2 steps to getting invited for dinner

Do you know if you are a good guest ?

I'm not talking about whether you're fun and entertaining or whether you can handle yourself at a dinner table.

I'm not speaking about the fact that you bring a little present for your host to show your appreciation.

I'm not even talking about your ecstatic praise of the cooks' home-made bolognaise even tough you don't eat meat.
All this is very good, and ensures that your friends will continue inviting you over.
But to be a REALLY good guest revolves around something else.

A good guest helps to magnify his hosts food. He participates to the overall success of the dinner, but without showing it.

The key to achieving this is to do more without the other guests noticing. Don't worry though, your host most certainly will.

And he will do the exact same thing when you're the one inviting him.

So here is my secret recipe to being a perfect guest:

One of the most accessible things that will make it easy for you to score big time with your host is to bring some wine. I know it doesn't really come as a surprise. All the more so as this is a blog on wine. Yet beware, it's not that simple. For my secret knack is not to bring any wine : it is to bring a special one.

1. First, try and bring something that actually matches the food you are going to have.

In order to do this, yes, you will have to harass your friend until he accepts to tell you what he is going to cook for you. Or you could just go to a mind-reader. Your choice. I'd I go for the first one though. I don't like to live dangerously.

If you manage to find a good pairing your friend's food will be embellished by the aromas of your wine. And he'll get more credit for what he cooked.

2. Second, if you can, you may want to surprise your friend, with a wine he does not know.

Try experimenting, finding something that matches the food yet cannot be found on the middle shelf of your local supermarket. It will give your party a theme to talk about and leave time to your friend to prepare the rest of his dishes if he needs to.

With these 2 simple steps you'll be sure to boost your host's party. It is not very difficult and nobody will even notice you helped. Your friend will be grateful for your modesty and he'll invite you to most of his dinner parties.

Free food for the rest of your life, that's what I'm talking about!

Here is an example of the wine I brought to my last dinner party. My little technique worked out beautifully.

Take a look at my tasting notes:

Menetou-Salon, 2008, La tour Saint Martin

Albane et Bertrand Minchin

100% Sauvignon blanc

Nose: Fresh exotic fruits, honey, raisins but also some herbal aromas and white flowers like honeysuckle.

Mouth: A rich and full mouth, with a little woodiness and acidity.

Pairing: Cold chicken salad and asparagus, Balsamic vinegar.

Here is a bit of honeysuckle so you know what it looks like

The Loire's sweethearts

Most people don't really enjoy dessert wines.

They think they are too sweet, too heavy, too powerful. And a part from foie gras nobody really knows what to pair them with.

So they usually end up being stacked in a cellar, waiting for New Years Eve or at least for you to let go of your diet for one evening.

Yet I think this is a grave mistake.

Dessert wines in spite of their ridiculous name, should not only be kept for dessert. They can magnify a whole meal if you accept to let go of your cultural prejudices.

Dessert wines contain a high level of sugar and alcohol. This characteristic comes from the fact that they are made from mouldy grapes.

I know this does not sound very appetizing.

Yet in fact this mould is not just any mould: it is a noble mould, called Botrytis Cinerea, also dubbed "noble rot".

Wine makers can really be poets.

This idiosyncrasy is only possible when the weather is sufficiently moist during the autumn.

Therefore only a few regions in the world have the adequate climate to produce dessert wines.

In France, Sauternes, in the Bordeaux region is the most famous of them all. Just check out the price of a bottle of Château d'Yquem.

But there is also great noble rot wines in Alsace (some Gewürztraminer for example) or, as my main title suggests it, in the Loire Valley.

Chenin, (the Loire's main white grape) is the variety that produces these great dessert wines. There are 3 dessert wines in the Loire Valley:

- Coteaux-du-Layon

- Bonnezeaux

- Quart de Chaume

As they are much less known then their counterparts from Sauternes, these amazing wines also have the great advantage of being much cheaper.

But this is not their only asset! Also their general acidity (typical of Chenin) gives them the ability to age easily and provides them with an overall impression of aerial lightness which is a plus when you want to pair them with non dessert foods.

So you see these wines are magical with the appropriate pairing.

For instance, try to taste a Coteaux-du-Layon with a veal medallion and mushroom sauce.

Or dare and pair a Bonnezeaux with an Orange glazed duck.

Prunes or raisins go well with these wines too. Try it out, you'll be surprised.

Anything with a little honey, dried fruits or foie gras will do the trick.

It's not very complicated and I assure you having one of those at your table will make a huge difference.

Here is a Coteaux-du-Layon I tasted last week and paired with chicken stuffed with dried prunes. It was absolutely delicious.

Coteaux-du-Layon, Saint Lambert du Lattay, 2005

Michel Robineau

Selection grains nobles

Nose: very subtle, fresh peonies, apricot

Mouth: an explosion. Dried apricot, honey, a very well balanced acidity and a round attack. Very long lasting taste.

This wine is just a drop of gold diluted in your veins. It's powerful yet soft, fragrant yet delicate, sweet yet elegant. Overall you really feel there's something different about this wine, something noble and pure.