Wine Box: Christmas Wine

There are two paths to Christmas. The first is to plan ahead (some folks even gift shop for the following Christmas in the January sales). The second involves last-minute elbowing through bustling shops. A wise drinker will take an organised route: it's cheaper.

Most supermarkets, wine stores and wine websites offer discounts on cases ordered early. Some are great value. Madaboutwine.com has impressed again with a basic mixed case (£59.99), which includes a couple of Spanish Cavas plus two Chardonnays and two Pinot Noirs from Coonawarra (last orders 15 December). For the more adventurous, here is my suggested route to drinking with Christmas lunch, without spending a fortune.

Before the meal: a glass of chilled fino or manzanilla sherry. These tangy, dry, pale wines are the lightweights in the sherry armoury. They are best drunk chilled, often as an ap?ritif. My pick is manzanilla because it is matured by the sea at Sanl?car de Barrameda, which gives it a bone-dry yet gently salty, almost savoury, flavour. Manzanilla La Gitana, Hidalgo (Sainsbury's, Waitrose, £5.99, currently on offer at Majestic, £4.99) or Tesco Superior Manzanilla (£3.49 for 37.5cl) are good bets.

Smoked salmon may not be traditional but it's a gentle route into that pile of turkey, sprouts and trimmings. Try it with a glass of fresh, lemon-and-melon-scented Sainsbury's Classic Selection Chablis, 1998, Brocard (£7.99).

Turkey can be insipid, so lively chestnut or herb stuffing helps. Most decent reds are more than a match for this bird but, for my palate, a durable, dusty, almost smoky red is the perfect pairing. Parall?le '45' C?tes du Rh?ne, 1998, Paul Jaboulet A?n? (Waitrose, £5.99) has all the street cred of the genre plus dense colour, lush fruit and an excellent structure.

Finally, while most aficionados plump for port or cognac, I prefer a glass of Malmsey, the grape that makes the sweetest Madeira. Blandy's Madeira, 1994, (right, Majestic, £11.99) benefits from natural canteiro warming in wine lodge lofts and is a full-bodied, sugar-rich wine that delights on its own but is best with Christmas pudding.