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Will Lyons has prepared a top 100 wines for the Scotsman - inevitably a personal selection, but nevertheless it includes some surprises amongst the French wine selection - e.g. several Beaujolais wines, which have been rather out of fashion in recent years.

From the fireside in Elgin to the trestle tables of St James’s, over the last 12 months I have swirled my way through the offerings of Britain’s wine trade on your behalf. My selection criteria are twofold: the wine has to be of interest and must always represent value for money. The results, my 100 best wines of the year, are below and include something for every palate.

• 2005 Beaujolais AC, E Loron et Fils ( £5.95) from my favourite old-fashioned wine merchant - Tanners >
• 2004 Côtes du Rhône Villages AC (£4.50) from Waitrose - “Fresh, ripe and very juicy. This is a vibrant, youthful wine bursting with cherry and raspberry flavours. It’s quite flexible - being light enough as a summer drink or an accompaniment to a winter stew”. Waitrose
• Côtes de St Mont VDQS Château de Sabazan ( £12.99) - “Wines from the Madiran region, in the south-west of France, received a thunderbolt of publicity earlier in the year when Professor Roger Corder published research that showed they were quite possibly the healthiest wines on earth. This is a rich, roasted, firm wine with an appealing smoothness that belies its complexity - a class act.” The Wine Society

Touraine Sauvignon AC, Domaine Octavie (£4.66) - a wine which we used to import for Allez Vins! “A little gem from one of the best estates in the Touraine. It has plenty of the gooseberry and mineral fruit that you’d hope to find in decent Sancerre.” Wines of the World (more on Domaine Octavie)

• Saussignac AC Clos d’Yvigne (£21.00) - by Patricia Atkinson (author of The Ripening Sun: One Woman and the Creation of a Vineyard) in Bergerac “A real gem. Full, rich, creamy and packed with honey, peach and apricot flavours.” Andrew Chapman Fine Wines