Cherie Blair was spotted last weekend snapping up exclusive Hungarian wines for her Christmas table from a former Highgate School teacher.

The top barrister and wife of ex-PM Tony Blair bought a mixed case of Christmas wines from Frank Smith, who used to teach English and sports, before leaving to pursue his passion for selling Hungary’s finest wines.

He recently launched the wine stockists London Tokaji, named after the most celebrated Hungarian wines.

The former PM’s wife came to his stall at the London Wine Show at the Olympia, fuelled by a Bacchic passion for the ‘aszu’ dessert wine she was once given by the Hungarian Prime Minister.

The same wine has centuries of heritage and was said to be a favourite of the Sun King, Louis XIV of France.

“She singled us out,” said Mr Smith, who lives in Crouch End.

“She came at the tail end of the show on Sunday and headed straight for us without visiting any other stalls.

“She said she’d been looking for the wine but hadn’t been able to find it.

‘‘You can tell she likes her wine and it was gratifying that she’d heard of us.”

After sampling the sweet dessert wine, the QC bought a mixed case of wines from the region, presumably in preparation for her Christmas entertaining.