1. If you are looking for a Medal winning wine, the three stickers to rely on are: IWC. IWSC. and Decanter. They appear next to the label on the bottle.

2. The most important function of wine is to improve the taste of food and aid its digestion. Can we go beyond this and say that drinking wine has wider benefits for health? .

Well Professor Roger Corder’s message in his book The Wine Diet is that wine drinkers have less heart disease and diabetes and are less likely to suffer from dementia in old age. One to three glasses of wine a day (from one-sixth to a half of the standard 75cl bottle) are defined as ­“moderate”.

"The wines to look for containing high levels of procyanadins are those with firm tannins made in the traditional way. It is not just about French Madiran wine, sensual and high in tannin. There are plenty of choices out there."

Today’s women drink more wine and liquor, but less beer, than earlier generations did. Today more than half of all women report that they drink wine every week.

4. The Midi Region of France is where bargain wines are to be had, comparable with new world wines and at lower prices.

In general mixed cases are not a good buy. You just do not know what will arrive, some bottles will be of unknown origin.