An Occasional Tipple: Wine for wealthy people only!

Last week's column was for poor people, for all you little people out there who generally get ignored or patronised. Round here, the small fella goes first.

Anyway, now that the peasants have had their fun, we true aficionados can get round to the serious business. Goodbye, little people. I love you very much but it's time to take out the really good stuff, the bottles that only the more affluent among us can afford.

Of course, I am aware that in these difficult times even we richies have to be a little more prudent with our slush funds so I haven't gone for anything too exorbitant. Nothing over £30. As an aside, my very dear wealthy friends, the price of wine is likely to rise significantly this year with the potential for trade wars, tariffs and lots of biting Brexit benefits to really start taking hold - so now's the time to buy in bulk and fill up your cellars.

BEST RED: the very versatile, elegant and flavoursome 2019 Chateau Pey de Pont Medoc Cru Bourgeois (£13.99, Lidl). Medium-bodied and impressively smooth, it's jampacked with damson and dark berry flavours with hints of peppery spices which will enhance poultry, pork, duck and even meaty seafood such as monkfish. It drinks well now but will mature very nicely if you are the patient, disciplined sort who can happily leave it unopened, winking at you, for a year or four.

BEST WHITE: the intriguing, elegant and fabulously fresh 2023 Domaine de la Motte Chablis (generally about £24.99, supplied by Musgrave to SuperValu, Centra and independent off-licences etc). A theatrically ripe pear and stonefruit nose welcomes a luscious palate full of lemon and crisp, sweet apple flavours which are deftly balanced by understated spice and very discreet hints of oak. Zingy and upbeat, this tangy white will also go wonderfully well with seafood, especially oysters.

BEST WINE CLUB: please don't abandon our local wine merchants. A fact of life, however, is that many of us do now mainly order wine from online retailers. Best of the bunch for my money is The Wine Society (www.thewinesociety.com or telephone 01438-741177). Lifetime membership costs £40 and gains you access to a wide variety of both familiar and unusual wines at exceptionally competitive prices, sourced primarily from small growers and supporting sustainable growing practices and fair trade.

As we enter a new year, most likely with a sense of fear and trepidation on account of the cost of living, dire economic forecasts and a crumbling ecosystem, not to mention war, war, endless war, it would be easy to turn to the bottle in despair. But fear not, for the last shall be first. That's what the Good Book says and his very poor servant, Raymond Gleug, most humbly agrees. Till next week tipplers, sante!