The guests at the sort of casual-but-smart party we're talking about this week are your best mates. They're the chosen ones - the people you most want to be with, in a season when entertaining often has the fun drained out of it by obligation. Treat them to something better than the everyday plonk that tends to cross wine shop counters when customers murmur the hazardous word party.
I've picked two red-and-white pairs at around £8.99 because at that price level, the value of the wine in the bottle is more than twice what it is in one costing £5.99. (If you want the grim details, it's worth £2.22 compared with 94p.) That means you can expect a significant leap in quality for an extra £3 a bottle - and, according to conventional party arithmetic, one bottle should serve two guests. Don't your best pals deserve to drink something decent for £1.50 more per head?
The first pair will appeal to the legions of party-givers who feel French wines give their entertaining a sophisticated edge. Whether white or red, good Cotes du Rhone is the sort of thing you can sip at happily all evening without the ballast of a full meal. It's delicious but undemanding - packed with warm, ripe fruit flavours, thanks to liberal southern French sun. It's also versatile enough to go with the wide range of foods that make their way on to a canape tray - and don't tell me the Mediterranean flavours it suits best of all won't be among them.
The second pair is for New World fans who want a bit of swank. At reserva level, Chile delivers the upfront fruit that has made its wines so popular in a much more refined form. You could choose Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, but why be boringly obvious? Sauvignon Blanc is zingier, yet Chile endows it with enough tropical fruit tones to prevent it from tasting tart after the first few sips. It's good with all sorts of light foods, and will star brilliantly if you've any Pacific Rim or Thai flavours like coriander and lemongrass in your stylish nibbles. Merlot also makes a pleasant change, with less of the sweet blackcurrant taste that often makes Chilean Cabernet cloying, and more warm spice. Like the Sauvignon Blanc, it's fusion-food-friendly.