The summer holidays are in full swing and – predictably – the weather has deteriorated. Friends with young children at home are going mad: I know because they intermittently land on my doorstep with young Johnny and Chloe in tow, bypassing all offers of tea and coffee and heading straight for the wine.

Clearly, things are getting desperate because they’re willing their children’s lives away and fantasising about 18th birthdays and their departure from the family nest.

Happily, my friends are good eggs and aren’t planning on having their off-spring spread their wings without first planning a celebratory bash to send them on their way.

All of which leads to the inevitable question; what sort of wine should they be buying and putting away now that’ll be delicious in ten, 12 or however many years’ time.

It’s impossible to cover every year of birth, but since the majority of my buddies kids are aged four to eight, I’m going to focus on the vintages 2003 back to 1999.

2003 babies were born in a rare year; one that saw all of the major port shippers opting to ‘declare a vintage’. For a shipper to make such a move there needs to be a good volume of truly top quality wine at their disposal to make a vintage port.

It’s not a decision that’s made lightly and what makes 2003 so special is that everyone decided a declaration was in order.

That’s happened less than two dozen times in the last hundred years! In short, 2003 was a blindingly good Port vintage and given their amazing ageing ability, they are a fine investment for future parties. Fonseca and Qunita do Noval are two of my personal favourites.

Can Champagne really be kept 18 years? It’s a tricky one this; I think you either love vintage Champagne or you don’t. I have some lovely 1996 Champagnes that have that wonderful bready, cheese-rind aromas and a deliciously nutty quality in the mouth.

If I had been born in 2002, I’d have loved my folks to have bought a few bottles from this vintage. The key is to buy from an established Champagne house that has a reputation for making wines that keep.

Lucky, lucky, lucky… to anyone who has a link to 2001; a vintage widely acclaimed as being amongst the very best for the sweet white wines of Bordeaux. When the wines were released there was a huge demand for these wines but if you can snap up a few, I’d say go for it! The added advantage is that well-made sweet wines from such a superlative vintage will only improve in time. I see you can snap up Yquem Sauternes from 2001 for just £572.55 a bottle! Never fear, there are plenty, much more modestly-priced bottles around. I know that everyone was wildly excited about 2000 Bordeaux and, who can blame them? However, the wines of the Rhône didn’t disappoint either and, in many cases, the wines offer much better value for money. Look to Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Hermitage for wines that will reward long- term cellaring. I do hope that today’s eight-year-olds are enthusiastic visionaries as for them I have turned to Germany. I know that their parents will love me; the prices are good, the alcohol isn’t excessive (!) and well-chosen Riesling wines will go on forever. The trick here is to buy from a specialist such as The Wine Barn (www.thewinebarn.co.uk) who will steer you in the right direction.

My only real worry is whether or not any of these wines will be around in a decade or so; if summer’s like this become the norm, I’d be surprised if there was a mother anywhere who hadn’t drunk the stash in-between now and any farewell bash!