£8.99, Lidl This is from Lidl’s Easter wine cellar collection and is worth snapping up before the limited stocks disappear – even if...

These light-textured shortbread-like biscuits go down well with everyone from tinies through to nineties, probably because they are less...

£7–£9, Marks & Spencer Madiran from southwest France is definitely one of France’s wilder, more rugged red wines. If you’ve bumped into...

This may lack sophistication as a strategy, but experience has shown that there are two surefire ways to success when giving a lunch or...

Fortify yourself with… A bottle of madeira and a bottle of Australian liqueur muscat or PX (pedro ximenez) sherry. •Use the madeira for...

As I said a few weeks back, in what turned out to be my most popular Tweet ever @joannasimon, England’s chief medical officer and I...

£19.50, Tanners shops and tanners-wines.co.uk Who wouldn’t be drawn to a wine called Allegracore – happy heart, named after the spot...

An effortless way to cook whole fish, either one per person or sharing. Just put the fish in a foil parcel with herbs and liquor and put...

Aka irresistible chocolate mousse with rum. It's another simple classic that we could all be making instead of more elaborate cakes. And...

£13.99–£14.99, Dylans Wines, L'Art du Vin, The Square Wine Company There are times when only Chardonnay will do as far as I’m concerned....

Irish whiskey may sound unlikely, but trust me. Ideally you should buy live prawns and cook them yourself, but I’ve been known to use...

£19.99, or £17.99 in any 6 bottles, Majestic Initially I resisted choosing this Champagne on the grounds that a) pink Champagne is too...

Why aren’t we all eating syllabub? It’s a breeze to make and delicious. This one, based on Elizabeth David’s classic Everlasting...

£14.50, The Wine Society I’m not sure whether I’m killing two birds with one stone or multi-tasking, but this week’s wine doubles up as...

Far be it from me to suggest that anyone should find cooking with wine in Britain off-puttingly expensive, but I do concede that, thanks...

Look up the recipe for Coq au Vin in Larousse and it advises using a Chambertin or a Mercurey. Helpful or what? A Chambertin will set you...

£9.99, Waitrose With changeable weather and diets swinging this way and that, you may easily want a crisp, reviving wine one minute and...

Stop Press! 14 April, 2016: I'm delighted to report that these wines are now available at £19.95 per bottle from winesensations.co.uk...

This dark, spicy, autumnal dish can be made two or three days in advance and kept in the fridge. Serve it cold, tepid or warm, with...

£5.99, Wine Rack and Bargain Booze I wasn’t planning to wax lyrical about a Sauvignon Blanc this week. I’d been thinking along the lines...