Cune Gran Reserva Rioja Imperial 2005

It’s easy to overlook the familiar in favour of the esoteric, particularly when you’re a wine writer but it’s hard to think of a bottle that consistently gives more pleasure than Cune’s Gran Reserva Imperial Rioja.

OK, it’s not cheap but even the recommended retail price of £26.99 is not a great deal to pay for a wine that you can rely on to impress. After all most champagne special offers bring them down to this sort of price and most people think that makes them a good buy.

Gran reserva, for those of you who are not familiar with the term, is the top wine classification of the Rioja region. A wine that has been aged for five years, a minimum of two in oak and a further three in bottle. This wine is already over eight years old

Having enjoyed the 2001 and 2004 (which I've just discovered was voted Wine Spectactor wine of the year) I was a little apprehensive about the 2005 - an unusually hot vintage - but it has the same seductive, soft, velvety fruit that other gran reservas struggle to preserve. The Rioja authorities categorised the vintage ‘excellent’ but then all their vintages are rated at least ‘good’.

The obvious food pairings would be roast lamb, feathered game like pheasant and pigeon and sheeps’ cheese but we enjoyed it with a very intensely flavoured fish stew at a friend's last night and it sailed through.

It’s widely stocked so it’s worth checking wine-searcher.com for the best current price. Winedirect.co.uk and Eton Vintners have it for £24.95 and D. Byrne of Clitheroe who are not online for £22.99*. You might be able to find the 2007 (a "very good" vintage according to the Consejo Regulador) a little cheaper but having won the Wine Spectator's endorsement the 2004 will cost a lot more. If you can even find a bottle . . .

* Apologies for earlier, lower prices which related to the reserva not the gran reserva.

Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao Triple Sec

I was trying to think what would be the most useful drink to recommend over Christmas. Sloe - and damson - gin are favourites but there’s nothing as useful as an orange liqueur.

This one is a full-strength dry curaçao from Pierre Ferrand - which is made from 3 separate distillations of spices and the peel of bitter curaçao oranges (hence the description ‘triple sec) blended with brandy and cognac. Amazingly some branches of Marks & Spencer now stock it for £25.99 though you should also be able to get it from specialist shops like Gerry’s of Old Compton Street.

You can use it in cocktails such as Cosmopolitans and Margaritas obviously but it’s also a great addition to a Bucks Fizz, orangey trifles or cakes, mince pies and - a recent discovery - clementine marmalade where it added a kick you wouldn’t normally get with a sweet orange marmalade.

If you can’t track it down or don’t want to pay that much Aldi has a very decent orange liqueur for £5.99 (for 22% ABV though rather than Ferrand’s full strength 40%) though it was sold out the other day when I was in store. Or you could of course indulge in a bottle of Cointreau or Grand Marnier.

Clos Floridène Blanc Graves 2012

Dry, oaked white Bordeaux is one of the most underrated styles of wine in my view. I can’t understand why it’s not more popular (probably because the Bordelais keep most of it for themselves).

This is made by the high priest of white Bordeaux Denis Dubourdieu and is - rather surprisingly - available at the Co-op for £16.99. Or rather, larger, posher Co-op’s. I doubt it it will be available at my local store.

The 2012 vintage is a baby of course - it’s really too soon to drink it this Christmas (you won’t get the full flavour) but there are traces of that light, lush smooth character that makes the classic white Bordeaux blend of Sauvignon, Semillon and Muscadelle such a joy.

It’s a natural for seafood, particularly scallops and Dover sole but would also be delicious with lightly sauced white meat dishes - the sort of food that would go with white burgundy.

The Co-op has clearly managed to snaffle an early consignment of the 2012 but most of the Clos Floridène that’s around is 2011 or 2010. The Wine Society has the 2011 for £18 a bottle - not a lot more expensive than the Co-op, and Milroy’s of Soho on special offer for £18.95. Others like Christopher Piper have the 2010 - at £21.68 - as do Haynes Hanson & Clark (£22.65) which makes the Co-op offer look more of a bargain. Buy some to stash away.

PS While you’re there [at the Co-op] you might also pick up a bottle or two of the 2008 Chateau Sénéjac Haut Médoc they’re selling for £13.99 I recommended in the Guardian last week. That's drinking really well now.

G.D. Vajra Langhe Freisa Kyé 2010

I tasted so many great wines last week in Piemonte but this was one of the most fascinating. It’s made from freisa, a grape variety that according to the Vajra family was once the second or third most cultivated grape in the region and used to make vermouth.

It’s actually related to Nebbiolo and, according to Jancis Robinson et al’s invaluable Wine Grapes, possibly to Viognier too.

It’s certainly very fragrant with a taste of wild berries and a bitter cherry twist that reminds me of Cabernet Franc. The Vajra version which is grown in a south-facing vineyard about 400m above sea level is vivid, wild and dark - a really exciting wine

Giuseppe Vajra recommends drinking it “when it’s cold outside with polenta and game or venison” which seems a pretty good pairing suggestion to me.

The very good 2010 vintage (the one I tasted ) is currently only available in the UK from Fine & Rare wines at the moment though the 2009 which won the Piedmont wines over £15 trophy at this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards is stocked by a number of retailers at around £35. (See tasting notes here and wine-searcher.com for stockists).

In the US the 2010 is already available from Saratoga Wine Exchange at $35.44, from Sec Wines at $39.84 and firewines.com at $39.96. All prices exclude sales tax.