wines such as sherry and port in your cellar as well as some bottles of champagne (a gift that seems particularly appropriate for a wedding) I’d also put a few interesting individual bottles of various kinds on the list for friends who are not sufficiently well off to buy a full case. A bottle of vin santo, for instance.

This is one of those occasions when it’s well worth dealing with an independent wine merchant who will take time to go through the options with you. UK merchants who offer a wedding list service include Berry Bros & Rudd , Tanners and Lay & Wheeler.

Q My son is getting married in May and has asked me to choose the wine for the
meal. The menu is melon with berries, Cumberland sausages and mash (!) and white chocolate cheesecake. I am at a bit of a loss to know what to suggest so would appreciate your advice

A Given he's chosen an unconventional main course (if you remember Kate Winslet did the same when she first got married!) I think you can afford to be a bit unconventional too and offer beer as an option with the main course. I'd suggest a robust British ale like Timothy Taylor Landlord or Young’s Special London Ale. I'd also offer a gutsy red wine - a good Cotes du Rhone Villages or Cotes du Roussillon should do the trick - or a shiraz if your son is more into new world wines.

The melon and berries are going to make most dry wines taste a bit sharp so you need something with a touch of sweetness like an off-dry riesling or a demi-sec sparkling wine if you haven't already drunk loads of fizz.

I don't know if the white chocolate cheesecake comes with accompanying fruit. If so take your cue from that. If there are berries, you could serve a sweet red or sparkling wine mixed with raspberry liqueur (raspberry and cherry beers are also delicious). There's also an attractive orangey dessert wine called Brown Bros Orange Muscat and Flora which goes well with white chocolate but it might be a bit light for the cheesecake. If you can, try and do a run through of the food and wine together before the wedding with a couple of different options.

What to pour for your mum this Sunday

Last week I went to the perfect breakfast hosted at one of London’s favourite restaurants The Wolseley by the champagne house Billecart-Salmon in aid of Britain's Biggest Breakfast - a month long fund raising event for Cancer Research UK The charity is urging everyone to hold a breakfast for their family, friends or colleagues during March (still 17 days to go . . . ) and it struck me that this would be a particularly nice way to celebrate Mother’s Day.

Breakfasts in posh hotels and restaurants are always amazing and The Wolseley’s is no exception: A choice between home made granola with sliced bananas and cream (mmmm) or fresh fruit salad followed by scrambled eggs and smoked salmon or eggs benedict. And lots of very good viennoiserie - crisp buttery croissants, pain au chocolat and pain aux raisins.

The most interesting thing from a food and wine matching point of view was just how well Billecart’s fresh strawberry-scented non vintage champagne went with the sweeter things on the menu - the granola and banana, the croissants and other pastries. Because champagne has a sweet liquor added to it just before bottling (the dosage) it can handle desserts and pastries better than any other dry wine.

Interesting too that the superior vintage Cuve Elizabeth Salmon to which we we treated wasn’t such a good pairing - simply too rich and powerful for that type of food at that time of day. (It was actually full-bodied enough to take on rare roast beef or lamb, as they would no doubt serve it in Champagne where they drink champagne with everything, poor dears.)

You could easily adapt this menu for a Mother’s Day treat - the smoked salmon obviously being a slightly easier option than the eggs benedict. And Billecart ros comes in the dinkiest half bottles . . .

Which wine to serve as an aperitif?

The results of our latest poll showed an overwhelming preference for champagne or other sparkling wine over any other aperitif - the ultra-sophisticated dry martini or refreshing gin and tonic barely registering. But it’s worth thinking of a few other possibilities to kick your evening off.

An aperitif’s role is to stimulate the appetite for the meal ahead - the word derives from the Latin verb aperire ‘to open’. It’s job is to tickle or refresh rather than bludgeon the palate which is why dry white wines or sparkling wines are the most popular option.

It should also fulfil the task of making your guests feel relaxed and pampered - gratified that you’ve taken the trouble to find something they’ll enjoy. But exactly what that amounts to takes is going to vary for different guests . . .

Friends and family
Friends and family love you. They don’t need to be impressed. But they’re flattered (as anyone would be) if you remember the pinot grigio they enjoyed at that Italian restaurant you went to a couple of months ago or bring out the last bottle of that lovely wine you all enjoyed on holiday together. Keep it simple - a nice unoaked chardonnay, a good sauvignon blanc or (if they’re ardent Francophiles) a kir, a dash of cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped up with inexpensive white burgundy.

Need to impress
Unlike when you’re dealing with the much travelled foodie or wine buff below, play it safe and stick to something they’ve heard of: a familiar champagne (Laurent Perrier or Veuve Clicquot, for example), a Chablis, Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé or an iconic New World white like Cloudy Bay. (Never mind that there are arguably better New Zealand Sauvignons, you’ll get brownie points for having managed to get hold of some at all) A lush white Bordeaux (Graves or Pessac Lognan) also goes down well.

Wine-loving sophisticates
With the man - or woman - about town there’s a sort of reverse snobbery at work. Don’t go for the obvious so make it Italian prosecco rather than champagne, possibly made into a fresh fruit bellini. Other good options: tangy, well chilled manzanilla (a number of you were on the spot with your votes there!) served with authentic Spanish Marcona almonds; a refreshing German or Australian Clare Valley riesling or current restaurant favourites Grner Veltliner or Albarino (from Austria and Spain respectively) Anything, in short, that shows you have similar good taste to theirs

What not to serve

* Nothing too old
Not everyone likes the complex, sometimes funky flavours of mature white wines so, even if you have one ardent riesling-lover in the party, stick to whites that are young, crisp and fresh

* Nothing too oaky
Full bodied, barrel-aged whites need food just as much as full bodied reds do so are not the best way to kick off an evening.

* Nothing too commercial
Even friends won’t be flattered by the 3 for the price of 2 bargain you’ve picked up in the local supermarket. (They’ve probably bought it too and are sick of it already)