Just a few days left before Christmas and if you are stuck for present ideas don’t forget that a decent bottle of wine or gin is always a welcome gift.

As I write this the weather has turned remarkably mild so I’ve abandoned my original topic of winter warming wines in favour of good value wines suitable for parties — parties can happen in good and bad weather after all. Christmas seems to start earlier and get more expensive every year so in the coming weeks I’ll try to keep value as much in mind as much as quality.

By now the first paycheck of the new year should be in but there are no scary prices below for the simple reason that I am focusing on Southern and Central Portugal this week, arguably two of the best value wine regions in the world.

SORRY to mention the war but this is pre-budget submission time and talking to some of those wine trade in recent weeks reminded me how difficult Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, has made it for small wine shops.

IRISH wine consumers like familiarity and consistency in their wines and it is largely for this reason that over 50% of the wine we drink is from Australia or Chile and almost all of that is from grapes such as Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc.