Brian Elliott is an established wine journalist, taster, judge and writer with a weekly column in Scottish newspapers.
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A glass of fortified wine was as much part of Christmas Past as holly and mistletoe but the rise of table wines has reduced the demand – so here is a glimpse of what we are missing.
No wine drinker wants to appear (if you will forgive the double meaning) as a plonker, so getting advice and extra information from reliable, well written and entertaining books is a Christmas activity that keeps on giving.
As a limbering up exercise before Christmas tuck into some of these tasty wines – available at, I guess, the wine retailer with the most outlets nationwide.
Today’s new Collection from Lidl includes a superb dessert wine that, to me, is a veritable crock of gold at the end of an impressive rainbow of varied wines.
Sainsbury’s begin a new 25% off multi-buy promotion this morning. Use it, for example, to stock up on a tasty red at £3.57 or to knock nearly £8 off a classy Chateauneuf du Pape.
As the latest Tesco promotion seems heavily inclined towards brands, I have tasted through a number of their branded wines and am hugely impressed by one red in particular.
Use these two as an inspiration; even if your local is crowded, there is always a corner away from the hordes!
Dependable red wine for under a fiver is hard to find but here are not one, but two, for you to savour – along with a couple of breezy and classy whites ….. and an enigma
With all those extra visitors, Christmas is usually a good time to focus on wines that look good and taste good but do not cost a fortune – here then are a trio to fit the bill perfectly.
The second group of Lot Series wines are now in Aldi stores and, like its predecessor, brings us some outstanding wines but, while you are in the store, pick up a fabulous white too.
