Very pale and also very refined, this thyme-scented rosé is my top pick in this category. It comes from an estate in the Var, north of the Massif des Maures. Finely delineated and savoury with a delicate power that comes through with food. Pass the salade niçoise or the lamb leg cooked with aubergine and […]

Described by the winemaker as an elegant mountain wine, this is one of the nicest whites I’ve tasted this year. A great alternative to white burgundy. Fiona Beckett, www.theguardian.com, 22nd Mar 2024

I could almost fall for Cuvée de l’Héronde’s glistening purple-ruby colour alone, but it’s the violet, strawberry and spice aromas, the sappy freshness and succulent palate of dark hedgerow berries and cherries, graphite and wet-rocks minerality, silky tannins and final pin-prick of orange zest that really do it. Joanna Simon, www.joannasimon.com, 29th Feb 2024

Figs, bruised apples and toasted nuts with a stylish, smoky quality. Elegant and complex, tension and finesse from the brisk acidity and understated, silky mousse. Seductive and long. Olivia Mason, www.decanter.com, 7th Feb 2024

From the Loire’s most intense Chenin Blanc appellation. Interesting nuts and hay on the nose. Very pure expression of dry Chenin that’s extremely refreshing and chock-full of character. Jancis Robinson, www.jancisrobinson.com, 25th Nov 2023

A reminder of why the southern Rhône has such a reputation. There’s a fluency and easy concentration to its mix of lavender scents, hedgerow fruit and spice. David Williams, The Observer Food Monthly, 19th Nov 2023

This lot love good pinot noir from Australia or New Zealand and this, grown close to Melbourne, is excellent. Victoria Moore, www.telegraph.co.uk, 18th Nov 2023

A calm but also bright and crystalline white, this blends the grassy freshness of sauvignon blanc (40%) with a lithe chardonnay. From a family producer, it unusually comes from muscadet-country – the western part of the Loire, near the city of Nantes. Victoria Moore, www.telegraph.co.uk, 18th Nov 2023

Gloriously lush, four-year-old chateauneuf that’s worth paying extra for. An ideal roast turkey wine. Fiona Beckett, www.theguardian.com, 10th Nov 2023

Two Paddocks makes beautiful pinot noir in one of the world’s best pinot noir regions. Picnic is a joy; fragrant like red cherries and peonies then vibrant and silky to drink, with a touch of spice. Needs pouring into a jug to air a bit before drinking. Score: 9.5/10 Victoria Moore, www.telegraph.co.uk, 19th Oct 2023

I have just returned from my annual pilgrimage to Piemonte, in North-West Italy, to taste every elite bottle I could find to finish my 2023 Piemonte Report. The weather was unseasonably warm, so every red wine I ordered in restaurants would have been ruined at 35C air temperature were it not for the ever-excellent bar […]

Bone dry, a pinkish cherry-blossom colour and with a faintly floral smell that is suggestive of distant raspberry canes and lavender fields, this is a rosé to buy by the case and drink all summer long. Victoria Moore, www.telegraph.co.uk, 8th Jul 2023

Our Buying Director, Siobhán Astbury reports: Offering good value is an essential element of our business – a quality that was recognised in spades by Fiona Beckett of The Guardian on Friday 9th June. To quote from her article: Just because supermarkets have a monopoly on sub-£7 wines doesn’t mean they are cheapest for everything. […]

Ch Coustolle 2016 Canon-Fronsac Full bottle just 1,203 g. 70% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Malbec. Fronsac owner Alain Roux’s flagship property. Pale garnet. Some attractive evolution on the nose. Gentle (in terms of structure) but not simple and still with admirable Fronsac freshness. Not a blockbuster but really beautifully fresh. You want more! Quite […]

I have been buying this wine every year since it first landed on our shores back in 2006. It’s funny how brands come and go; some skyrocket, then fizzle, and others ghost off, never to be seen again. Powerhouse rosés like Mirabeau and Whispering Angel forge forwards with ever-increasing volumes and, to my mind, quality. […]