Today was the 7th Edition of The Great Brook Run in Chadlington, near Chipping Norton, which starts and finishes at their excellent village pub, The Tite Inn.

The organsiers helpfully advise you to: Run.Get Wet. Have a Pint. This was my third Great Brook Run and as in previous years I did exactly as I was advised!

Big thanks to the organisers Adam Engberg and James Keelly.

Can you spot @TheWineTipster and the PM in this shot at the start of Chadlington’s Great Brook Run today?

With Christmas round the corner, it’s time to buy your bubbly, wines, sherries, spirits and ports. Here’s my time-saving list of recommendations that will work perfectly with every Christmas occasion.

Bubbly and sparkling wines play an important role in any festivities. If you want to create a stylish way to share and enjoy bubbly at your party, then opt for a magnum. They also make great presents! For a really special occasion, buy a vintage champagne. The 10 out of 10 vintage is 2002 and I’d definitely recommend Pommery Cuvée Louise 2002, from Ocado (£109.99). Look out for their Pommery Grand Cru Vintage 2004 too, which is stunning, Ocado (£51.99),  Another lovely vintage to enjoy now is the 2006 Jacquart Blanc de Blancs which is excellent and available at Tesco (£40) . For a signature celebration champagne, go for Laurent-Perrier Brut NV, available on offer at Waitrose (£24.99) and also at Sainsbury’s. Serve with a dash of sloe gin.

Alternatively, a magnum of Prosecco, will also add a fun, celebratory feel to any yuletide party. Try the fresh, creamy style of premium Prosecco Magnum NV Masottina  from M&S (£19.99). This is also one to carry through and continue to serve with a smoked salmon starter on Christmas Day. Alternatively open a bottle of dry sherry such as Gonzalez Byass Tio Pepe Fino (£9.99) available in all major retailers. Serve this delicious, refreshing sherry chilled. Once opened, you’ll need to drink this within a couple of days. Otherwise, a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire, such as a good Sancerre, will also work well here like Sancerre Blanc 2013 Domaine Vacheron, at Majestic (£17.99).

Around 68% of us will be eating turkey on Christmas Day, according to a 2014 Gallup survey in Prospect magazine. So what’s the best wine to serve with it? Many opt for a Bordeaux to complement all the rich flavours of the accompanying dishes. If you’re looking for good value, choose a Bordeaux with a Cru Bourgeois label – a mark of quality. Bordeaux wines from 2009 are considered the ‘once in a lifetime’ vintage for Bordeauxs, but the 2010 Bordeaux are also considered exceptional. Bordeaux wines do need to breathe properly, so decant 2-3 hours before serving. Within this style of wine, some of the best value Cru Bourgeois wines are available at Berry Brothers & Rudd, Fine & Rare, Lea & Sandeman and The Wine Society.

Alternatively, a Rioja works well with turkey and game, including venison. Try Campo de Viejo Gran Reserva 2007 at Sainsbury’s (£15.99) or a Louis Jadot CÔte du Beaune-Villages 2012 (£16.99 – buy 2 save 15%) at Majestic, the Jackson Estate Vintage Widow Pinot Noir 2012 at Ocado (£19.49 to £16.49).

On Boxing Day, serve cold turkey with a fabulous Beaujolais such as the ripe and fruity, Château des Labourons Fleurie 2011, produced by Henry Fessy, and available through winedirect.com (£16.99). Or, equally good, the Brouilly Henry Fessy 2012 at Waitrose (£11.99) would also be very good here.

Now the cheeseboard. Pair a classic stilton or Alex James’ Blue Monday with Sandeman Late Bottled Vintage Port 2009 at Waitrose (£15.99 to £12.99) or Sandeman 20-year-old Tawny Port, also from Waitrose, (£32.49). Other wines that will complement cheese include a red such as such a Bordeaux with a good cheddar, while Roquefort is a good match for Sauternes.

Tawny port is also a good accompaniment to mince pies, Christmas pud and as an aperitif, served chilled. Other rich, fruity wines that complement intense fruit flavours include; the Gonzalez Byass Matusalem Oloroso Dulce Muy Viejo VORS – a rich, dark Oloroso sherry, available at Waitrose (£19.99 half bottle), or try Blandys 15-year old Malmsey Madeira from The Oxford Wine Company (£26.99). Alternatively, opt for the rich, luscious flavours of the perfect Christmas tipple, Californian Elysium Rutherglen Black Muscat 2012, (£11.99) available at The Oxford Wine Company.

Good all-round easy drinkers I’m very happy to offer anytime over the festive break include South Africa’s Zalze Sangiovese 2013 (£6.99), available at Co-Op. Peter Yealands’ Sauvignon Blanc 2013 from Co-op (£9.99) and Sainsbury’s (on offer £7.50) and  Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference, Macon Villages 2013 (£8.99). For a Rose, try Les Dauphins Rosé 2013 at Asda, (£6.99).

Have a wonderful Christmas and make sure you watch the William Hill King George VI on Boxing Day at Kempton. Also, don’t miss the Coral Welsh Grand National at Chepstow on Saturday 27th December.

Rock On Ruby was my nap of the day in my On The Box column in Racing Plus last Saturday and I was delighted to see this likeable nine-year-old take control at the top of the hill, scoring his first success over the smaller obstacles at two and a half miles.

Cheltenham is a home game for Ruby On Ruby and Harry Fry his trainer was delighted with his performance, whilst the youngest family member, Ruby, born November 25th, was there in the unsaddling enclosure to cheer in the winner.

At the Cheltenham Festival in March Rock On Ruby could appear in the three mile Ladbrokes World Hurdle, however I’m not convinced that the extra half mile will really suit him and the two and a half mile Aintree Hurdle looks the right card to play.

The celebrity racehorse Mad Moose was returning from his racecourse ban at the same meeting, once again deciding to down tools at the start despite the genuine jump racing crowd willing him on.

Mad Moose’s owners Middleham Park Racing have decided that is enough and his trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies said “We love him dearly but he really is a complete sod! “.

Have a lovely retirement Mad Moose.

Fantastic weather at the Big Feastival yesterday in the Cotswolds and here is The Wine Tipster in Alex James’ Cheese Hub waxing lyrically about Blue Monday! Blue Monday is a lovely blue cheese, less intense than others, with a savoury,creamy character, good lenghty finish too and is a must for any cheeseboard. Rather than matching with port, The Wine Tipster selected the smooth, intensely fruity Casillero del Diablo Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, Central Valley, Chile 2012 which was a good match.

In this wine matching session The Wine Tipster also featured Alex’s Farleigh Wallop, Little Wallop, Goddess and Good Queen Maude. The semi-soft Goddess which is perfect at around eight -ten weeks, changing from creamy notes at four-five weeks  to a more buttery intense and indulgent cheese at this age was  matched with Heidsieck Monopole’s Rosé Top NV and showed, once again, how versatile Champagne can be with cheese.

The Good Queen Maude, made at Alex’s farm using raw ewes’ milk and matured for four months is firm, smooth with a lingering spicy finish. This delicious cheese worked well with the spicy notes of the good value Zalze Shiraz Grenache Viognier 2012, Western Cape, South Africa, currently on offer at £5.99 down from £7.99 in the Co-op.

Great to see everyone enjoying these wines from the excellent Chilean producer Errazuriz in my Drinks Theatre session at the Foodies Festival in South Parks, Oxford yesterday. Thanks also to the lovely audience at my local Foodies. Look out for my column in The Oxford Times and I’m a regular presenter on BBC Radio Oxford too.

As promised here are the list of the wines and the stockists I presented in my Errazuriz: Premium Chile session:

Errazuriz Estate Series Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Aconcagua, £9.99. Stockists: Budgens, Majestic, Waitrose.

Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2011, Valle de Casablanca, £13.99. Stockists: Co-op, Majestic.

Errazuriz Estate Series Merlot 2013, Valle de Curicó, £9.99. Stockists: Booths, www.rhythmandbooze.co.uk, Majestic.

Errazuriz Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Aconcagua Valley, £13.99. Stockists: Budgens, Tesco, Waitrose.

I also mentioned the Errazuriz Estate Series Carmenère 2013, Aconcagua Valley, £10.49, which is available from Majestic and Wine Rack .

We have had a great time in the Drinks Theatre at all the Foodies shows and we will

be in The Old Truman Brewery in London from November 28th-30th for the Christmas Foodies Festival. See you there!

Thank you to all the lovely people who came to the Tatton Park Foodies Festival and to the Drinks Theatre. One of the sessions I presented was Errazuriz: Premium Chile and here are the list of wines again with stockists:

Errazuriz Estate Series Sauvignon Blanc 2013, Aconcagua, £9.99. Stockists: Budgens, Majestic, Waitrose.

Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2011, Valle de Casablanca, £13.99. Stockists: Co-op, Majestic.

Errazuriz Estate Series Merlot 2012, Valle de Curicó, £9.99. Stockists: Booths, www.rhythmandbooze.co.uk, Majestic.

Errazuriz Max Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, Aconcagua Valley, £13.99. Stockists: Budgens, Tesco, Waitrose.

Great to see everyone enjoying these quality wines in the session and great to see the lady who didn’t like Chardonnay loving the Wild Ferment Chardonnay! Good to see people being honest too.

There’s a massive rollover on today’s Scoop 6 with a potential £2.1 million win fund plus a huge bonus fund. For a £2 bet all you have to do is select the winner of each of the six Scoop 6 races and if you are the only winner then you will be collect the total win fund.  Also, all winners of the Scoop 6 then have the opportunity to win more money by selecting the winner of the bonus race a week today. The  bonus fund currently stands at £1.5 million and will probably reach near to £2 million so another incentive for having a go at today’s Scoop 6.

The races in today’s Scoop 6 with my two selections for each race are:

2.05 Sandown Leg 1  selections: No 3: Raven’s Tower and No 13: Dolores Delightful.

2.20 Haydock Leg 2 selections: No 5: Big Johnny D and No 13: Sir Reginald.

2.50 Ripon Leg 3 selections: No 2: Body and Soul and No 17: Hillbilly Boy.

3.25 Haydock Leg 4 selections: No 1: Gabrial’s Kaka and No 6: Brae Hill.

3.30 Ripon Leg 5 selections: No 3: Sizzler and No 13: Bayan.

3.50 Sandown Leg 6 selections: No 2 Bury Parade and No 17: Ardkilly Witness.

Good luck!.

Major thanks to the lovely audience and hard working team of the Thame Players Theatre for making last night’s Whose Wine is it Anyway? such a success.

We had a fantastic selection of wines with big thanks to Vilarnau, Wirra Wirra, Jackson Estate, Quinta do Noval,  Beronia and Waitrose for the tapas.

Also my show needs quality heckling and you went off piste with the celebrities in my village piece! We also fitted in punk, begonias, fish, apricots and horse racing in-between talking and tasting some fabulous wines.

More gigs to be announced shortly for my Whose Wine is it Anyway? show on www.thewinetipster.co.uk

More buzz, more anticipation and more hype were on the menu for the first day of The Cheltenham Festival at Prestbury Park in Gloucestershire. There was also a beautiful spring day to bring out the crowds for four days of competitive championship racing.

Willie Mullins was rightly tipped to be the trainer of the week and kicked off the start of The Festival with Vautour winning the Sky Bet Supreme Hurdle, whilst his Champagne Fever in the Racing Post Arkle and my hot tip in to get the champagne corks popping

was just pipped on the post by the 33/1 outsider Western Warhorse. In the feature race of the day and the main race of meeting in my book Mullins had Hurricane Fly bidding to achieve his third Stan James Champion Hurdle, with my other hotpot for the day, My Tent or Yours the winner for me. In a race marred by the fatal fall of Our Conor My Tent or Yours just failed to beat Jezki, with Hurricane Fly back in fourth. Whilst Mullins was obviously downcast after Hurricane Fly’s fourth place, his incredible little mare Quevega then became the first horse to win six races at The Cheltenham Festival when battling in determined fashion to win the OLBG Mares’ Final for the six consecutive year. Incredible mare, incredible training performance.

My day of previewing and tipping for JPFEstival.com in The Gold Cup Restaurant featured one winner and three frustrating seconds! A frustrating day had a sweetener with The Wine Tipster’s day saved by winning the placepot!

Another great day ahead.