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No other time celebrates the gift of wine like Christmas. But sometimes choosing a bottle can feel like a thankless task.

Start with bubbles. A light Champagne or a good sparkling wine is great as an aperitif and mood lightener. Mayerling Cremant d'Alsace Brut is my choice - it's minerality and slightly honeyed notes are perfect to set the day off.

Even with the best cooking techniques, turkey can be dry in texture, so the solutions are white wines such as Rieslings, Sauvignon Blancs from Chile and New Zealand or a good Chenin Blanc (False Bay Chenin Blanc is my choice).

Reds are a little essier. The rule is pretty much to stick to anything low in tannins. Gamay or Pinot Noir is a good place to start - any of the Beaujolais Crus, such as Fleurie and Beaujolais Villages will suit. Or Byron Bay Pinot Noir from California if you prefer New World wine.

Pudding is simple. Torres Floralis is suitable for Christmas pudding and will also work well with blue cheese. Port is also a good match, tawny or ruby, depending on your preference.

Happy drinking!

What a fantastic evening. Thank you to everyone who attended - we had a full house & it was a really good night.

Louis Boutinot talked us through the 5 wines from the Waterkloof Winery while we worked our way through 5 fabulous courses. The chefs at the Brown Horse provided an outstanding meal & the wines matched the food superbly.

Everyone commented on how relaxed the evening was. Good to catch up with some old friends and meet some new ones. The most popular wine seemed to be the Circumstance Cape Coral Mourvèdre, a delightful rose wine that is also apparently a favourite of Gordon Ramsey - although we won't hold that against it!

Peter and Joanne attended a Champagne Tasting evening at The Studio in Birmingham - an event organised by Laura Clay (former Champagne Ambassador to the UK) and founder of Birmingham Imbibers. We blind tasted 10 Champagnes including Taittinger NV, Laurent Perrier Brut NV, Veuve Clicquot NV & Bollinger NV. We found that in the blind tasting some of the better known and more expensive Champagnes did not score so well. Although, the more we drank the less competant we became and with no spitoons on the table things could only go one way.

The Champagnes were accompanied by canapes from Marco Pierre White's new restaurant, Indigo. It was a great evening - lovely to meet some new people & share our tasting notes. We have also brought back some great ideas for hosting our own Champagne Evening in the Lakes at one of the fabulous venues at our fingertips. We will keep you posted!

What did occur to us was what very good value our own house Champagne, Gremillet Non Vintage really is - at £19.39 it knocks the socks off Champagne at the same price point and gives even the Grand Champagne Houses a run for their money.

Windermere & Ambleside Wine Stores now has an on-line wine store.

Windermere Wine Stores and The Malt Lounge is delighted to add their comprehensive Wine List to their internet Site. Finally, we have taken the plunge & added a selection of wine to our already successful on-line whisky website (maltlounge.co.uk).

Delivery of WINE is free to any address within a 20 mile radius of our Windermere Store (minimum of 12 bottles). Outside this area, we will use a Courier & there will be a small charge for this service.

As Independent Wine Merchants we can offer wine from smaller producers; we carefully select our entire range & can in turn offer customers a free Food and Wine Matching Service (email us or call in-store). This is very popular for those wanting to try something different for a special dinner party or just to expand their knowledge of wine.

We offer glass hire, Sale or Return for Party Planning & are happy to work alongside your caterers (or with yourselves) to ensure any event runds seamlessly.