Call me biased, but I reckon that the secret weapon the great chefs never mention is booze. They bang on about how they use only the...

New year, new grape varieties: ten grapes and wines for 2016 Remember Grü-V? Yes, the American moniker for Grüner Veltliner. The trouble...

£12.99, or £9.74 in any 6-bottle mix, Majestic Everything a Rioja Reserva should be and an ideal red with which to greet the new year:...

Still and sparkling wines that are easy to drink, don’t need food and are available on the high street – five of them at under £7.50. For...

The purpose of this blog is to provide you with some material for Christmas quizzes, longueurs in the conversation, one-upmanship with...

£16 (on offer), Sainsbury's Waitrose, Ocado, £19, Oddbins This is a bottle to pick up if you’re still rushing around buying last-minute...

£9.75, Tesco, £11, Sainsbury's, £9.99/£14.99, Majestic The juicy, sweet fruit and almost tannin-free suppleness of a good New Zealand...

Fortified wines are among the wine world's great bargains. They make excellent presents and it's worth pointing out here that the rare...

Whites to keep the show on the road this Christmas and New Year Wines listed in ascending order of price. I've given a UK stockist for...

Ten red wines to serve with the Christmas feast Wines listed in ascending order of price. I've given a UK stockist (or two) for each, but...

Ten Champagnes to put you in the mood for Christmas and all the rest Listed in ascending order of price, ignoring special offers and...

£37.95, Eton Vintners, £42, Berry Bros & Rudd This fabulous Champagne was voted best value of the night at a tasting called Ultimate...

£9.75, selected Tesco and tesco.com/wine This dry Australian Semillon is an old favourite, not only for its citrus-zest freshness,...

Marcelo Papa, winemaker for Concha Y Toro, Chile What a difference a year makes. It’s a statement of the obvious where wine is concerned,...

£14.95, Berry Bros & Rudd, bbr.com It’s a bit late to be thinking of this for Thanksgiving, but it’s not too late for the Christmas...

Anything this lacks in colour compared with pears poached in red wine it more than makes up for in flavour - and on the budget front it...

£9.99 when you buy any 6 bottles, Majestic There’s more to New Zealand white wine than Sauvignon Blanc, but the other grape varieties...

Pork is cheap, but chops are often so lean (obsessively so in supermarkets) they need remedial treatment to stop them being dry. The...

£10, Sainsbury's You can pay a small fortune for a wine from the remote, hilly region of Priorat in Catalonia – home to some of Spain’s...

If the sound of meat and milk sounds odd, remember that pork braised in milk has a impeccable pedigree from both Venice and southwest...