Wine choice

[vhost]

Hello,
I was wondering if there are any guidelines for buying wine as a house-warming gift. We'd like to buy a bottle of wine for some friends when they move into their new house, but we're not sure what to get. Perhaps the thing to do is to find out what kind of wine they like to drink, and get that, but we don't really want to give away our plan. So we are thinking about a Chardonnay, or a Merlot, since most people seem to like these grapes. Suggestions welcome!!!