As ever, my annual sweet and fortified wine guide is the place to rummage for many of the wine world's greatest bargains. More than that, it’s a source of aperitifs and of restorative and comforting wines for long dark evenings (dry, medium and sweet); it's a place to research accompaniments or alternatives to puddings and cheese; and it’s a provider of inspiration for gifts. It’s divided into three: sweet wines, then sherries, where you’ll find dry wines for aperitifs as wel

£14.99-£15.50, Amps Wine, Lea & Sandeman, Master of Malt, Tanners, The Wine Society, Majestic En rama sherry is all about drinking pale, dry sherry as they do on its home turf in Jerez: newly bottled and barely filtered so that you get engaging freshness together with fuller flavour. In fact, because the flor was particularly healthy in the bodega over the winter, the quintessential, yeasty flor flavours in this year's bottling, the 12th edition, are even more intense – thin

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:

‘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 WINE Domaine Cady Coteaux du Layon Saint-Aubin Les Varennes 2015, France Old-vine Chenin made from botrytis (aka noble rot) affected grapes. Lovely intensity and depth of honeyed peach, apricot and spice flavours allied to riveting freshness. Those with willpower could cellar it for a decade. Those without could drink it with a wide variety of puddings (but ideally not chocolate) and cheeses, or instead of them. 12%. for 75cl: £17, The Wine Society Château Roumieu Saute

£11.95 (37.5cl), Lea & Sandeman; £12.49 (37.5cl), Martinez Wines Outstanding Manzanilla, aptly named and great value for such quality. It's slightly darker, fuller bodied and more intensely saline – altogether more complex – than the average Manzanilla or Fino, because it's en rama, meaning bottled from the cask without the usual filtration. I don't want to reduce it to a list of aromas and flavours, but I found fresh hops, smoke/gunflint, green apple, salted almonds, Marmite

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

This an updated post from last year – wines, vintages and prices updated. Chocolate can be a tricky customer when it comes to matching wines, but it’s certainly not a no-go area. Believe me, after years of selfless testing, I’ve come up with winning combinations (below) for chocolate in all its forms. If you’re looking for pairings of your own, keep two things in mind. Firstly, even when it’s dark/bitter with a high cocoa percentage, chocolate is sweet. Secondly, it has a tex

Fortified wines are the perfect, relaxing wines to sip when life moves into the slow lane in the evenings and over the festive period. They also make great presents. The Marsala will be a revelation if you've never had a really good Marsala; the Late Bottled Vintage port can be cellared like a vintage port, which makes it a bargain at the price; and I’ve also included a Vin Santo below because it’s higher strength than table wine and fits into that same meditative, close-of-a

Chocolate can be a tricky customer when it comes to matching wines, but it’s certainly not a no-go area. Believe me, after years of selfless testing, I’ve come up with winning combinations (below) for chocolate in all its forms. If you’re looking for pairings of your own, keep two things in mind. Firstly, even when it’s dark/bitter with a high cocoa percentage, chocolate is sweet. Secondly, it has a texture that coats your taste buds, so you need wines that can power through

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

Why aren’t we all eating syllabub? It’s a breeze to make and delicious. This one, based on Elizabeth David’s classic Everlasting Syllabub, doesn’t separate, so can be made in advance, and it doesn’t demand a whole bottle of wine. In fact, it doesn’t demand any and you can swap the sherry for dry white vermouth and the brandy for Grand Marnier or Cointreau. But whatever alcohol you use it must be drinkable, because, uncooked, the flavours come through loud and clear. Serves 6-

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