The Aoelian island of Filicudi takes its caper-growing and its salads seriously. This one – perfect as a simple starter with bread, but...

£16.95, The Vintner, thevintner.com This is such a food-friendly red it ought to be on as many restaurant lists as the, admittedly...

Smoked salmon with brown bread should be a treat, but when you’ve had too many garden parties with canapés of sun-warmed smoked salmon on...

£9.95, The Wine Society Red wines from Languedoc can be pretty big and burly, especially when the grape blend includes, as this does, a...

Penfolds' fifth Rewards of Patience was a remarkable, unrepeatable tasting over four days in September 2003. It included the complete set...

Salad doesn’t have to be something on the side or a bit of greenery bringing up the rear. It can be a starter or the main event and it...

£90 for 6 bottles, Armit Wines; £13.60 The Bottle Bank A label and name for dog lovers, for sure, but the stylish, barrel-matured dry...

Happy Easter! To celebrate, I'm rounding off my chocolate recipe series with some tips and extras, including the all-important question...

Winter trips to Champagne can be a bit nippy. Perishingly cold, actually (cue: violins). And tasting dozens of vins clairs, the region’s...

A rich lava-like centre underneath a crisp crust, and a dark, brooding chocolate flavour - quintessential winter comfort, but a taste...

£13.86, Waitrose (on offer at this price until 29 March) The classic matches for Easter roast lamb are claret or Rioja, but I’m going...

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...

This is a River Café Cookbook recipe. Over the years, I have tried varying it by adding chopped crystallised and stem ginger, rum-soaked...

£13.75, or £12.50 in any 12-bottle mix, Lea & Sandeman This is one of the most unusual and delicious wines I’ve come across in ages...

This needs a couple of hours to chill, but apart from that it’s a doddle to prepare and is not cooked. It works equally well with...

£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...