Sweet wines and fortified wines, dry as well as medium and sweet, are some of the wine world's greatest bargains. They're wonderfully comforting on long, dark evenings and come in a kaleidoscope of styles to suit every taste. They make ideal presents and sweet wines, unfortified or fortified, can be served not only with puddings and cheese but instead of them, when you're time-poor, ingredient-poor or simply don't want any more to eat. I've divided them into two groups below:

£20 (50cl), Waitrose, The Wine Society, independents* Whenever I taste good Madeira, I think, 'why don't I drink this more often?' I've never yet had a satisfactory answer. Sercial, made from the eponymous grape variety, is the driest style, although that doesn't have to mean the bone-dry austerity that the term sometimes seems to imply. Henriques & Henriques' amber-coloured ten-year-old (ten years meaning the average age of the wines in the blend) is off-dry/medium dry, but

‘Tis the season for sweet and fortified wines, for entertaining, for communing with quietly, or giving as presents. Fortifieds, in particular, are often bargains and the Riesling, Tokajis, Sétubal, Madeira and single quinta port I’ve chosen can all be cellared. So can the Noval LBV, but that’s not the norm. Deciding on the order of wines in this guide is always problematic and this year I have reverted to ascending order of price, but within three categories: Sweet, Dry Sherr

Sweet and fortified wines come into their own at this time of year – for entertaining, sipping quietly and contemplatively, or giving as presents. With the exception of pale dry sherries and tawny ports, most can be kept several years (in cellar conditions). Fortifieds, in particular, are also often bargains. So here are my picks for this year, going from dry to sweet and/or fresher, lighter to richer, heavier (rather than in ascending order of price, as with my other Festiv

Fortify yourself with… A bottle of madeira and a bottle of Australian liqueur muscat or PX (pedro ximenez) sherry. •Use the madeira for deglazing pans when you’ve fried, grilled or roast some meat. Madeira is good because of its unique tang, but sherry , port and marsala also work. Sherry has the advanatage of being widely available and any style can be used as long as you take into account the sweetness/dryness. •Douse ice cream (choc, coffee, ginger, rum and raisin, vanilla

Fortified wines are among the wine world's great bargains. They make excellent presents and it's worth pointing out here that the rare Terrantez Madeira and the Pedro Ximénez (aka PX) can be kept for months once opened (although the need may well not arise...). I have also included, below the four fortifieds, a gem of a Canadian Ice Wine. It, too, is a bargain. The fortifieds are listed in ascending order of sweetness, starting with a dry sherry. Watch out for last-order date