Best fortified wine and wine picks for Christmas

Perhaps the most important is that they are such excellent value for money. Not only is the quality generally excellent, but also the higher alcohol level means smaller servings are sensible, so more glasses per bottle.

Most will keep for a good while (refrigerated) if the bottle isn't emptied immediately - and there's a great choice available on the high street, with fine big name producers often behind own-brand labels.Port grapes ready to pick at Quinta do Noval (Image: Quinta do Noval.)

Post-dinner port is bliss with a dish of nuts, chocolates or nibbles of cheddar or stilton, but think more broadly. Tawnies are super versatile, matching some starters as well as desserts. Late bottled vintage (LBV) is especially good value, offering the rich, spicy fruit of vintage port at lower cost, and can complement richly-sauced red meat. The dryish whites pair perfectly with tonic, lemon wedge and sprig of mint as an aperitif.

The approach to Christmas sees a flurry of offers, with Waitrose in particular an Aladdin's Cave of delights for ports and other fortifieds. I've just finished, with regret, a bottle of Graham's 2017 LBV, down to £11 from the usual £14 and prettily dressed in a seasonal coloured tube.

Among 10-year-old tawnies also at Waitrose, superb Quinta do Noval is £20 instead of £25, or Graham's is £15, down from £20.50. At Majestic there's age and beauty in Quinta Da Roeda 2004 (£22 in mix-six) from the flagship estate of Croft, oldest port producer and pioneer of vintage declarations.

Heading to Spain, dry sherries such as fino or manzanilla might seem summer choices, but they're splendid partners for smoked salmon. Look out for pasadas, which are older, more intense examples – though don't pour them for cream-sherry lovers. Barbadillo Pastora Manzanilla Pasada En Rama (£20 Ocado, half-bottles around £10 in independents) is an unfiltered example with bags of character.

Amontillados, olorosos and cortados are great food wines as well as aperitifs, and ultra-sweet PX is so indulgent poured over vanilla ice cream.
Remember, too, other fortified or naturally sweet wines: madeira and marsala certainly deserve being poured into glasses rather than cake mixes, vins doux naturels from Roussillon have a delicious grapeyness, and Australia and South Africa ape European originals with aplomb.

With all these wines, fashion – or rather lack of it – has kept prices at levels that in no way reflect the immense effort that goes into making them. This situation can't continue, so buy, drink and enjoy while they are so approachable.Late Bottled Vintage Port (Image: Courtesy of Grahams)

Christmas wine picks

For the moment, forget turkey, bread sauce and brussels sprouts. Consider, instead, some unexpected multi-seasonal food and wine combinations.
My friends' faces showed utter shock, then smiles, when I served up a Dishoom Indian feast and set three bottles of chablis alongside it. Both came courtesy of the people who promote chablis in the UK - thank-you!Petit Chablis by William Fevre (Image: Courtesy of the producer)

Wines and food paired splendidly, with the star 2019 William Fèvre petit chablis (£18.40 winedirect.co.uk) – its immediate mineral fruitiness works even better than subtler wines in the chablis hierarchy.
The second combination involves Villa Maria Clifford Bay Reserve 2021 sauvignon blanc (£14, Sainsbury's), pungent, peppery, nettly. The label highlights a flavour of snow peas (mange-touts). Choose those as dinner veg, and the wine absolutely shines.Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc (Image: Courtesy of Villa Maria)
Clifford Bay is one of many classics on Christmas promotion. Waitrose has one of my long-standing Italian red favourites, Masi Campofiorin (£10, usually £13), and among good white offers are Bernard Fouquet Cuvée de Silex Vouvray, £9.60, and Fief Guerin Muscadet Sur Lie, £7.
English sparkling wine is so good that it's a pleasure being patriotic. Highlight of the impressive Marks & Spencer list is pinot-dominated Ridgeview Cavendish, £23 – £7 off. Balfour Classic Cuvée Brut (£19) and Nyetimber Classic Cuvée (£27) are also keenly priced.Mount Rozier merlot (Image: Courtesy of the producer)
Crémants are super value, and Majestic bubbles happily through their French regions, starting at £10 (mix-six) for appealing Bouvey-Ladubay Saumur brut. Also at Majestic, Errazuriz Estate Series merlot (£9) is tasty and complex. For partying or mulling, fairtrade South African The Beekeeper merlot (£7, Co-op) is ideal.Errazuriz Merlot (Image: Courtesy of the producer)
And do support independent merchants. Jeroboams is one with many tempting ideas, including six classics as a Christmas case – at £140 a £39 saving – plus staff ready to give good advice.

With luck, you're in time for online orders from vintageroots.co.uk, a fine choice of organic bottles, or thewinesociety.com, which has the perfect present for wine lovers – everlasting membership (£40) that opens the door to exceptional long-term enjoyment.