Get the cheap fizz in to avoid shopping rush

WINE labels usually offer up some tips on what food you might enjoy with a glass of whatever it is you’ve bought.

Like a restaurant menu, there tends to be somewhat florid language about braised lamb shoulder with sun dried tomato and rosemary jus or pan seared fish from somewhere exotic. Goat’s cheese salads seem to pop up quite often for white wines.

Herself, however, has found a bottle of Prosecco that suggests you open it along with a bag of crisps.

It doesn’t specify the crisps, but I’m guessing it’ll be those ones that have adopted the restaurant menu language and have replaced cheese and onion with mature Leicester and caramelised red onion.

“I’ll take half a dozen bottles,” she says. Well, it’s not quite as bad as people buying hundreds of toilet rolls and it is almost, yes I’m going to say it, Christmas!

We’ve all made the mistake of running out of wine or whatever in the final days of the year and found ourselves on the verge of a shopping madness meltdown as we seek out the last bottle of cheap fizz ahead of whatever relatives are allowed in the door if they have their QR code ready.

Bottom line is there’s always

room under the stairs for some cheap cheerful prosecco or Cava.

I’ll take a look at the nice stuff in the coming weeks but for something like the Strictly final you want a couple of bottles that are easy enjoyed and don’t require much concentration.

The supermarkets and the offies have plenty of offers on at the minute for decent gear for under a tenner and you know rightly if you buy half a dozen now there’ll be none left

at the end of the next month.

The bubbles from Treviso in Italy or Catalonia or even France’s Cremants (basically fizz that isn’t Chanpagne) are all worth seeking out for a bargain.

Personally I do like a Cremant de Loire, but there’s good ones from Burgundy and even Alsace too.

I’d say get that Stormont household voucher, or drinks coupon as I call it, and head down to the offie and stock up.

Leave a little over mind you, so we can spend the rest on something fancy for you and the better half.