CHRISTMAS EVE SWEET AND FORTIFIED

NV La Gitana, Manzanilla, Bodegas Hidalgo, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain

£8, 50cl bottle, Sainsbury’s; £12.50, 75cl, amazon.co.uk; £9.99, reduced to £7.99 50cl bottle in a Mix Six, majestic.co.uk I LOVE the dinky half-litre bottle of this bone dry Manzanilla, even though I honestly prefer the ‘full’ 75cl format! Racy, salty, lemony and alive with energy, this is a stunning aperitif wine and it goes with every single canapé and tapas you can dream up. Cheers.

NV Waitrose No1 Rich Cream Sherry, Jerez, Spain

£11.99, Waitrose BY CONTRAST to La Gitana, this sherry is at the very opposite end of the dry-sweet spectrum. A perennial winner, this wine, chilled a touch, is beautiful with every cake in every cake shop imaginable and it is as delicious with afternoon tea as much as it performs miracles with afterdinner chocolates.

NV Blandy’s, Duke of Clarence, Rich Madeira, Portugal

£12.49, Waitrose, Morrisons, ocado.com; £13, Co-op WHILE technically sweet, this wine is perfectly named because it is, in truth, very rich and also balanced with neat acidity which gives it freshness, too. There are caramel, ginger, fig and nut notes here and so this wine is stupendous with mince pies, Christmas pud and steamed puddings. It is about as Christmassy as wine gets.

2017 Château La Rame, SainteCroix-du-Mont, Bordeaux, France

£14.99, half bottle, reduced to £12.99 in a Mix Six, majestic.co.uk THIS is not an inexpensive wine, but it certainly makes an impact on the nose and palate. Wines of this class are sipped not gulped, so even though it is a half bottle, it goes a long way. Light and faintly honeyed with orange zest notes, this sweetie goes with fresh, fruity puddings, fragrant, delicate tarts and crème brûlée, as well as lighter blue cheeses.