Four brilliant off the wall wines for the wine Geeks amongst us!

• One to Drink – Rock of Wisdom Superfly Shiraz / Mataro blend RRP £26. It’s fun. It’s delicious. It’s the 27^th of December, maybe? You’ve earned it. Relax. Enjoy.

• One to Gift – Illmis Riesling 2019 RRP £33. Recently receiving her third 5* Platter score Lucinda Heynes is definitely on the rise. This is a super smart looking bottle containing a matchingly excellent dry Riesling on the inside.

• One for a Dinner Party – Donkey & Goat If / Then White 2021 RRP £48. Assuming your dinner party is other wine geeks, this is a real conversation starter. 2021 saw terrible fires out in El Dorado in California. Donkey & Goat usually take a lot of wine from this region and in 2021 didn’t get any. Their response – make a California wide blend. Taking wines in from Mendocino, other parts of the Sierra Foothills and Sonoma this Rhone blend is a timely reminder of climate change and other existential threats facing the wine industry … in the form of a delicious white wine!

• One to Keep – Stand Alone Pinotage 2018 RRP £30. Xander Greier continues to make excellent wines. Certified old vine from 1976 – Xander makes three barrells of Pinotage which is unlike anything you will ever try from this grape. It’s got all the ingredients for some solid aging potential. This is going to peak around 2030 – if there is any left!