Were you planning to buy all your Christmas wine online this year and save yourself some money? Are you kicking yourself now it’s a week before Christmas and you didn’t do it?

Well there’s no need because there’s still plenty of time to get that wine ordered with online wine merchant, Wine Hound accepting orders for pre-Christmas delivery all the way up until the midnight on Monday 21st, whilst Majestic Wines are accepting your wine wish lists all the way up to the 23rd December if you go and collect the order in store!

Both online wine shops have some great Christmas deals that are perfect for using at the dinner table, and also as gifts for when you have a last minute realisation that you’ve forgotten someone important…

In the case of Wine Hound, there’s some great wine packs on offer ranging from Christmas wine choices, to some stunning red or white only packs and even a couple of luxurious mix packs. Prices for the 12 bottle cases also start from just £64.99 making this a real opportunity to pick up some bargain (but also very good) wine.

Majestic Wines also have some great things to offer too with New Zealand, Rhône and Chilean wines all available with 20% off.

So now that the panic is over, it’s time to get a glass of wine, sit down and getting ordering some wine to replace what you’re drinking at Wine Hound and Majestic Wines.

Based in Southern Australia on the Limestone Coast, this Cabernet Sauvignon from the Chalk Spring Vineyards is a wine that’s a bit different from your average Cab having benefited from having a longer growing time due to the influence of the sea on the climate.

And it’s a benefit that you’re definitely going to be able to taste as it has allowed the fruity notes of this wine to become wonderfully pure and ripe, and when you’ve got rich cassis fruit flavours and juicy plums acting as the main flavours of this wine you’re definitely going to notice the differenxce.

But don’t think that this is just a wine about dark fruits because that would be to underestimate the complexity of this wine, which also has some surprises in the form of the herbal notes that will tease your taste buds, and the black olive notes that have them fully awake and alert once you’ve swirled the first sip in your mouth.

Full bodied, this fruity wine has good tannins that ensure it lingers long after that last sip, and is definitely worth it’s £7.99 price tag.

However if you buy in October the good news is you can get yourself a real bargain as Majestic Wines are selling this wine for £4.99 a bottle when you buy two or more – an offer you can’t afford to miss if you like your Cabs.

There really is nothing like spending an evening with friends, catching up and drinking a wonderfully soft oak aged Rioja like this 2008 Don Placero that will just have you falling in love with it again and again with every sip.

And there’s plenty to fall in love with, whether it be the sweet plum flavours that can’t help to bring a smile to your face, the sumptuous raspberries that will cause you a wonderful sign of happiness or the gentle vanilla and cedar flavours that bring each sip to a satisfying end.

The range of flavours may sound impressive, but what is more so is that this wine isn’t the heavy bodied wine it sounds like it could be. In fact you will find it surprisingly light, making it far more easy to match with foods – for example cheese will be just as good  a match as lamb or port.

A gorgeous blend of Tempranillo and Garanacha grapes this is an exciting wine that I would definitely recommend trying, with Don Placero being a name you should definitely remember as his recently installed winery at Bodegas Aldeanueva is receiving high price, and with his commitment to achieving organic status with the vineyards, this is a winemaker who’s up for a challenge.

Available for £6.99 a bottle, you can also buy a case for £83.88 at Wine Hound.

Wonderfully floral to the nose, this Italian Pinot Grigio will take your nasal cavities on a stunning journey through beds of acacia flowers, to bowls of freshly ground almonds and dried fruit, and will continue to delight as you take your first sip and see these flavours develop into deeper, yet refreshing citrus, apple and exotic fruit flavours.

Gorgeous to the taste buds, this wine is stunning to the eye too, filling the glass with a bright straw yellow colour that is as refreshing to look at as it is to savour in your mouth, and should really come as no surprise when you learn that this wine is produced in the beautiful surroundings of Lake Garda and the city of Verona.

Brilliant as a wine to start off a dinner party with, this will also work wonderfully with simple soups, as well as white dish dishes and white meats.

Available for £6.99 a bottle, this wine can also be bought in a case of 12 for £83.88 at Wine Hound.

Made up of a blend of 10% Syrah grapes and 90% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, this rose wine from Chateau Paradis is a gorgeous pink in colour,  and whilst dry in flavour does have enough body to it to make it something that both white and red wine drinkers should enjoy.

Grown and blended by Philippe and Juliette Deschamps just north of Aix, this rose wine is all about fresh fruity flavours that combine together to create a deep, luxurious flavour that’ll linger in your mouth and mind long after you’ve drunk it.

For this reason it’s a great wine to drink on it’s own, but if you’re some who likes to enjoy their wine with food then my suggestion would be to keep it simple, enjoying it alongside simple, singular flavours like smoked salmon or sardines.

Available to buy for £8.99 a bottle or £107.88 for a case of twelve at Wine Hound.

If you like your reds rich and spicy with a gorgeous hint of oak and are happy to splash out a bit more than you normally would then the 2006 Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero is a wine that’s definitely worth buying a case of and storing away.

Aged in a blend of French and American oak barrels for 12 months, this wine has one of the most complex range of flavours that you’ll have experienced from a red wine, combining deep, warm earthy flavours with the aromas of smokey roasted herbs and the wonderfully rich fruitiness of blackberries.

It’s definitely something that could be something of a car crash in the mouth, but thanks to the talent of the wine maker, this Tempranillo based wine is the complete opposite, with the spicy notes in the mouth more than able to match up to the depth of the fruit,  and whilst it can more than hold its own drunk today, leave it for a couple of years and you’re going to be loving it even more …. or alternatively you could do what I’m planning to do and buy a case that’ll allow you to drink some now and put the others away, only to forget about them and discover them just in time for the 2012 Olympics.

Given a score of 92 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, this is a wine that many of you are going to have drunk and loved in some of the best restaurants in Spain, so what better way could there be to bring some warmth to a cold Winters evening than a gorgeous glass of this 2006 Emilio Moro with it’s deep warm flavours and memories of sunnier climates!

The 2006 Emilio Moro Ribera Del Duero is available to buy for £16.99 as a single bottle, or with a 25% discount when you buy two bottles or more at Majestic Wines.

If your fridge is anything like mine then the chance you’re going to find anywhere in your fridge to just slip a bottle of wine in to cool is next to no chance at all.

So what do you do when you need to get that wine chilled for the dinner party you’re throwing? Well you could put it in a bucket of ice and cross your fingers that it ends up at something like the right temperature, or alternatively you could get yourself a wine bottle cooler like this Wine Chiller from I Want One Of Those.

Designed for those of us without an enormously well organised American refridgerator, this wine cooler needs nothing more than some ice and some water to be able to chill your bottle of wine in just three and a half minutes, your bottle of Champagne in six, and if you just want a can then that’ll be done in a mere minute!

On top of that there’s even a spin option that you can use to make your bottle even cooler, though personally I’d recommend only using that on wine bottles unless you’re planning a Formula One style celebration when you open up your bottle of Champagne.

The mains powered unit itself is relatively compact, measuring 33cm x 20com x 14cm, with the main unit styled in white with a black circular control panel to the front, and the lid unit made from a transparent materil that lifts up from the back to make it quick and easy to pop the bottle in as well as meaning you can slot it into a small space and still be able to access it.

The Wine Chiller can be ordered for £55.99 at I want One Of Those.

If you’re looking to buy a case of red wines from South Africa and want to hedge your bets and be able to drink some now and hold some back for later then this 2007 Thelma Mountain screw top is going to be a great option, because whilst it is drinking really nicely now if you hold a few bottles back for a couple more years then you’re going to taste something that’s even more special.

Made up of Syrah / Shirz and Merlot grapes and coming in at at 14% ABV, this isn’t your average, smooth red wine, but one that is far more complex, and comes with many a surprise, wheter it be the deep, earthy flavours of the fruit or the hot spices that have your tastebuds tingling, and have you analysing the flavours long after the wine has left your mouth.

An intriguing wine on it’s own, this is also a great wine for meal times with red meats like beef, or even veal working really nicely with the depth that this wine has.

Available to buy individually for £9.99, this wine is available for a 25% discount when you buy two or more bottles from Majestic.

Produced with fruit sourced from the very first vines that were planted in the vineyard that surrounded the Seghesio family home back in 1895, this is a Zinfandel wine that is something a little bit special, thanks to the complex, concentrated flavours that these fruits produce.

To the nose, the fruit flavours that tease and tempt will first be that of deep blackberry flavours, followed by hints of blueberry and then a wonderful layer of leather that acts to give the wine a real earthy feel.

Swirl the wine in the glass, then take a small sip and you will find these  same fruity flavours reveal themselves once more, but this time you will find the flavours develop even further, with warm plum favours and licorice hints acting to give the wine a real depth that lingers in your mouth long after the sip has been and gone.

In terms of what to drink it with, this wine has a depth and length to it that means it’s going to be too much for any light fish or chicken dishes, instead you need to partner this with something that can more than match it, whether that be a particular rich dish, a wonderfully spicy Asian spread  or some food straight off the barbecue.

The 2006 Seghesio Home Ranch Zinfandel is available for £30.00 online from Majestic Wine.

One of the oldest New World wine producers around, South Africa is well known and loved for it’s ability to produce a wide variety of wines thanks to the varied landscape that makes up the country.  The main regions that you’ll see wine coming from in South Africa is Stellenbosch, Paarl, Walker Bay,  Constantia and Robinson, with their strongest grapes having to be Syrah / Shiraz, Pinotage, Carbernet Sauvignon, Cinsaut and Merlot on the red side and Chenin Blanc, Colombard, Chard0nnay and Sauvignon Blanc on the white side.

And if you’re a fan of these South African wines, or are looking to move away from your traditional Old World wines, but aren’t quite ready to splash out a fortune on wines you may not like, then it’s definitely worth making a trip, either online or on the high street, to Majestic Wine because they’re currently offering you a 25% saving when you buy any two South African wines.

There are 39 wines in all on offer so you’re not going be having to make do with picking from a limited selection, and include the 2009 King’s River Robertson Shiraz – a wonderfully fruity and full bodied number that will fill your mouth not only with rich dark berry flavours but also tantalise it with crushed pepper aromas and a dash of cinnamon and cloves – and the 2008 Boschendal  Sauvignon Blanc, a beautifully crisp, clean bright wine that will tempt your nose with sweet tropical fruit flavours and delight your tastebuds as these flavours dance around and unveil the hidden citrus element that gives the wine it’s crispness.

I believe the offer is available both online and instore so it may well be worth checking out the wines online before heading off to the shop for a more detailed discussion with the (hopefully) knowledgeable staff at your local Majestic Wine.