It's time for a sweet sensation

At Christmas time, sweet wines come into their own, but they don't have to be as sugary as the icing on the Christmas cake. Before you call in the tooth police, here are a couple of off-dry whites which can even be drunk on their own, as long as they're well chilled. Take for instance the 2002 Les Fleurs Chardonnay/ Sauvignon Blanc, Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne (£6.99, Waitrose), an exotic blend reminiscent of grapefruits and mangoes. In similar vein, the 2002 Domaine Pellehaut Gros Manseng Chardonnay (£6.99, Safeway) is a distinctive, off-dry confection using the underrated gros manseng grape of south-western France to produce tropical flavours.

There's no arguing with the sweetness of my remaining choices, but at least they all have richness, texture and that saving grace note of acidity. Like the 2000 Concha y Toro Late Harvest Private Reserve Sauvignon, Maule Valley (£4.99, half-bottle, Safeway - 70 stores). Less than a fiver for this expressive sweet wine from Chile's Maule Valley is excellent value. Sauternes-like in style, it's headily aromatic and rich in lemon-and-lime marmalade flavours with a lively freshness, thanks in part to a 5 per cent dollop of riesling in the blend. For a more grapey style, try Brown Brothers in Victoria's King Valley, whose Orange Flora & Muscat (£4.99, half-bottle, Sainsbury's - down from £5.99 to 6 January) shows citrussy fruitiness.

Australia has made the sweet incarnation of semillon its own with some of the best value styles coming from New South Wales. Tesco's 2000 Finest Botytis Semillon (£4.99, half-bottle), for instance, gives a glimpse of the magic combination that occurs when grapes become nobly rotten with ripeness, resulting in an amber nectar, rich in barley-sugar and orange-marmalade flavours - and shot through with trenchant acidity. Sauternes is never given away, but when it's as luscious as the 2000 Château Doisy-Daëne, Sauternes (£11.99, half-bottle, Waitrose), it's worth paying a bit extra.

There's not a lot that can stand up to the assault of a Christmas pud, but one of the few that can is the De Bortoli Show Liqueur Muscat, Rutherglen, Victoria (£9.95, or £9.45 bottle/case, Berry Bros & Rudd, London SW1, 0870 9004300). Despite its crème-brûlée richness, there's enough acidity to prevent it from cloying.

And so to port, without which Christmas wouldn't be Christmas. Unlike traditional LBVs, the 1997 Graham's Late Bottled Vintage Port (£10.49-£10.99, major retailers) recreates the vintage-port style without needing decanting. It's aromatic, full of sweet blackberry fruit, with silky tannins and perfect poise. Tawny is a great alternative and, lightly chilled, Taylor's 10-Year-Old Tawny Port (£16.99, most major retailers) is one of the best tawnies on the market: a complex confection with the moreish flavours of the finest wood-aged port.

Port aficionados should appreciate the 1986 Fonseca Guimaraens Vintage Port (£19.99, Sainsbury's), a traditional, bricky, garnet, single-estate port, with 17 years age and a hauntingly perfumed bouquet of blackberry, walnut and prune. 1995 is still young for port but just about approachable enough to be drunk now is the 1995 Graham Malvedos (£21.99-£22.99, Sainsbury's, Oddbins, Bentalls, Fortnum & Mason). Seductively perfumed with blackberry and spice, this is a supple, yet richly concentrated, Christmas cake of a port, with just enough age for the tannins to have softened to smooth velvet. Port will keep for three to five days once opened, but I can't see too many of this quality hanging around that long.