Varieties – the spice of life

Happy New Year, Purple Pagers! I hope you have drunk well this Christmas and are now giving your livers a few days' well-deserved rest while you ponder what to drink during 2013. A little period of abstinence offers a good vantage point from which to survey your cellar; for my part, I have resolved to cast a wider net this year. While it is inevitable that I shall end up drinking half my body weight in burgundy, I do also feel that there has never been a better time to make sorties outside one's comfort zone.

That is not to...