Miss Sophie, played by May Warden (1891-1978) in the short film “Dinner for One”, is ordering a celebratory dinner for her 90th birthday. It is presented by James, his butler, whose role is played by the Warden’s partner, Freddie Frinton (1909 – 1968).
Not only does James serve food and drink, Miss Sophie has to raise a toast for each meal and for her four guests who have died in the meantime. Four different dishes are served during dinner, each accompanied by a matching wine.
sherry and champagne
The first course is the soup that Miss Sophie ordered sherry. The mistress of the house clearly wants the sherry, which was approved by the butler James. For the second course, for a fish dish, the lady asks for a white wine, one of the most classic wine pairings with fish, even nearly 60 years after the legendary sketch was recorded.
Miss Sophie is ordering champagne with chicken. If I were her, I’d probably choose red wine, but after all, the woman in the vignette is celebrating her 90th birthday, so there’s nothing wrong with champagne. Finally, Miss Sophie combines the fruit plate with port, a sweet wine specialty from Portugal.