When it comes to buying wine there’s a lot of choice out there, with supermarkets, independent wine shops, wine mail order companies and online wine retailers all vying for a share of the market. Recent reports are beginning to suggest that the High Street has seen its heyday, in favour of the Internet.

Not sure what to buy your friends or relatives this Christmas? Well, why not opt for a wine gift? It’s a definite crowd pleaser, looks classy and can be bought from the comfort of your armchair, so you simply can’t go wrong with it.

Buying wine gifts is easy. Just follow a few handy tips and you’ll have your Christmas shopping sorted in no time.

Tony Laithwaite – Chairman of Laithwaites, the UK’s leading independent wine merchant – has just got back from a buying trip to Italy, where he and Laithwaites buyer Thomas Woolrych decided they could happily drink nothing but Italian wine for the rest of their days! The best white wines are spectacular – and on a level with their red wine.

Chile and Argentina are becoming more and more interesting as producing countries for the UK wine market. Argentina is an emerging producing nation and therefore well worth exploring. Personally I hadn’t visited either for 11 years, and so this year’s trip was a real eye-opener.

Averys own biannual tasting, held in our historic cellars has been growing in popularity over the last few years, so much so that we had to triplicate our Christmas tasting last year to accommodate demand.

With many wine sales to choose from at this time of year, it’s always useful to know how to pick out the best. Simply follow a few handy tips to ensure that you get top quality wines at bargain prices and steer clear from all the rubbish that inevitably will be lining the supermarket shelves.

Not sure what to buy your friends or relatives this Christmas? Well, why not opt for a wine gift? It’s a definite crowd pleaser, looks classy and can be bought from the comfort of your armchair, so you simply can’t go wrong with it.

Champagne has always been seen as a thing of luxury. Most commonly found at celebrations be they weddings or on the podium at the Monaco Grand Prix, Champagne's image has always been one of success.

A case of Mouton-Rothschild 2000 that went for around £1000 will now fetch somewhere in the region of £6000. That’s 600% growth in just 7 years, no wonder the city boys are scrambling to get their hands on good wine! This levels of growth begs the question, who is actually drinking these wines?

No matter what you may have heard elsewhere, buying good wines cheaply is easy. Simply follow these useful tips and you’ll be well on the way to finding great value wines without compromising quality.