Discerning drinker: party wine

In such a situation, you're forced to plump for the least-worst bottle (in my case, at the Standard's office party this week, blah Argentinian malbec). It might keep you sober if you can't force much of it down - or not, if in an effort to avoid the tedium in your glass, you end up drinking everything else (I finished with a large, shared bowl of prosecco/vodka cocktail). But if you're the host, you can at least spare fellow wine drinkers such horrors.

Doing so affordably is harder this year than ever before. Steady above-inflation rises in taxes on alcohol now mean that of a £5.99 bottle of still wine, almost half the cost - £2.81 - goes to the taxman. Take out packaging, transportation, marketing costs and the store's profit margin from the remaining £3.18 and you're left with - well, very little to pay for the wine itself, and falling. So it's not your imagination: cheap wine is getting worse.

What's more, the Chancellor's dire autumn statement last week obscured the Office for Budget Responsibility's prediction that over the next five years, revenue brought in by duty on wine will soar by more than half.

That's partly thanks to increased wine consumption, partly the tax going up by inflation plus two per cent every year - another 16p next spring (extra duty plus the VAT charged on it).

By Christmas 2016, that dodgy Argentinian malbec could be paint-stripper rather than merely dull. We cannot alter such a prospect by voting out the Tories, splendid idea though I think that would be, since Labour invented the "alcohol duty escalator" in the first place. So we just have to pay a little more and party like it's, er, 2011.

Hey, the abyss looks less scary with a decent glass of sub-£8 wine in your hand. Next week I'll come up with some fancier bottles for Christmas meals.

My own choice of white is a crisp chardonnay: what's not to like? Tesco Mâcon-Villages 2010, made by the co-op in Prissé, is a real bargain: fresh, fruity, well balanced (£4.99). Crisper and fresher still is Tesco Finest Grüner Veltliner 2010, Burgenland, a very decent example of Austria's dominant white grape at a lower price than the country's wines usually command (£6.99).

For a white with slightly more weight and roundedness, try Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Albariño 2010, Rías Baixas, from Galicia - again, a fair price for a wine that's usually a little pricier than this (£7.99).

Spain is also now the happiest hunting ground for reasonably priced reds. For example, Cruz de Piedra Garnacha 2009, Calatyud offers masses of rich, baked red fruit balanced with good acidity - at an amazing price (Wine Society, mail order only from thewinesociety.com, £5.50). Viña Eguia Rioja Reserva 2005 (Majestic, £9.99 or £5.99 each when you buy two) is excellent value on the multi-bottle deal: spicy fruit and lashings of oak from an excellent Rioja vintage.

Want something even bigger? Rio Alto Carmenère 2011, Aconcagua Valley is well ahead of many Chilean carmenères, its ripe, plummy fruit nicely balanced with acidity (Stone, Vine and Sun, mail order only from stonevine.co.uk, £5.95: you can mix cases, delivery £5.50/first case). Meanwhile, Asda Extra Special Valpolicella Ripasso 2009 is a big dollop of dark, sweet fruit balanced by just enough signature bitterness (£6.98). Or for a fresher red, Les Nivières Saumur 2010, made by the good St Cyr co-op, has chewy tannins and bags of crunchy red fruit - a classic Loire cabernet franc (Waitrose, £7.49).

But the best value wine of all? By a country mile, it's sherry. Always assuming that guests don't take sherry's presence as a sign that you're slipping into your dotage - an outrageous but not uncommon prejudice - I'd just as soon drink a bone-dry fino or manzanilla at a party as anything. It works better than anything else with salty crisps and nuts, too.

Tesco Finest Manzanilla, made by Barbadillo, is a fine example: super-fresh, with manzanilla's trademark salty tang (£5.49). This is easily better quality than anything else I can think of at this price. Although at 15 per cent alcohol, it may make your party go with slightly more of a bang than you intended.

Twitter @hernehillandy