Party Time - Buffet .....................................................................................................................................................................................................

A buffet, whether cold or hot, is often perceived as the best approach to catering for a large number of guests. It could be for a formal event like a wedding party or a christening or it could be for a more informal party. The simplest idea would be to offer a red, white and sparkling or perhaps a rosé when it's warmer outside. You need wines that are delicious but which will drink well on their own as well as with food.

Cépage Colombard, Les Aroutis, 2006 - Vin de Pays de Gascogne, Producteurs Plaimont - £5.21 per bottle Intensely fruity, crisp and zesty dry white with a lovely balanced acidity and concentrated flavours. The grapes for this wine are all hand-picked in a careful 'triage' at harvest time with the vines being heavily pruned earlier in the year in order to restrict yields to a surprisingly low level. The wine has also benefited from a superb vintage with optimum levels of ripeness being achieved so, as the grape has a high natural acidity, this means that the fruit, acid and sugar are all in harmony. Very pale, and crystal clear in the glass and with a lovely grapefruit and flint nose, this wine has very little residual sugar, but the fruit is so concentrated and ripe that the wine seems off dry, but with a lovely clean finish. From what is traditionally Armagnac country in the very rural South-West of France, this area has been revitalised by the innovative and much respected co-operative 'Producteurs des Plaimont', which has had a catalytic effect on the wines produced here. André Dubosc has almost single handedly driven the standards of this co-operative up to an internationally recognised level and, in the process, rescued the reputation of the Colombard grape! Colombard had been in decline from the 1960s as it had been sorely mis-used as a reliable base wine for either blending into generic table wines or as part of the production of brandy. However, once investment in new technology had been made and the winery started using innovative techniques imported from the New World (such as picking the grapes at night, rapid pressing to minimise exposure to oxygen, temperature controlled fermentation and scrupulous levels of hygiene in the winery), then this grape variety underwent a rapid re-assessment. APERITIF/POULTRY/SHELLFISH/ FISH/VEGETARIAN. ..................................................................................................................................................................

Château Haut Rian Rosé, 2006 - AC Bordeaux £6.54 per bottle Château Haut Rian Rosé A comparatively recent addition to our rosé ranks is this totally vibrant and juicy Bordeaux Rosé. Made with 50% Merlot and 50% Cabernet Franc the wine sees only one night's maceration and is then made like his great white Bordeaux, using cool fermentation, resulting in a wine that has good colour and a lovely purity of summer fruit flavours. The wine maker at Chateau Haut-Rian is the very skilled and experienced Michel Dietrich, who has degrees in winemaking from both Beaune and Bordeaux universities. He then spent time in the wine business in Australia before taking over this vineyard, and the wide range of skills and experiences show in the wine. The extra layers of fruit that is the New World trademark are evident here, but balanced with the traditional Bordeaux approach. APERITIF/LAMB/CHICKEN/VEGETARIAN ..................................................................................................................................................................