12 wines for your Spring Festival

Chinese New Year brings together family of all ages. Give them this wine that everyone will enjoy: from young sons and their first girlfriend to loving grandmothers who like to scold. The fresh fruit and floral flavours will make them all happy and the low alcohol means you can ganbei all night long.

A Chardonnay from Southern France with ripe fruit and perfumed nose. Sweet and fresh palate is followed by a pleasant finish. It pairs well with light-flavoured dishes, such as Jiangsu and Guangdong cuisine. It's also a good match with slightly-spiced seafood. Fruity and round, an all-rounder in food matching. A good choice for casual gatherings.

This is the best Pinot Noir I encountered during my recent trip to New Zealand. Pure and concentrated fruity nose of cherry, plum and preserved plum, plenty of rose petals, supported by vanilla and spice brought by oak aging. The bright black fruit palate is refreshed with high acidity and savoury mouthfeel. A roasted sesame finish hints the use of good-quality oak. It's a Burgundy-like, young and sexy wine.

Deep garnet with a ruby rim and a tomato and hawthorn fruit palate. Medium bodied with stand-out tannins, balanced with good acidity, with elegant cherry and plum fruits following to the finish. It is a wine that can age; A good match with chicken or duck dishes.

Another quality wine with a good story behind it. The Chinese name ('the mountain of blindness and fortune'), as well as the producing region, should immediately attract the attention of wine lovers. In fact, the winemaker is blind. Yes, I'm just as curious as you-shall we all pay the mysterious winery a visit?

Striking savoury nose with gamy characters. The tannin structure is tight but not austere, suggesting very fine winemaking. Thick fruit palate is supported by neat, precise alignment of tannins. The wine marches on your palate, leaving sweet and savoury aftertaste. It will show more French characters after three to eight years of oak aging.

A wine made by Chateau la Commanderie, St-Estephe Cru Bourgeois, a winery owned by the Kressmann group. A Cabernet Sauvignon that has been oak aged. Ruby-red in colour, clean fruit on the nose with vanilla and mushroom to follow. It's a balanced, well-structured wine with a long finish. A good match for beef or lamb dishes.

Chinese consumer's love for Bordeaux means that you can never miss by treating your guests with a nice bottle of claret, especially when you don't know what to choose.

Deep in colour, with rich blackcurrant fruit nose and minty freshness. Sweet vanilla and jam follow on the palate. A full-bodied wine with clean finish. It can be matched with most Chinese meat dishes.

The red label is perfect for the festive atmosphere. Clean and juicy fruit flavours shield its alcohol strength. Without loud characters, it's a good choice for family gatherings.

Deep ruby in colour, perfumed with evident blackcurrant fruit nose and a minty lift. A rich but not fatty wine, with balanced structure and mineral characteristics. It's a wine for wine lovers to enjoy together and discuss. A good match to roasted meat dishes.

If you'd like to strike up a conversation about wine, this characterful Cabernet Sauvignon coming from the 'terra rossa' soil in Coonawarra should surprise your guests in a pleasant way. The elegant winemaking style may change the heavy and fatty impression of Australian wines among wine lovers.

Delicious yet serious red wine - this is to bring out to impress the guests. Filled with black pepper, crushed black cherries and sweet spice, it's got enough weight to pair with the big-boy dishes like red-cooked pork and Sichuan flavours. Also, the name in Chinese rocks - totally cool.

This is the wine that will go with just about any meaty Chinese dish - but is particularly perfect with jiaozi. Easy to open (crown cap) and even easier to drink, this berry-filled rich but dry sparkling is a firm favourite in my houshold.