This has been my year for discovering the excitement of Australian wine - something I'll definitely celebrate with some tasty bottles on the Christmas table. Forget the bargain-basement cheapies. The gems all lie higher up the price scale. But, as you'll see from the white and red pairs I've chosen, you don't have to fork out an absolute fortune to enjoy wines of real quality and lingering appeal.
What better prelude to a festive Aussie-inspired meal than fizz from Down Under? Here, a few extra pounds will secure much finer flavours: beware of bubbly at a rock-bottom price, because it's often as nastily sweet and sour as the worst Chinese takeaway. Alternatively, you might just start by sipping a fresh Australian Riesling which you can keep on drinking through the first course. You'll find it a lot livelier (and less boringly predictable) than Chardonnay.
On, then, to Australia's classic red, Shiraz, whose lovely rich, spicy flavours are perfect not just for our Spiced Roast Chicken but for plain old turkey, too. If you feel like really splashing out, there are plenty of stunning Shirazes here in the £13£40 bracket: Grant Burge, Maglieri, Chateau Tahbilk 1860, Peter Lehmann Stonewell, Eileen Hardy or E&E Black Pepper, to name but a paltry few. To round things off, try one of those dessert wines Australians refer to as stickies. The one below is a natural partner for Sticky Toffee Pudding - and not half bad with Christmas pud, either. Just remember to serve it as well chilled as a Fosters on the beach.
Fun Sparklers
Seppelt Salinger Brut, 1992
(Dunnes Stores, £11.99; also Oddbins).
A few years of bottle age make this a very attractive sparkler, full-flavoured and slightly toasty. A great buy at the price.
Green Point Brut, Domaine Chandon, 1994/5
(Vintry Rathgar, Cooneys Harolds Cross, Wine Cellar Phibsboro, SuperValu Deansgrange, Redmonds Ranelagh, McCabes Merrion, Thomas's Foxrock, Dublin Wine Co & Cheers-Gibneys Malahide, Vineyard Galway and other outlets, usually about £15.99).
Simply the most elegant and refined Aussie fizz around, with yeasty champagne character and super balance. Buy lots: it always disappears fast.
Riesling
Knappstein Clare Valley Riesling, 1998
(Dunnes Stores top 10 stores, also Oddbins, £7.99).
A new vintage, just landed in Ireland - and it's a brilliantly refreshing, lime-fresh, subtle and appetising wine. Lovely to start an Aussie-style meal or enjoy beforehand - very classy drinking for the money.
Lawson's Dry Hills Marlborough Riesling, 1997
(McCabes Merrion, Redmonds Ranelagh, DeVine Wines Castleknock, Grapes of Mirth Rathmines, Thomas's Foxrock, Greenacres Wexford, Vineyard Galway, £10.99£11.99)
Not an Aussie, in fact, but a not-too-distant New Zealander in a slightly more aromatic, vibrantly fruity style, with those classic petrolly Riesling aromas at the start.
Shiraz
Rosemount Estate Shiraz, 1996
(widely available, £8.49-£8.99).
A lovely, mouth-filling, damsony Shiraz - very smooth, very easy, with a pleasantly chewy finish.
Rothbury Brokenback Shiraz, 1995
(Grapes of Mirth Rathmines, Foleys Cabinteely, SuperValu Raheny, Oddbins Baggot Street, Blackrock and Clontarf, Bennetts Howth, CheersBurnaby Greystones, Pielows Enniskerry, usually £12.99).
Even fans of Barossa blockbusters (like me) have been known to drool over this very different style from the Hunter Valley - lighter, juicier and completely intriguing.
Sticky Heggies Botrytis Riesling, Yalumba, 1994
(Foleys Cabinteely, Bennetts Howth, Cheers-Burnaby Greystones, half bottle usually around £9.50).
One of my two favourites at a recent tasting of 17 Aussie stickies - and of the pair, it's the one whose flavours of candied fruits, marmalade and dates are heaven-sent for the Sticky Toffee pud.