The question I dread: “So what’s your favourite wine when you’re just kicking back, having a glass?” It’s tough to answer. I like almost any wine that’s well made (except white zinfandel. When I want pink pop, I’ll drink pink pop). But what about in the lean months after Christmas, when expensive bottles can be harder to justify? My default red is Italian—lighter, engaging barbera (Bersano 2004 Costalunga Barbera d’Asti, $12.05), for example, or valpolicella. I love the saturated fruit of Chile, and Australia’s cabernet-shiraz blends (the fantastic $13.55 Wakefield 2004 Promised Land among them). And I admit I’m a sucker for the apple, pear and peach flavours of whites—my great-grandfather was an orchardist in Niagara. I love rich, perfumed, dry gewürztraminers, including most Alsatian whites, although some struggle for vitality nowadays. I drink New Zealand’s snappy sauvignons blancs in summer. I’m nerdy keen on Australia’s under-appreciated, great-value sémillon and sémillon-based blends. And for sipping bliss, Château des Charmes’ 2004 Late Harvest Riesling is fabulous. But if I had to make a single, desert-island pick, I’d make it pinot noir, bonus if under $20, like Bouchard Aîné & Fils 2004. Sure, it’s cheating a bit—good pinot is never cheap. But on a desert island, assuming the food is good too, nothing else would do.