Do you remember the story of Eeyore’s birthday in Winnie the Pooh? Pooh decides to take him a pot of honey, whilst Piglet takes a balloon. By the time they reach Eeyore, Pooh has finished off the honey and Piglet’s balloon has burst.

It’s quite a sad little story, made good by Eeyore’s satisfaction at being able to put the burst balloon into the empty pot and take it out again . . . over and over again.

I was minded of this story last week when a group of friends came round for Shrove Tuesday pancakes.

The first over the threshold told me all about the pot plant that they would have brought if they had not forgotten it, whilst the next turned up with an empty bottle of wine (long story).

The third was so embarrassed about bringing a bottle of any sort that she insisted on sticking it in the fridge before I had had a chance to see what it was.

Ah yes, that’s the good-intentioned, brilliantly organised, confident group that I call my friends. They are the best.

The whole ‘bring a bottle’ idea is generally the simplest solution to the ‘what to take’ question, but the minute it is for anyone that works in the wine trade or who has a bit of wine knowledge, everyone seems to get their knickers in a twist.

There is absolutely no reason for it.

First, the wine trade is feeling the full force of these challenging economic times. You are as likely to find a cash-rich, confident wine worker as you are a rollerblading penguin.

It is easy to turn the heating down a degree or two and cut up the credit cards but it is much tougher to give up the nightly glass of wine.

In short, all bottles are warmly welcome.

Second of all, it is increasingly tough to find a bad bottle of wine these days.

The mistakes are made when you try too hard.

One of the least successful offerings I’ve had recently includes an exceedingly dodgy white wine from Moldova. There are, I know, good wines from Moldova but this was definitely not one of them.

It is also unwise to bring the treasured wine made by a family friend for ‘honest feedback’.

This is, after all, how the likes of me make our living and, polite as we try to be, a hint is a hint.

“Probably tricky to market in the UK” and “not quite to the British palate” are the sort of carefully chosen words that suggest it is time to move on, unless you and your buddies have rhinoceros skins.

The very last thing wine should be is a cause of stress.

It is made to be enjoyed, shared with friends and relaxed over.

So please, no more scouring of the supermarket shelves for long-forgotten, dusty Moldavian wines, and definitely no more pot plants (which have an average lifespan of two weeks in this house).

Just pop into your local off-licence and pick up a bottle of what you fancy and bring it confidently and – preferably – full!

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