Top 10 wines in the UK press

Verget Pouilly-Fuissé 2010

For those who prefer to wash down their turkey with white wines, Fiona Beckett offers Guardian readers her own recommendations.

While lighter options may be perfect for seafood starters, she advocates “a richer style of white Burgundy or similar cool-climate Chardonnay” for the traditional Christmas main course.

As a result, Beckett suggests readers try this “particularly luscious, creamy” Pouilly Fuissé, which is available from Oddbins for £23. Noting that the 2011 vintage may be available in some stores, she particularly recommends this younger option.

Tesco Finest Slovenian Sauvignon Furmint 2012

For those who fear they’ll “expire from boredom” if presented with another glass of the perennially popular Sauvignon Blanc, Beckett suggests this £7.99 white blend from Slovenia.

With its “gorgeous aromatic lift to an attractively citrussy Sauvignon base,” she praises the result as “one of the most delicious and original whites I’ve tasted this year.”

As for food matches, Beckett recommends “Asian-style salads and fish dishes,” although she also describes it as “the perfect glass for the hard-pressed cook.”

Christmas Treats Mixed Case

Offering one solution for navigating the Christmas drinking minefield, Jamie Goode recommends that his Express readers take advantage of the mixed case selections on offer from many retailers.

“You leave the hard work up to someone else, and as long as you are buying from a wine merchant you trust, you can end up pleasantly surprised,” he remarks. “It’s often a great way to make a bit of a saving, too.”

Among his top picks from the seasonal mixed case offerings, Goode highlights this option from online retailer Virgin Wines.

Priced at £89.88 for 12 bottles (as well as a £7.99 delivery charge) this features some “seriously attractive, modern-styled wines,” ranging from the Ardèche to Barossa and cool climate Casablanca.

Tanners German Riesling Taster Case

For German wine lovers – or even those curious to see what all the fuss is about – Goode recommends this mixed case offering from Shropshire-based wine merchant Tanners.

With six bottles for £84.05, the selection includes “legendary producers” such as Dönnhoff and Loosen among other respected names.

“They are perfect lunchtime wines, often best sipped before you eat, or with salads or seafood dishes,” suggests Goode as he promises: “Prepare to be converted.”

2010 Concha Y Toro Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc

Turning to the cheese course, especially wine matches for the classic Christmas Stilton, Anthony Rose offers his Independent readers this alternative to the traditional vintage Port option.

Available from Asda for £5.97 per half bottle, this “great value sweetie” provides a “satisfying match for blue cheeses”, according to Rose, who picks out its “exotic passion fruit” character balanced by a “zesty grapefruit edge.”

Sandeman 20 Year Old Tawny Port

For those with a bigger budget for the cheese course, Rose guides his readers towards this mature offering from Sandeman.

Following its two-decade maturation in large oak vats, this Port offers plenty for its current Waitrose £36.49 price tag.

Rose outlines “an aromatic lift of cinnamon-dipped raisin and rich liquid raisin and glacé-fruit intensity of flavour which combines with the complex nuttier, aged characters”.

Marks & Spencer Dry Old Palo Cortado

There’s a similarly seasonal fortified focus from Christine Austin in the Yorkshire Post, who picks out this £7.49 (for a 35cl bottle) Sherry option from Marks & Spencer.

As well as highlighting the “fabulous flavours” offered by the Sherry category, Austin notes: “In contrast to everything else, prices have actually fallen and so Sherry is now one of the best value wines on the shelves.

Turning to this particular example, which comes from respected producer Lustau, she outlines its “bone-dry 
style, layered with nuts, prunes and orange zest.”

Blandy’s 10-year-old Bual

Moving on to Madeira, Austin asserts that this historic category is “definitely alive and well” as she introduces a series of options.

Among her top picks is this Blandy’s 10-year-old Bual, available from the Halifax Wine Company for £18.50 per 50cl bottle.

“Lighter than Malmsey, still with layers of nutty complexity, this is my favourite post-dinner Madeira,” reports Austin, who notes that this Yorkshire merchant also stocks a number of more venerable options, including a “sensational” 1920 Bual for £420.

Finest Salted Caramel Irish Cream Liqueur

In the Telegraph, Victoria Moore turns her festive focus towards the best modern-day cream liqueurs, including a number of recent releases.

Among the most successful of these for Moore is a new supermarket own-label offering in the form of Tesco’s Finest Salted Caramel Irish Cream Liqueur.

Reduced to £8 for a 70cl bottle until 25 December, the liqueur combines sea salt, Irish single malt whiskey and double cream. “It’s just so delicious that I am coming out and saying it: I have a secret thing for cream liqueurs,” admits Moore after tasting the result.

Waitrose Pale Cream Sherry

Turning to an entirely different sort of cream, Moore also picks out this £6.99 own-label Sherry offering from Waitrose.

While noting that “no cream is used in the making of cream Sherry,” Moore describes this blend of oloroso, Pedro Ximénez and concentrated grape must as “a real beauty”.

Positioning the liqueur as an ideal after dinner drink, she comments: “It tastes like fat raisins that have been plumped out with alcohol, then liquidised and bottled.”