With drink as with food there’s always a temptation to overspend at Christmas time but if you indulge in a little bit of forward planning there are ways of keeping the cost down without short-changing your guests.

First of all I’m betting that if you have the remotest interest in wine you’ve already got something on hand that you would do perfectly for Christmas lunch - or New Year’s Eve, come to that. Those bottles that you’ve been saving for a special occasion . . . Well, that special occasion is now! Liberate them!

If you’re worried it might be over the hill and you have more than one bottle taste it beforehand. Otherwise have a back-up just in case it’s a dud.

If you really haven’t got anything (come on - I can’t believe it!) be prepared to trade down a little or shop around for better value. Almost all shops are doing deals this year. If you normally buy Chateauneuf du Pape for example you could buy a Gigondas. If you buy white burgundy look for a less expensive chardonnay from the Languedoc.

Ask yourself how much you really need to buy. If you’re serving port with the cheese do you really need a whole bottle of sweet wine with the Christmas pudding as well? If you serve it in small glasses (cheap from charity shops!) you may find a half (37.5 cl) bottle or 50cl bottle will be enough.

(That applies to other drinks too. Resist the temptation to stock up the drinks cupboard with every spirit under the sun. If you don’t normally drink gin, for example, why buy it on the off-chance that someone might possibly fancy a martini or a G & T? You’re not running a bar!)

In terms of sparkling wines I’ve already seen a good number of offers on champagne but prices have been creeping up all year and the reductions merely bring them back to the sort of levels we were seeing last Christmas. I haven’t seen anything to tempt me yet though there may be better offers as The Big Day gets closer and shops become more frantic to shift their Christmas stock.

For larger numbers there are many perfectly good sparkling wines that I wouldn’t hesitate to pour for party guests - Lindauer, which is currently on offer at £6.99 on a three for the price of two offer at Wine Rack being a good example.

Finally it’s good to have some all-purpose drinking that will do for other meals around the Christmas period, for mulled wine or for party drinking if you don’t drink fizz. Again I’d be on the look out for bargains - you shouldn’t have to pay more than £5 a bottle, particularly if you buy an unsplit case on which there are generally extra reductions.

Supermarkets don’t have the monopoly on these sort of bargains. One I came across recently on the website of a local independent wine merchant Great Western Wine was a smashing Sangiovese in a range called Elki made by Vina Falernia in Chile - a good all-rounder that would work with a wide range of dishes from pizza to the Boxing Day leftovers. And at £4.95 who can complain about that?