SO, the days of excess are over for another festive season. Those massive turkeys have been roasted, sliced, scraped and finally boiled down for soup. The Christmas log, which was bought several weeks in advance just in case the shops ran out of them, lie

SO, the days of excess are over for another festive season.

Those massive turkeys have been roasted, sliced, scraped and finally boiled down for soup.

The Christmas log, which was bought several weeks in advance just in case the shops ran out of them, lies unopened in the cupboard.

Also filling storage space are the various packets of nuts which, as in previous years, were never touched and will probably remain there until they pass their sell-by date and are consigned to the bin.

Other foodstuffs bought essentially for those two mad days of feasting also did not have a hope of being consumed other than in homes where people had a morbid wish to die from over-eating.

Just the thought of the many thousands of gallons of booze which galloped down throats makes one have the DT shakes.

It used to be a little drop of whisky, sherry or beer which were the favourite Christmas tipples but in recent years as we British have reluctantly become more Continental the intake of wine has increased dramatically.

The recycling boxes, bottle banks - or dustbins for the environmentally unfriendly - have been crammed in the last couple of weeks with the empty vessels which once contained the white, red or rose grape juice so beloved of the gods.

But how many people fully appreciated what they were drinking? How much thought had they put into what they bought?

Not much, if you believe a survey which was unveiled between Christmas and New Year.

This revealed that, far from being connoisseurs, Brits can still be plonkers when it comes to plonk.

They are often more likely to base their choice of wine on the look of the bottle rather than the actual taste of what is inside.

Nearly half - 49 per cent - of UK drinkers questioned said they preferred wine with a clear, modern label.

Nearly a third said they would be more adventurous with wine if they understood the labels and more than a quarter thought that, in general, wine labels contained too much un-user-friendly information.

So there we have it - a lot of the people seen staring intensely at wine bottles in supermarkets have no idea what they are looking at. It's staggering, which is what they could be after drinking their pig-in-a-poke purchase.

Talking about corkers,, a government press release made me smile the other day.

It was e-mailed, and the subject title which appeared on my screen was: Highways Agency warns drivers to take car.

Well, it usually is better to do that when you are travelling any distance by road, I thought.

It was only when I opened the e-mail that the full title of the piece appeared: Highways Agency warns drivers to take care as widespread snow is forecast.

I think the outcome of a survey into

the top 10 names for teddy bears is wrong.

Surely, the majority of these cuddly beasts are called Teddy but that name does not even appear in the list.

No, it appears that the most common handle these days is Fluffy. I will not be re-naming mine.