Jane and I left work just after 10pm and were in the pub by quarter past. We ordered a modest half-bottle of Sancerre. Twenty minutes later, we were back at the bar for another, only to find we'd polished off the last and would have to downgrade. "We should have had more faith in ourselves," Jane said. So much for (attempted) moderation.

I'm often asked to recommend a good source of half-bottles, and I'm often reluctant, not entirely because of my own greed. It's a financial issue: half-bottles cost more than half the price of their 75cl counterpart. This is partly because certain overheads (cork, label, bottle) don't divide in two. Also, fewer are sold, so there aren't the same economies of scale. I did worry that HM Revenue & Customs might be sly and charge the same duty on a 37.5cl bottle as on a 75cl (and they are pretty sneaky - we're taxed on tax already, because VAT is applied to the price after duty has been added), but no, it's calculated according to volume. There is a paucity of decent half-bottle offerings at supermarkets, although I'd recommend the reliable, easy-drinking Torres Sangre de Toro at £3.55, as well as the £3.99 Cave de Turckheim Gewürztraminer, both at Waitrose), so, for this column, I tasted wines from five merchants with a broad range of halves. Given that, in most cases, they sell by the case, and you'll likely want a mixed one, I've named a best buy from each, and other good wines, too. One of the five, Adnams, didn't make it on to the grid because two of my favourite wines there were cheaper at Tanners; however, Adnams' £2.99 half-bottle of Château Crecy 2005 is a refreshing and unoaked claret that should not be overlooked.

I ended up won over by these tactile and civilised little bottles. So were my tasters, one of whom often buys them. But has he ever opened two consecutively? "No," was his indignant response. "I have one for lunch and one for dinner." Which at the time made perfect sense.