Stop stressing about 31 December, keep things simple and go with a flow of prosecco, lambrusco or maybe even a Korean soju …

Oh, you thought it was all over? After all the carolling, gifting and tree-ing (not to mention the eating and drinking) of the actual Christmassy bit, it feels almost cruel to have to do it all again, and on – in my opinion – one of the most stressful nights of the year: New Year’s Eve.

If you’re not paying over the odds and going out, with long queues and stressed-out staff, you’re the stressed-out one yourself. “Is everyone good for drinks?” “When was the last time anyone saw [insert child’s name here]?” And then there’s the clean glass matrix, where no one can remember whose is whose and you’re caught in an endless cycle of washing-up. The antidote to all of the above is, for me, just to stay in with your immediates and a bottle of something nice. Five guests maximum. I don’t like going into the New Year already tense – what hope will I have for 2026 if I’m going into it with high blood pressure and flat wine in a warm glass?

From morning drinks to nolo suggestions for the non-drinkers, and from stocking fillers to showstoppers and after-dinner port

I make the same mistake every single year. And that mistake it this: I underprepare. “How is that possible, Hannah?” you may well be asking. “You’re a wine writer with presumably dozens of half-drunk bottles in your flat at any given time?” It’s because I spend Christmas with my parents, who live about two hours away by train, and there’s no way I’m risking the spill of any bottles on EMR.

So, I usually bring up three or so bottles that are always in the recycling bin by Christmas Eve. What I really need to do is not leave things to the last minute, and instead order ahead. And not just for Christmas dinner, either, but for every moment of the day. From the opening of presents to the falling asleep in front of the umpteenth viewing of The Good Life Christmas special, each instance calls for something entirely different to meet the moment.

There are solid scientific reasons for bottling wine in a magnum and others that aren’t – one of which being that they are simply great fun

There are many reasons you may want to buy a magnum, and those reasons multiply and proliferate around this time of the year. Your usual night in with your partner becomes a party for six. Dinner with the family becomes an enormous pre-Christmas do, with thirsty adults and kids in the way everywhere. And watering the masses can get expensive, not to mention cumbersome.

I often recommend boxed wines for this specific quandary. I’ve written before about the joys of bag-in-box, but to give you the top line: it’s at least two bottles in a fridge-friendly box, and it stays good for up to six weeks. But if you prefer the allure of a glass bottle, and the idea of all attention in the room being drawn to what’s in your hand as you enter it, then a magnum might be a fun thing to unsheathe during the festivities, after the first cocktails have been sipped and glasses are empty.