Fizz for Christmas and New Year

Poderi Luigi Einaudi Moscato d’Asti, Piedmont, Italy 2013 (£14.50, Vini Italiani) Italian panatone is as much a part of Christmas in the UK these days as a traditional British Christmas cake. Light and airy where the fruitcake is dense and weighty, it’s what my family has of a Christmas morning as the presents are unwrapped, usually matched with a glass of something similarly sweet and fluffy: the northern Italian sweet fizz of Moscato d’Asti. Luigi Einaudi’s vibrant version – with its aromas of muscat grape and honeysuckle, its tickle of fresh apple and lemon acidity and its low (5.5% abv) alcohol – is a particularly charming way to begin Christmas. It also works well later in the day as a gently boozy, between-courses palate-cleanser.

Tesco Cava Brut, Spain NV (£4.99) According to an urgent recent survey by Waitrose, buck’s fizz is the nation’s favourite Christmas cocktail, not least, I imagine, because it’s so easy to make. It can be pretty foul: both cheap orange juice and cheap champagne are aggressively acidic, and putting the two together brings out the wincing worst of them in a single sour shot. If I had to choose, I’d put most of my budget into the orange juice – maybe even squeezing some clementines or mandarins myself – since the subtleties of a good champagne are drowned out by the power of the citrus, which will always be the dominant flavour. I’d also tend to choose a decent, and not too obviously acidic, sparkling wine from a cheaper region: Tesco’s toasty, appley cava, for example, is a far more robust and flavoursome base, at a fraction of the price, than most cheap champagnes.

Ridgeview Blanc de Blancs, East Sussex, England 2000 (£75, 1.5 litres, Marks & Spencer) One of the most significant recent developments in wine has been the improvement made by sparkling winemakers outside Champagne. Among the best of this bunch is the Sussex producer Ridgeview, whose much-loved founder Mike Roberts died last month. As a tribute and treat for Christmas or New Year toasts, Marks & Sparks is currently offering this beautiful, mature 100% chardonnay fizz, with its rich patisserie flavours balanced by zesty, lemony acidity in magnums with a very smart wooden case. But if it has to be champagne, few offer better value than under-the-radar house Delamotte, its supremely elegant Brut NV currently on offer at Corney and Barrow at £23.38.