Love or loathe Christmas, you now have fewer than seven days to get your act together. In the drinks department, the whole business has been made much easier by retailers realising that almost everyone leaves it to the last minute.

The best news again this year is Lay & Wheeler’s astonishingly late but guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery deadline for Times readers (mainland UK telephone orders only) of 10am on Monday. Snap up the L&W claret, port and champagne trio for £39.95, the L&W port and stilton pack for £27.50, or the mini classics case of 12 aristocratic half-bottles for £75. Delivery is £7.95 (0845 330 1855). There, that’s your last Christmas presents sorted.

I am a big fan of mulled wine at Christmas - not the evil, jammy, pre-mixed, own-label stuff on sale at Sainsbury’s and Tesco for £3-plus, or those horrid bags of dead, dusty, bitter-tasting herbs passed off as "mulling spices", but the real McCoy, the MacQuitty Mull. Mine is the cheapest and simplest to prepare, and the most Christmassy.

To every bottle of good, ordinary £2.99 red (go for either the 2004 Isla Negra Cabernet Sauvignon at Tesco - see this week’s star buys - or Spain’s 2003 Gran Tempranillo at Sainsbury’s) add one glass of a simple swigging port (the best yuletide bet must be Smith Woodhouse Lodge Reserve Port, half price at £6.49, Budgens, or try the tasty Graham’s 1998 LBV port, down to £7.99 at Budgens and Somerfield), a slice each of a fresh orange and lemon stuck with six cloves apiece, plus a large pinch of mixed spice and granulated sugar to taste.

Mulled wine only tastes good if it’s strong and sweet, so don’t be shy with the sugar, and resist the temptation to add hot water to the pot, as this is what Scrooges do. All you need to do now is heat the mull gently through in a stainless-steel or enamel pan before serving. Don’t let it boil or all that precious alcohol will evaporate.

With presents and the wherewithal to face Midnight Mass or church on Christmas Day catered for, what other 11th-hour bottles are needed? I take comfort in stashing a sale-or-return case or two of a decent £5-plus house red and white under the stairs to crack open when folk pop by unannounced. This year I have the verdant, zesty 2004 Santa Rita Reserva Sauvignon Blanc and its intense, chunky, herbaceous partner, 2003 Santa Rita Reserva Merlot (both £6.99, or buy two for £5.94 each, Majestic), waiting quietly for their festive debut.

Big-name champagne, of course, is the best bottle for New Year’s Eve. Apart from Piper Heidsieck (see star buys), the light, lively, lemony Lanson Black Label Brut Champagne is a keenly priced and much improved bubbly, guaranteed to put everyone in a party mood. Buy it from Budgens or Sainsbury’s (£14.99) - elsewhere it’s £20-plus. Happy Christmas one and all.

jane.macquitty@thetimes.co.uk

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