No more procrastination! No more peering at the skies or those weatherforecast maps on which raindrops stream from fat clouds like tears down a chubby face. It's party time. A crowd of friends, simple food and wines that conjure up a sunny mood.
I'm not joking. While it's probably true most bottles can be enjoyed most of the year round, some really are the essence of summer. And boy, do we need them now.
I'm not just thinking of New World Chardonnay, which is often rather tediously described as bottled sunshine. A whole variety of wines, both white and red, have the sort of aromas and flavours that can make you imagine you're ambling through a Mediterranean market, sniffing warm air fragrant with ripe fruits and fresh herbs.
What I've tried to do in the list below is to pick out some examples which will blend happily with a generous range of foods. We're talking here about an easygoing buffet party where guests help themselves, choosing from an assortment of dishes such as the ones proposed above by John McKenna. The wider the spectrum of flavours on the sideboard, the more flexible the wines will need to be to avoid the risk of any clashing mismatches. If you decide to slant your cooking in a particular direction - Italian or broadly Mediterranean, for instance, or with barbecued meat in a starring role - then of course it's fine to choose more specific styles of wine to suit. Even so, it's probably not a great idea to go too far out on a limb. Flexible wines which can bend to accommodate a huge range of food flavours also tend to please a diverse range of palates, from occasional wine drinkers to fussy know-alls - a point worth bearing in mind if you're catering for a crowd.
Accessibility - both financial and geographic - is the other main factor in the choice of bottles below. Apart from the sparkler (about which more in a minute), the most expensive wine listed costs £6.99 and four of them cost no more than £5.99. That's because I have yet to meet anybody buying in bulk for a casual party who feels the need to fix the budget per bottle higher. And why should they, when there are still - thank Heavens - plenty of dangerously drinkable bottles around in this price zone? Meanwhile, the wines listed are also easy to get hold of. Either they're widely available in supermarkets and offlicences or - zero stress - they can be delivered to your door.
The only mild extravagance in the whole shebang is the bubbly I've slipped in. It will make your guests feel special while triggering animated chatter and laughter in a matter of minutes. According to a persuasive article on entertaining I read this week, sparkling wine or champagne should be dispensed from a prettily arranged table just inside the front door, so that that feeling of cosseting and giddy celebration is instant. Worth investigating.
Whatever the serving schedule, bubbles are absolutely the best recipe I know for party buzz. And the Tasmanian below is remarkably good value, considering the government's greed in pocketing almost £5.50 in duty and tax on what's intended to be a modest bottle of fizz. "How can joy be considered a luxury?" said a baffled French winemaker recently when efforts were made to explain Ireland's punitive levy on sparkling wines. The British rate of duty on these, already much lower than ours, was dropped 20 per cent in this year's budget. Something for the mandarins in the Department of Finance to ponder, perhaps, the next time they find themselves out at a bash with pals, glass of bubbly in hand. In the meantime, all we can do is swallow it - joyously. Carpe diem and all that. See August out with a heck of a party.
Sparkling
Clover Hill, Taltarni, Tasmania, NV (leading branches of Dunnes Stores, £10.99). A nicely balanced sparkler that slips down a treat - yeasty and quite round with attractive hints of pears and grapefruit.
White
Fox Mountain Cuvee Lisette, Vin de Pays d'Oc, 1996 (Wines Direct, 1800 579 579, £5.75; minimum order a half case which may be mixed). Here's something unusual and unusually delicious - a blend of Sauvignon and Chardonnay made by an Australian, Michael Goundrey, in the south of France. See Bottles of the Week.
Tyrrell's Long Flat Chardonnay-Semillon 1997 (Superquinn, many SuperValu/ Centras, Roches Stores and many other outlets, usually £6.49).
If you like your white wine full and flavoursome - and a lot of people do - this well-made Australian has it all. Minerally, buttery, lemony, gently spicy but not cloying, it would go with an infinite variety of foods.
DLC La Chevaliere Cuvee Speciale 1996 (Roches Stores, many SuperValu/Centras, Sweeney's Dorset Street and Fairview, Cheers Malahide, O'Lorcain Balbriggan, Round House Limerick, Galvins Cork and other outlets, usually £6.99). With this one, you're transported straight to the south of France, with ripe peaches and the merest suggestion of fennel captured in the glass. An absolutely lovely summer wine, good as an aperitif but dry enough - despite that fruity description - to keep on drinking with light food. Red
Ochoa TempranilloGarnacha, Navarra, 1996/7 (very widely available from off-licences countrywide, usually about £5.49). A brilliantly flexible red, in which ripe berry fruit with a minty overlay is counterbalanced by a savoury meat-juice element. There's plenty to hold your interest here - apart from the great price.
Fox Wood Old Bush Vine Syrah, Vin de Pays d'Oc, 1996 (Wines Direct, details as above, £6.25). A lot of partygivers, apparently, choose a readymade pair, red and white, and there is a Fox Mountain red - but for only 50p more this one from the same maker is an infinitely better buy. See Bottles of the Week.
Chateau La Coudraie Bordeaux 1996 (Tesco/Quinnsworth, £5.99). For those who feel happiest with the classics, an uncomplicated red Bordeaux - Cabernet and a good whack of Merlot. Its vegetal and smoky edge would make it a perfect barbecue partner.
Mancini Rosso, NV (exclusive to SuperValus/Centras, £5.99). This new Sardinian is a light, juicy, aromatic red - mainly Cabernet Sauvignon but the warmth of the sun shines through. Again, there's a barbecue-singed smokiness about it, but it would go with a wide range of Mediterranean foods.