NORMALLY I push the boat out for my festive pick of wines, saving the budget bottles for January. This year, however, I have limited the Christmas spend to less than £7 a bottle. So here are half-a-dozen that Scrooge would be proud of.

Prosecco is trendy and a good alternative to Champagne if you are on a tight budget. The Co-operative’s Special Cuvée Prosecco is on offer, until January 3, at £6.66. It is good too, approachable, flavoursome, fun, and nicely dry, with flavours of apple, pear and just a hint of almond.

Duo Des Mers Sauvignon-Viognier 2013, Vin de France, which is very good drinking for £6.50 from The Wine Society, would be ideal for washing down seafood or smoked salmon. Suitably dry and clean tasting, it has a zinging acidity, with some notes of tropical fruit on the nose, and bright flavours of grapefruit, lemon and goosegog.

Offering some serious value for money, at £5.99 is Aldi “Exquisite Collection” Limestone Coast Chardonnay 2013. Forget the heavily wooded Aussie chardonnays of old; this is an un-oaked example, although it does spend time maturing on the yeasty lees to give some added complexity. It is fresh and nicely dry, with flavours of tropical and stone fruit, and mineral too. Pair it with turkey and the trimmings.

Or if you prefer a red with the big bird, try Cono Sur Bicicleta Pinot Noir 2012, a great value Chilean pinot, widely available for £6.99 or less. It is smooth and quite fresh, with flavours of cherry, brambles and a hint of smoke.

Even cheaper at £4.99 is Aldi's Venturer Series Nero d’Avola 2013, Terre Siciliane. This Sicilian red would work well with the Boxing Day beef, pork pie or, if you are fed up of cold turkey, a takeaway pizza. Smooth and impressively rich at the price, it suggests bramble flavours, peppery spices and notes of fennel with wood smoke.

Tesco stocks a reasonably priced dessert wine, £5.99 for a half-bottle, Plaimont Producteurs Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh 2011, Duc de Termes. From the south of France, it is made from ‘raisened’ petit manseng and gros manseng grapes, from vineyards near the Pyrénées, it has a zesty acidity with flavours of bitter orange and honeycomb, spiced with ginger.

Have a very merry Christmas.