When buying wine, One of the major issues that people find difficult is deciphering the wine label. We aim to demystify this process for you, with an explanation of the wine classification system, and a guide to the often confusing appellation system in Europe.

If you are buying wine for someone who likes white wine, then a New World Chardonnay is a good choice. As long as you don't choose the cheapest in the shop, then most Chardonnays will taste good. If possible, try to find one that isn't too acidic or oaky, however, any £8 Chardonnay from the New World will be a very safe bet.

If you are choosing a wine for several people to enjoy with dinner, you have one objective - pleasing everyone. If, on the other hand, you are choosing a wine for your own enjoyment, you have a much easier task, and you won't need to apologise to anyone if your choice of wine doesn't quite work out.

If you buy wines with labels printed in English where the grape variety or varieties are denoted, you will at least know a few things about your potential purchase. Not only will you have some idea of what you are buying, but after you drink the wine you can look at the bottle and know what type of wine you did, or didn't, enjoy.

Boxed Wines are usually sold in boxes of 3 litres, with a bag inside the carton of wine that can be dispensed with the turn of a tap. Although these boxes are often bought for parties, they are also popular with anyone who just wants an occasional glass of wine in the evening. Once the box is opened, the wine inside will last a week or two before starting to deteriorate.

Tips on Shopping for Wine Unless you set out for the wine shop with a specific bottle of wine in mind, you will have to make a buying decision based on limited information. Your goal is to bring home a wine you will like, at a price you feel comfortable with.

There are many factors that affect the amount any of us will pay for a bottle of wine. Apart from the differences in how much each of us can afford to spend on a luxury item such as wine, it is likely that we'll pay more for a bottle to celebrate a special occasion, than for our everyday wine.

Vintage wine is simply wine from a single year; it does not indicate that the wine is of greater age or distinction than a non-vintage wine. If a bottle states the year that it was made, then it's vintage wine.

You can learn something about a wine simply by looking at the bottle shape. Many wine producing areas in Europe developed their own unique wine bottle shapes that became the traditional bottle for wines of that region.

As well as the standard 750ml bottle size found on supermarket and wine merchants shelves, and the useful half-bottle containing 375ml of wine, there are a number of 'large format' bottles, many of which are named after biblical kings. These large format bottles are popular with wine collectors, as the life expectancy of any wine tends to increase in direct proportion to the size of the bottle in which it is stored.

Wine glasses come in different sizes, and it is possible to buy a glass that holds two-thirds or even a whole bottle of wine. This is perhaps a little excessive, and a good general sized glass should hold between 310 ml (11 fl oz) and 375 ml (13 fl oz). Dessert wines are usually served in slightly smaller glasses - around 200 ml (7 fl oz).

Many established merchants and Internet-only wine 'e-tailers' have websites that you can browse at leisure, comparing prices gleaning far more information on individual wines than you'll be likely to find on a shop shelf. The wine will be delivered straight to your door, which gives you the added advantage that you don't need carry it home yourself.