Today, as all British readers will be aware, is Red Nose Day, the biennial fundraising event for Comic Relief. There's a wine element to the fundraising too called Wine Relief: you may or may not find an event near you but you can at least go out and buy a Red Nose wine.

There are two - called, appropriately enough, Red Nose Red and Red Nose White. Both made in South Africa. Both a very reasonable £4.99. And £1 from every bottle goes to Comic Relief. You can read how the wines came to be selected on Jancis Robinson's website here. You can buy them in all the big supermarket chains except ASDA including Waitrose and Marks & Spencer

Both would make easy-going party-drinking over the next few months and take you into the forthcoming barbecue season but here's a couple of more specific pairings to take your fancy

Red Nose White (Chenin Blanc)
This crisp, fresh, fruity Chenin would make an easy going partner for all kinds of chicken and fish dishes from a chicken caesar salad to some seared tuna with a red nose (aka cherry tomato) salsa. Or try it with the Tasty Fish Bake from  Jamie's Red Nose Recipes, a special Red Nose mini cookbook which you can pick up from Sainsbury's

Red Nose Red (Pinotage/Shiraz)
A typically gutsy, vigorous South African red, without the jamminess and - let's be honest - slight rubberiness that often accompanies reds at this price point. Great with a Red Nose pizza (go mad with those cherry tomatoes!), barbecued ribs or a slap-up steak.

If you find your local shop has run out of Red Nose wines and simply want to contribute to the cause visit the Wine Relief page on the Red Nose Day website