If you live next door to a winery, great. If you don't, where's the best place to grab a bottle or two?

Where you buy wine depends largely on why you're buying it. Supermarkets offer a good selection of entry-level wines at keen prices. However, limiting your purchases to their shelves means that you’ll miss out on many more interesting wines.

When it comes to shopping, wine is no different from other foods. For everyday drinking, the supermarket is fine, but for something more exclusive, head for a specialist merchant.

While you can buy some very respectable wines in supermarkets and major discount chains, the size of such organizations means that they are usually only able to deal with the producers who turn out large volumes. Small independent merchants have no such constraints, and while they won't be able to compete with the big boys at the cheaper end of the market, they often provide excellent value at higher prices, not to mention a more personal service. They may also offer tastings at the weekends, and wine courses for those who'd like to learn more.

Fact
A good time to buy wine is January, when many merchants have their annual bin-end sales.