If you dread choosing wine in restaurants, you’re in good company: most women do. So do many men – they just don’t like to admit it. Personally, I don’t enjoy the ritual of tasting a bottle to approve it. I can do it standing on my head (so to speak), but I dislike the fuss involved in rejecting a bad one.

The trick with the approval routine is to take your time. When shown the bottle, check it’s what you ordered, including the year. Smell the tasting sample given to you – swirling it round the glass first if you can. If it smells clean/fresh/fruity, rather than musty/dirty/sherry-like, take a sip. Taste it carefully before you swallow. If it is clean and wine-like, give it the okay. If it is stale, unpleasant or mouldy-tasting, tell the waiter it’s not right – and stand your ground.

As for choosing, the better known the wine, the less good value it is likely to be, so venture off piste. Try Italians such as fiano and arneis, rather than pinot grigio; or Saint-Mont or Cheverny, instead of Sancerre. And always avoid the second cheapest wine – invariably a poor-value plant for the unwary.

CELLAR NOTES

2005 Lirac, Domaine du Joncier, £5.99 (reduced from £8.99)
Great alternative to Châteauneuf-du-Pape at a knockdown price (Waitrose).

2006 Cheverny, Le Vieux Clos, £6.49
Delicious, zesty, grassy alternative to Sancerre (Majestic).

2005 Fiano di Avellino, Guido Marsella, £12-£12.50
Rich-textured, herby, nutty, dry Italian white (Les Caves de Pyrene, 01483 554750; Burgundy Wines, 01273 870055).

WINE BLUFF

“The world’s biggest wine retailer is Tesco”

Anorak fact: it sells more than £1.5 billion worth of wine a year and £1.5 billion of spirits and beer

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