When a good friend of mine told me she was inviting her best friends to Le Manoir (www.manoir.com) to celebrate her 40th birthday I could not quite believe it.

What a treat! I have to say I have been looking forward to her older age for some weeks now; she might have been wrestling with hitting the big 40 but I was selfishly focused on an evening of gastronomic delight.

She did, however, manage to share a few grey hairs around when she asked me to choose the wines for the evening. Not an easy task but one made a little easier by not trying to be too flashy.

With more than 20 people at the table it was doubtful that I would find a white and red that everyone was going to love. What was important was to find wines that met with the approval of the birthday girl herself.

First job was to pick a welcome drink. We knew that with five courses ahead of us, most of the party would have eaten lightly during the day and so we did not want anything too dry or too sharp. We tasted some options blind and it was the lightly frothy, elegantly-fruity Cantine Riondo Prosecco NV that came out tops.

It is not a Prosecco I have had before, but it is right up there as one of the best I have tasted and you can replicate a little of the Manoir magic at home by purchasing a bottle from Handford Wine (www.handford.net Tel: 0207 589 6113) for £12.99.

The leading lady was always primarily concerned about the white wine, being her drink of choice. So, it was back to a little ‘blind’ tasting to show a richer, oak-driven style in comparison to something more vibrant, crisp and unoaked.

We had not been too obsessive about marrying wine to food, but a shellfish course was always going to feature and so it was doubly satisfying that Shaw & Smith’s Sauvignon Blanc 2009 from South Australia came out the clear winner.

It is a wine that is reasonably widely available and I was pleased that it was such a big hit on the night. This Sauvignon is full of generous, green citrus fruits and refreshing grassy notes and I am a big fan.

It was a pure fluke that it worked so well with the lemon curd dressing that came with the Scottish langoustines. I cannot see me whipping up that little number for our next dinner guests, but I may well stretch to the wine which can be bought from Waitrose Wine (www.waitrosewine.com) for £11.39.

Lastly to the red and my trickiest decision because I wanted to find a wine with good rich fruit, reasonably supple tannins and yet fresh and vibrant enough that it did not take over. As is so often my want I found myself heading to the Loire Valley.

I know people commonly associate the region with whites but the Cabernet Franc reds can be brilliant.

My choice was the biodynamically-made ‘Trinch’ from Catherine and Pierre Breton which I felt delivered on all counts.

Frankly, at £10.30 for the 2009 vintage (H G Wines www.hgwines.co.uk Tel: 0207 553 9844) I think it offers an awful lot of wine for the money — delicious!

In every way the evening lived up to all of our expectations. It has set a standard for the 50th celebrations!