A bottle of something special

If ever you're going to get out of the £3.99 wine rut, Christmas is the time to do it. The problem with spending more is that the difference between a dead cert and a dead loss is rarely obvious on the shelf. Here are two Christmas lunch alternatives, flush with tried and tested bottles: one is classic, for those who like European nuance and finesse; the other is adventurous, for those who like New World exuberance.

The Classic Christmas Lunch

Begin, of course, with Champagne. The cheapest big-name Champagnes cost around £17.99, but there's no need to pay that much; there are two brilliant Blancs de Blancs out on the high street which offer higher quality for at least a pound less. Oddbins has the Pierre Gimonnet Premier Cru nonvintage, which smells of chalk dust and tastes rousingly vinous and lemon-fresh, at £14.99 (89/100); while Waitrose (whose entire Champagne range is impressively trustworthy) stocks the teasingly sappy and intense Le Mesnil Grand Cru for £16.99 (89/100).

White wine? If you're stumped for cash, the 1998 Bourgogne Chardonnay Barrique Rèserve from Laroche (Safeway £5.99) is nuanced, lean and subtle, a Chablis in all but name (88/100); while an impeccable example of the real thing is to be had at Waitrose, with the compelling 1999 Chablis of William Fëvre, all straw and stones, with just the faintest whisper of butter (£9.99, 91/100).

I'd love to give you a dozen classic reds, most of them from the Rhone, since that region is on fire at present; but if I had to pick just one, it had better be from one of the best value apellations of the south, CostiËres de Nimes: the 1998 Chateau de Nages, Cuvèe Joseph Torres (Oddbins £8.49, 89/100). Decant after breakfast, so that its rich tannins have a chance to unfold like napkins by lunch.

And for pud? Sauternes has had some great vintages recently, and there are bargains in the cast-offs from famous ch?teaux - as the buyers of both Safeway and Sainsbury have realised. Best value is the former's 1999 La Fleur d'Or Sauternes (£5.99 for a half bottle: 89/100), not a deep or showy wine but impeccable in stylistic terms, full of delicious tangerine and honey. Close behind comes 1999 Sainsbury's Classic Selection Sauternes (£7.99 a half: 88/100), a tangier mouthful.

The Adventurous Christmas Lunch

Begin with Sparkling Shiraz - made by Banrock Station, and stocked by Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury at £7.99 (Waitrose has it on special offer at £6.99 until 7 January). It's purple, with pink foam; it smells of tar; it tastes of salty cherries; it makes you unaccountably happy (88/100).

For our adventurous white, I've gone for the beautifully labelled 2000 Verdelho from Capel Vale (Sainsbury's £7.99, 90/100): its scents of soft vanilla and mango and rich, mouthfilling flavours of lime-teased summer fruits manage to strike the right note of exoticism without sacrificing subtlety.

And red? Here's one to make your turkey feel like a quail. I don't quite know what Avontuur's winemaker managed to do to create the titanic, 15 per cent 2000 vintage of the estate's Pinotage, but its sweet, luscious fruit is almost hidden beneath an avalanche of fire, spice and tannin (Waitrose, £7.99, 92/100). It's one of the most thunderous South African reds I have tasted, and if it came from Australia, it would cost £20. The only drawback is the dull label, so take it by the hand and lead it straight to your best decanter.

And then? If you really want to outgun the pud, it's got to be Campbell's Rutherglen Muscat (half bottle, Oddbins £5.99, 86/100), a caramel steamroller which will crush everything in its path. Better balanced, though, as well as stylistically exquisite is the 2000 Pantelleria, made from sun-baked Muscat grapes on the island of the same name which constitutes Europe's most southerly point: orange honey in a glass (half bottle, Waitrose £5.99, 88/100).