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How to choose a wine – quickly – for any occasion
Britons waste 50 million hours each year trying to decide which wine to buy – don’t be one of them
Let’s get one thing straight: I may write about wine for a living, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still have “wall of wine” meltdown moments after going into a supermarket to complete the apparently simple act of buying a bottle.
Apparently we are collectively spending a huge amount of time in this state of “which wine?” brain-freeze. New research commissioned by M&S has found that Brits are collectively wasting 50 million hours a year trying to identify the almost-mythical “correct” bottle in the wine aisle. A quarter of shoppers revealed they spend more than 10 minutes deciding which one to buy.
I hope this doesn’t sound too much like hard work to anyone who just wants to pour themselves a good glass of well-deserved wine at the end of the day, but the best way to avoid this particular type of paralysis is to put in a moment or two of thought in advance.
Most wine is bought on the hoof and there are two problems with this.
First, if you’re shopping in a “local” supermarket, the selection is likely to be tiny. Not only that, but each bottle will cost more than it does in a large store. Yes I, too, have stood in the M&S at Kings Cross St Pancras desperately looking for a last-minute bottle to take to a friend’s house only to find myself confronted by row upon row of not-very-good prosecco, and cursed myself for not planning my purchase in advance so that I had something at home I could just pull out of a box and take with me.
Second, the only way to really know whether a wine is any good (or to your liking) is to taste it. The next best thing is to follow the advice of someone you trust. And in that spirit – here are a few ideas that I hope will help to solve some common “which wine?” conundrums.
Last of the summer rosé
Budget buy: La Vieille Ferme Rosé 2022, France 13%, Asda, £6.75 down from £7.75; Sainsbury’s, £7 down from £8.25 until Sept 26; Tesco, £8.25 or £7.50 Clubcard price until Sept 18; Waitrose, £7.25 down from £8.25 until Sept 26
The upgrade: AIX Provence Rosé 2022, France 13%, Ocado, £19
All hail to the glorious bonus sunshine recently. After a summer of cagoules and sweaters, we have blue sky and balmy evenings and pale rosé is suddenly back on the priority list. But can you remember which are this season’s good ones? La Vieille Ferme is known in some wine trade households as “Whispering Chicken”. Cheaper than that other ubiquitous rosé, it’s also reliable and good value. For the upgrade, I looked only at wines with a rapid delivery option and AIX fits the bill – a sleek, peachy Provence pink.
A cold glass of white with friends
Budget buy: Pecorino Terre di Chieti 2022, Abruzzo, Italy 13%, Waitrose, £5.99 down from £7.99 until Sept 26
The upgrade: Fortnum & Mason Anselmo Mendes Alvarinho 2022, Vinho Verde, Portugal 12.5%, Fortnum & Mason, £14.50
Aperitivo hour is on the up and I’m serving you a pair of crisp, refreshing whites that are both brilliant value for money. Yes, even the one from Fortnum’s; F&M wines are so well-chosen that they shine for every penny of their price. First up, the pecorino, which is smooth and lemony with faint notes of white blossom. The upgrade is a gorgeous, smart Vinho Verde made from the alvarinho (aka albariño) grape. It tastes of apricot kernel and salt with a keen edge of citrus.
To impress your claret-loving in-laws
Budget buy: Bergerac Eglise Saint-Jacques NV, France 13%, Tesco, £7
The upgrade: La Raison du Chateau des Fougères 2015, Graves, Bordeaux, France 13.5%, Tesco, £16.50
Perhaps the claret drinker is a daughter- or father-in-law. Perhaps it is you. Whatever, although there are some excellent cheap clarets around, I urge you to try this lovely Bergerac, a robust, joyful red made close to Bordeaux from Bordeaux grapes (86 per cent merlot, with cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc).
The upgrade is a wine I wouldn’t expect to find on the supermarket shelves: a claret with some maturity and notes of cigar box and mulberry.
The spicy Spanish red (good if lamb or roast pork is on the menu)
Budget buy: Tesco Finest Viña del Cura Rioja Reserva 2018, Spain 13.5%, Tesco, £8.50
The upgrade: Tesela by Clunia 2018, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León, Spain 14.5%, House of Townend, £15.49
If rioja is your go-to pick, then Tesco has the best supermarket own-label option: a spicy wine that tastes of vanilla and strawberry pie. Another seriously impressive red is Tesela. Made by Bodegas Clunia in partnership with Rioja Vega, it’s a warm, suede-like blend of syrah (70 per cent) and tempranillo, the rioja grape. Both would be fantastic with slow-roast lamb shoulder or pork with crackling and roast root veg.
Sturdy red for steak
Budget buy: Castillo de Zalin Monastrell 2021, Jumilla, Spain 15%, Co-op, £7.50
The upgrade: Morrisons The Best Gran Montaña Uco Valley Malbec 2020, Argentina 14%, Morrisons, £11
If you like bold red wines that are big on flavour, and don’t mind high alcohol, then the Castillo de Zalin monastrell (aka mourvèdre) might hit the spot. It tastes of brambles and blueberries with a touch of farmyard. Meanwhile if you’re after a malbec then this Morrisons own-label is a joy. Made for them by Zuccardi, an excellent producer, it’s matured in concrete and French oak and is beautifully textured.
Champagne (or sparkling wine that resembles champagne)
Budget buy: Graham Beck Pinot Noir Chardonnay Brut NV, South Africa 12%, Majestic, £11.99 in a mixed six or £16.99 single bottle price; Waitrose, £11.99 down from £16.49 until Sept 26
The upgrade: Champagne Ayala Brut Majeur NV, France 12%, Waitrose, £27.99 down from £32.99 until Sept 26
If you love the biscuity flavours of champagne, then try crémants from France or MCC sparkling wines from South Africa. I picked this excellent sparkling wine from Graham Beck to serve at a friend’s book launch (the other contender was The Society’s Saumur Brut NV, The Wine Society, £10.76, but he had good reasons for not wanting own-label). If only champagne will do, then Ayala – a sibling of Bollinger – is sophisticated, elegant and sufficiently under-the-radar to be extremely well priced.
A bottle as a present
Budget buy: Taste the Difference Western Australia Shiraz 2021, Australia 14%, Sainsbury’s, £9
The upgrade: Coates & Seely Brut NV, England 12%, Lea & Sandeman, £36.95
A gift is always the most difficult of bottles to pick. I generally go for something obvious: white burgundy, chablis, sancerre, bubbles, an indie recommendation that comes wrapped in a twist of tissue paper. If you need to pick something up in the supermarket, this Sainsbury’s Australian red is very good. Meanwhile, the Coates & Seely is an excellent example of English sparkling – and who isn’t pleased to have a bottle of that tucked away in the fridge?