Strange, you think, to have a crisp white wine in the prima donna role at this crisp whitelandscape time of year? Maybe - but after so much heavy eating, something palate-cleansing is called for. More to the point, Honore de Berticot Cotes de Duras Sauvignon 1996 (outlets above £4.99 - £5.65) is the most amazing value I've stumbled across in the course of all the Christmas hoo-ha. It has the freshness of Sancerre but with riper, slightly more luscious fruit - no doubt because southwest France is rather sunnier than the Loire. A bright, shining star - worth travelling east to catch up with.