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What types of wine to choose can feel like a daunting prospect for starting-out wine enthusiasts, but once a few basics have been grasped the process becomes both straightforward and enjoyable.

Now that it is possible to buy wine online, and many different varieties at that, it is important to understand the different wine types, their respective tastes and how they should be stored before making those first few purchases.

Among the main wine producing countries are Australia, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand and South Africa – so why not choose a bottle from each nation before deciding which you prefer?

Part of the New World of wine producers, Australia boasts a number of wine styles, with Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz among the most popular. Most wines made in the country are under 30 years old, and Australia is currently the world’s sixth largest wine producer.

One of the best beginner’s wines is the Blackwood Ridge Un-Wooded Chardonnay 2008, which is produced by award-winning winemaker Sam Plunkett. Boasting a mellow, clean taste the Plunkett 2008 has a beautiful scent of pineapple, lemon and a hint of thyme, while its taste is noted for its melon and citrus.

New Zealand, located across the Tasman Sea, produces similar wine varieties to Australia, and its Sauvignon Blanc has received critical acclaim from around the world. The country, which exports $900 million of wine each year, is also establishing itself as a leading grower of Pinot Noir, Riesling and Merlot varieties.

Beginners are encouraged to try the Seifried Sauvignon Blanc 2009 which, according to Bob Campbell, one of only 264 Masters of Wine in the world, is a “concentrated Sauvignon Blanc in an accessible style for current drinking”.

On his website, Mr Campbell went on to describe the white wine has having a “regional purity without searing acidity”, featuring sweet lemon grass and capsicum flavours and a hint of passion fruit.

Staying in the southern hemisphere, and the Chilean wine industry, which has been established for centuries, is confined to a small central belt in the country’s centre, such are the variations in its climate and geography.

Chilean Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot became popular in the UK thanks to their inexpensiveness, emerging at around two-thirds the cost of Australian wine, which was once Britain’s favoured wine-producing nation.

Enthusiasts wishing to buy wine online should consider Facundo Red Blend 2006, which has a smooth, slightly sweet taste, something that is achieved thanks to a mixture of four different grapes. It is also an excellent accompaniment to risotto or other light Italian dishes and is perfect for drinking after a long day at work thanks to it easy taste.

Closer to home, and nearly everyone with a likening for wine will have tasted a French variety at some point in their lives. France is the world’s largest wine producer, with 550 million cases of wine filled every year (Italy, its closest rival, produces 495 million cases annually).

Black grape varieties include Cabernet Franc, Carignan, Merlot and Pinot Noir, while white grape types includeMarsanne, Petit Manseng, Rousanne and Viognier.

With such a wide variety, where’s the best place to begin? It’s probably best to concentrate on wines from specific areas. For example, Sauvingon Blanc is the most widely used grape used for white wine in the central part of the Loire Valley. A good starting point is the Villebois Loire Sauvignon Blanc 2009, which is among France’s most popular white wines.

Refreshingly crisp, Sauvignon Blanc has a citrusy, tropical fruit flavour and is normally unoaked, which allows the delicacy of the grape to be highlighted.

Those wishing to sample France’s red wine offerings should try a variety produced in Bordeaux, with 80 per cent of the wine in the region red and produced from either Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc or Merlot grapes.

For a taste of Bordeaux’s Left Bank, which has soils with a higher gravel content (favouring Cabernet Sauvignon grapes), why not try M Seduction Haut-Medoc 2005? Produced by Eric Boissenot, the wine was awarded a silver medal at the 2006 Decanter World Wine Awards, and has a fruity flavour finely balanced between subtlety and structure.

Italy is another country famed for its wine production, and a huge variety of types are made in the southern European country. Among its most famous are Sangiovese, a variety produced in Tuscany; Nebbiolo and Montepulciano. Chianti, Barolo and Barbaraesco are also among the best known.

In terms of red wine, a good starting point is Rais Vigne del Fuoco 2007, which hails from the south of the country. Its flavour is rich and intense and is known for its rich acidity, making it a useful accompaniment to tomato-based dishes.

White wine enthusiasts will be pleased to learn that Italian whites are full of character and are generally crisp, soft and highly acidic. Many are specifically designed to accompany food rather than overpower it.

Among the most popular varieties is the Vivolo Pinot Grigio IGT Veneto 2009, which is perfect when enjoyed in the warm spring sunshine and offers a taste Veneto for those buying wine online.

Further afield, and South Africa enjoys a status as one of the world’s top ten wine producing countries, with the majority of the country’s wine-growing regions located in the Cape.

Chenin Blanc is South Africa’s most traditional white wine, and a good starting point is the Parrot Valley Chenin Blanc 2009, an entry level wine that, according to Matthew Jukes of Top 50 Cape Wines 2008, enthusiasts should “ignore at their peril”.

In terms of red wine, Cabernet Sauvignon does particularly well in South Africa, and the JH Pacas Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 is a particular highlight, which boasts a flavour combining deep berry fruits and oak spiciness.

If you’d rather go it alone, however, then bear in mind the ‘three Ps’ when selecting a bottle of wine: price, preference and pairing, with the latter becoming important when choosing a wine to specifically accompany a meal.

A new survey revealed that British party goers drink more than any others throughout Europe.  The findings show the failure of the 24 hour drinking initiative that was passed five years ago.

Ministers believed that more relaxed licensing laws would help foster a new European style ‘café culture.’  However, they instead made town centres areas to be avoided on the weekend nights.

The poll showed that although Britons are not the largest overall drinkers in Europe, once they start they consume more alcohol in one session than any other drinkers in the EU.

In fact, 12% of Britons admitted that they had consumed over seven drinks per drinking binge.  According to the survey, one drink was defined as a pint of beer, glass of wine, or a mixed spirit.

The heavy binge drinking in Britain put it ahead of Finland, Ireland, and Germany, which all were higher scorers in previous studies pertaining to alcohol.  On the other hand, in Greece, Bulgaria, and Austria not one person included in the survey stated they drank more than seven drinks in one night.

Also reported in the study was the fact that only 20% of Britons stated they had abstained from alcohol completely in the past year, while twice as many reported they had not consumed alcohol in Italy, Portugal, and Hungary.

According to figures from the Home Office, binge drinking accounts for taxpayer costs that range between £13b and £8b each year leading the Minister of the Home Officer Alan Campbell to announce that any pub owner that offers an all you can drink promotion could face jail time in order to prevent binge drinking.

Fans of real ale will be able to go out for a few scoops this summer, but they won’t be left with a hangover thanks to the student inventor of beer flavoured ice-cream.

The Pride of Sheffield Beer Ice Cream will go into mainstream production later this year, after being developed by Sheffield Hallam University food and nutrition student Anna Lowden (left in photo). Anna , 20, invented the tasty tipple-based ice cream during her gap year work placement at the city’s Hope Valley Ice Cream Company, after research showed men eat less of the popular dessert than women. And now several Sheffield pubs are to join the farm where it is produced by stocking the ice cream before it goes into mainstream production later this year.

There is an extra bonus for sweet-toothed snackers – the Pride of Sheffield beer ice-cream contains hardly any alcohol due to the production process. Anna said: “During my work placement I have to come up with a new flavour each month and I’ve been getting more inventive as I go along. We wanted to tempt more men to try ice cream and the result has been really popular – it tastes like the head from a pint of Pride of Sheffield. It’s great that we’ve used a local supplier – we experimented with some different beers but none were quite as successful as the Kelham Island Brewery’s Pride of Sheffield. It’s been a big hit with my friends and Hope Valley is in talks with several pubs to stock it as a dessert this summer.”

Anna is working with the Derbyshire-based company on a year-long work placement before she returns to Sheffield Hallam in September.

Stuart Basford, from Kelham Island Brewery, added: “It has been a pleasure to work with Anna on this project. Anna tried with several of our beers and we were happy to help with the tasting process. Eventually it was our Pride of Sheffield that gave the best taste. I think we have found the ideal dessert to follow one of our Kelham Island Pork Pies.”

Diageo are now launching the third batch of their single-cask collection of Single Malt Scotch Whiskies, The Managers’ Choice.

Among the seven Scotch Whiskies that feature in this third release are several single malts familiar to many malt whisky drinkers – Caol Ila™, Glenkinchie™, Glen Ord™ and Royal Lochnagar™. On the other hadn, Dailuaine™, Inchgower™ and Mannochmore™ are normally available in very limited quantities.

Each of the whiskies is drawn from one single oak cask, picked after a careful examination of distillery stocks, and bottled at its natural cask strength. The number of bottles obtained from the chosen casks can vary between approximately 640 and as little as 200.

So these are rare and distinctive whiskies. Aimed at collectors and connoisseurs, prices range from £200 to £300 per bottle.

A fourth and final release is scheduled for May.

A new report by a charity states that cheap drinks that are marketed in Welsh clubs and pubs may lead to the increase of serious health problems among patrons.

The Alcohol Concern survey took a close look at premises located in Wrexham, Newport, and Swansea and found that about half of all the pubs and clubs offer deals on their alcoholic drinks.

With deals that price spirits around £1 it will cost a woman £3 to drink double the recommended amount of alcohol daily and £4 for a man.  In order to combat the problem the charity has asked that bold measures be taken.

Titled ‘Counting the Cost’, the report included a survey of 43 clubs and pubs in three separate locations within Wales on a Friday back in November of 2009.  Out of those venues twelve were found to offer spirits for just one pound.

Some of the venues also offered two or three for one deals and/or pints that were prices as low as one pound.  In fact, at many the venues alcohol was found to be cheaper than soft drinks with only 12% of the venues offering patrons discounts on non-alcoholic drinks.

The charity noted that while the clubs can bring large benefits to cities and towns, the additional revenues must be balanced alongside the health implications of offering alcohol for such a small amount.

Their recommendation is that venues compete based on their atmosphere, facilities, and entertainment instead of who offers the best prices on drinks.

How do you buy wine? Bundled in with the weekly supermarket shop? Plucked from the off-license shelf? Making the vaguest of stabs in the dark as to what wine you are after, without really being sure? The average supermarket wine aisle might boast a huge number of wines, hailing from just about every corner of the globe, but without any context this wealth of options can easily prove to be more bewildering than helpful. Which of the represented regions delivers the finest type of each wine? What are the best wines to be served with specific dishes? Questions that might well be buzzing in your brain as you make your selection, but who is going to help you out with them? The guy filling the wine aisle shelves? Yeah, good luck with that.

For those seeking an interesting, informed alternative to this ritualistic fumble in the dark, then wine buying online or buying wine via mail order can offer some assistance. A website is able to offer supplementary information with each retailed wine, giving additional information about taste and the perfect culinary accompaniment. What is more, a website can be calibrated to your individual tastes. Simply take a few seconds to provide some information about your preferences, and the website can subsequently offer specific recommendations as to which wines might be to your liking. Whether your favourite tipple be the freshness and sweetness of a good white, the richness and intensity of a sublime red, or the rich, complex, yeasty flavour of champagne, the decision to buy wine online or mail order wine can help identify the perfect wine for you.

Wine clubs too can offer help in regard to learning more about how to judge wines, and make sure you get the best possible deal. A great blend of the educational and the social, membership of a wine club can not only help you explore the rich, but sometimes intimidating and complex, world of wine, it can bring social benefits too, as you meet and interact with others who are also keen to develop their passion for wine.

And there is one other very real, very pertinent advantage when you buy wine online or mail order wine – namely, cost. The price of the wine you pay for over the counter has been swollen by a number of elements which have precious little to do with the liquid in the bottle. Yes, the wine itself partly determines how much money you hand over at the till, but there are other assorted factors which help inflate the price-tag; from taxes, to duty, to the cost of marketing. By the time you are picking your chosen wine from the shelf, then it has in all likelihood passed through any number of hands – importers, wholesalers, the shops themselves – each one of which serving to ramp the cost that little bit further skyward.

The choice for winemakers is often between handing over their product for a relatively small sum to a massive retailer, or getting out there and hawking their wares themselves. But buying wine online establishes a new link of sale, retailing the finest independently-produced wines direct to the customer, and ensuring winemakers and consumers alike are given the best possible deal.

On Friday February 19th, the new Laithwaites flasghip store in the Vinopolis complex will open near Borough Market.  Customers are being invited to join staff from Laithwaites and Vinopolis, as well as stallholders from Borough Market, for a celebratory glass of champagne and an exciting evening wine tasting.

The celebration continues on Saturday February 20th when Laithwaites, the UK’s largest independent wine merchant, is offering customers the unique chance to walk away with a bottle of the finest wine for just £5.  From 10am – 10pm, Laithwaites will offer 500 ‘mystery’ bottles for sale, all for £5 each. Highlights include Lafite, Haut-Brion, Mouton and mixed in amongst the bottles, all worth over £5, will be other established classics and New World discoveries.  There will only be 500 bottles so with thousands expected to try their luck come early to avoid disappointment.

As well as picking up their mystery bottle, customers will also be able to taste a selection of wines from Laithwaites comprehensive range, at one of the world’s longest wine tasting tables in the 5,000sq ft store.

Opening of the Laithwaites Store – February 19th 4pm onwards

Wine Lucky Dip – February 20th 10am – 10pm

The store is situated at No.1 Bank End, London SE1 9BU.

For further information visit www.laithwaites.co.uk