Victoria Moore's top ten bottles for Christmas
Whether it’s to sip with a quiet meal or raise a toast at a gathering, here’s my pick of wines and fizz to enjoy over the holidays... To enjoy at home Tesco Finest Premier Cru Brut champagne NV (£23, Tesco) This creamy, chardonnay-rich champagne is great value and a much better buy than many of the well-known brands. The vintage version is even better – more toasty and precise, and only a few pounds more – but both are excellent. Aldi Specially Selected douro 2019 (£7.99, Aldi) Red wines from the Douro have been called ‘poor man’s claret’, which is unfair as they have a personality all their own – wild, darker and fruitier than a similarly priced claret, though still structured. Morrisons The Best falanghina 2021 (£7.50, Morrisons) Falanghina is an Italian grape that grows in the area around Naples and produces refreshing white wines with the tang and subtle festive fragrance of orange blossom. Asti spumante 2020 (£5.29, Lidl) Such a joy, this is frothily effervescent, light, sweet (but not too sweet) and slightly floral, like fresh grapes and honeysuckle. Refreshing with rich foods, and great with Christmas pud. Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim vintage port (£35, Tanners) It’s worth splashing out on good port, because it goes a long way. This single-estate vintage port is lovely – intense and rich, with an edge of freshness. To take to a party Bride Valley Eosé Bella 2018 (£34.95, The Whisky Exchange) This pink sparkling wine has pleasingly upfront red berry flavours – think crunchy redcurrants, late-summer raspberries and wild strawberries. Domaine Pouderoux Maury grande réserve NV (£11.49/50cl, Waitrose & Partners) A fortified red wine made in the south of France from Grenache, this sings of bramble jelly, sloes, walnuts and prunes with a hint of cocoa. It goes well with chocolate and chocolatey desserts. Blind River sauvignon blanc 2021 (£10.99, Waitrose & Partners) For some, New Zealand Marlborough sauvignon blanc is the ultimate white wine: luminously fragrant and refreshing. This is a particularly good example that both looks and tastes the part, all passion fruit, lemon sorbet and lemongrass. d’Arenberg The Shepherd’s Clock GSM 2019 (£10, M&S) A sumptuous, thickly textured red that offers swags of berry flavours with white pepper and pumice. GSM stands for grenache, syrah and mourvèdre – three grapes found in Rhône blends too, so you can buy this for a classicist or someone who prefers a more punchy red. La Raison du Château des Fougères 2012 (£16, Tesco) A treat for anyone who loves claret with some maturity, this 70/30 merlot-cabernet sauvignon blend is perfumed, like mushrooms and truffles with notes of cedar and prune. Lovely with chicken forestière or beef with chestnuts.
Learn how to taste wine with our easy to follow guide and top tips. Grab some friends and your favourite bottles and host your own expert wine tasting at home
Wine tasting is different from drinking purely for pleasure, though it should also be fun. It helps to approach it methodically so you can get as much out of the wine as possible. Don’t forget that there’s a firm scientific basis for for associating certain flavours in wine with non-wine things. For example, the green pepper smell you find in sauvignon blanc is caused by compounds called pyrazines which also occur in, yes you guessed it, green peppers. Want to learn more about wine, get exclusive discounts and join tastings with experts? Check out our BBC Good Food Wine Club or visit us at the Good Food Show Summer in Birmingham to be introduced to your new favourites pours. Tips for wine tasting Take notes as you taste and work methodically. If you’re tasting blind, don’t jump to conclusions. Keep a file or use an app like CellarTracker to store your notes. Tasting blind is a great way to hone your nose. Get a friend to give you wines with the labels covered to see if you can identify them. Consciously smells things like blackcurrant jam and lavender so you can identify them later. Build your flavour vocabulary. It can help to use a flavour wheel to learn how to get more specific. Don’t be embarrassed. If you think it smells of cheese, then there’s probably a good reason for that. Learn to trust your instincts. If you can’t get anything from the wine, leave it and come back to it. It might be your nasal equipment is tired or the wine might need time to open up. What you need for a wine tasting A wine glass. You don’t need to spend a fortune or have different ones for red and white. The most important things are that it should be clean and there should be room to give the wine a swirl. White table cloth or white paper so you can examine the wine. Daylight or neutral lighting is best for this. You don’t want any strong smells to distract you so avoid cooking smells, perfume etc. Your wine should be at the correct temperature. 7-10C for white wines and rosé, and 12-18C for reds. Wines that are too cold will taste 'closed' and the flavours will be muted, whereas too warm and they will taste jammy and overly alcoholic. Wine pros use something called the 20/20 rule: put your red in the fridge for 20 minutes before serving, and take your white out 20 minutes before. How to taste wine like a pro 1. Appearance Pour some wine. Don’t fill the glass – around 40cl is ideal or a finger’s breadth. Now angle the glass and hold it so that it’s above something white and examine the appearance. Things to look for: Is it red, white or pink? How intense is the colour? In reds this could range from a deep purple to a pale red. In whites, from almost colourless to a deep gold. Look at the rim, in reds it might be faded or even turning orange or brown. Does the wine cling to the glass as you move it. These trails are known as legs. Clarity, is it bright or slightly murky? Are there any bubbles? What the appearance of a wine can tell you: Fading and an orange/brown colour at the rim in a red is a sign of age. In contrast a vivid purple suggests its young. In whites a deep colour may be a sign that it is old or it might be from oak ageing. Grape varieties: some grapes like nebbiolo or cinsault produce pale wines whereas other like malbec have a deep colour. The red colour comes from the skins. Climate: riper grapes in both red and white will usually have a deeper colour. Legs show how thick the wines is, usually a sign of high alcohol and/or residual sugar (ie. sweetness). Bubbles in non-sparkling wine, suggest a very young cool climate wine. 2. Smell Give the wine a swirl. This mixes the wine with oxygen and opens it ups, releasing the smell. Put your nose in, and breath in gently. It helps to do this with an open mouth to open up your olfactory system. Don’t breath in hard as you can numb your taste buds. Things to look for: Fruit, are you getting fruity smells? If so what kind of fruit. It often helps to break this down into dark fruits, citrus fruits, orchard fruits, stone fruits, tropical fruits etc and then get more specific from there. Start broad and move in. Are the fruits fresh or cooked, jammy or candy-like? Flowers such as elderflower, honeysuckle or violets. Spices like cloves, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg can often be found in wines. Toasty/nutty notes like brioche, walnuts, coconut, coffee. Other things: cooked meats, game, vegetables, petrol, tobacco, waxy or stoney flavours. Are there any off smells such as vinegar, or mould? What the smell can tell you: Grape varieties: some have very distinctive smells like sauvignon blanc with its green pepper tang, cabernet with blackcurrants or gewürztraminer with its lychee scent. Climate: very rich or jammy fruit suggest a warm climate. Specific regions: certain wines have a distinct stoney note like Chablis or Loire reds whereas wines from the Medoc in Bordeaux smells earthy. How the wine was made: buttery and yeasty smells come from fermentation and can be sign that the dead yeast cells have be stirred while the wine matures, something particularly common with Chardonnay. How old the wine is: older reds can develop flavours like tobacco or baking spices. Fruit often becomes stewed rather than smelling fresh. Older whites often start to smell toasty as if they have been aged in oak. Whether the wine has been aged in oak: cloves, vanilla and coconut and nutty notes are all signs of oak ageing. Finally, you can detect any problems with the wine from the smell. For example, it might be corked – meaning the cork is infected with a fungus known as TCA which has damaged the wine, in which case it will smell of damp basements or mould. 3. Taste Take a small sip, not a big gulp, and hold it in your mouth, swirl it around and breath in a little. This oxygenates the wine and opens it up, rather like swirling. Tasting is an extension of smelling. Most of the flavours you get when you taste wine come through your nose as it’s connected to the back of your mouth. The technical term for this is retronasal olfaction. Plus you are also getting your five tastes: bitter, sweet, salt, acid and umami (savouriness), and the physical feel from tannins, alcohol etc. of having the wine in your mouth. So, you are looking for many of the things you are looking for when you smells such as fruit and spices. Things to look for: Body, how thick does it feel in the mouth? Is it full or closer to water? Sweetness, can you feel sweetness on your tongue? How sweet is it? Are there tannins, that drying sensation you also get in strong tea, and if so how strong are they? Do they taste ripe or is there a greenness there? Is there a bitter note? Look for acidity, how fresh is the wine. Does it make your mouth water? Or is it smooth? Warmth, does the wine warm the mouth on the mouth after you have finished? And finally the finish, how long can you taste the wine after you have swallowed or spat it out? What the taste can tell you: Full-bodied wines tend to come from warmer climates, a syrah/shiraz from South Australia is going to feel bigger than one from the Northern Rhone. That body can come from oak ageing, alcohol or sweetness. Tannins come from grape skins, seeds and stalk, and can tell you a lot. Certain grapes like Nebbiolo from Northern Italy has very strong tannins, in contrast Gamay from Beaujolais has light. Or if they are melty, it might be a sign that the wine is mature. Astringent tannins are usually a sign of underripe grapes or careless handling in the winery. Tannins also come from oak barrels and tend to be smoother Sweetness might be a sign the wine is made from late harvest, grapes affected by noble rot or is fortified (with brandy added, like with port). Certain grapes particularly Italian reds like Negromaro and Sangiovese have a distinct bitter note. Acidity can be a marker of grape variety, riesling for example is a very high acid variety, but also cooler climate wines tend to be higher in acidity. Warmth at the end is a sign of high alcohol usually meaning a warm climate. Also some varieties like Grenache and Zinfandel produce wines with naturally high levels of alcohol. Or the wine might be fortified. And finally the finish, a long finish is usually a sign that the grapes were picked full of flavour suggesting a high quality wine. 4. Putting it all together Before you ask yourself, do I like this wine, ask the following questions: Did it taste balanced? Ie. were all the different elements such as fruit, acidity, and tannin in harmony. An unbalanced wine, for example, might lack acidity and taste flabby. Intensity, how strong were the flavours? Complexity, how many different flavours were there? Did it just taste of one simple fruit or did I find myself scribbling away? Length, how long did they go on for? Personal preference, did I enjoy this wine? That’s it! You can now taste like a pro. It might all seem a lot to take in but after a few goes much of this will become second nature. Just keep practising and don’t forget, it’s meant to be fun. Fancy cracking out the cocktail shaker? Try our simple wine cocktail recipes for delicious party drinks. Want more wine advice and expert tips? Read our guides below... Why you should keep red wine in the fridge The best wines to drink with chicken Pairing wine with food: a simple guide How to sound like a wine expert The best wines to drink with pasta Best Pinot Noir What are your top wine tasting tips? Leave a comment below...
Our wine columnist, Victoria Moore, finds out about the grape growers that bring people and nature together.
Christina Rasmussen is a yoga-practising, nature-loving millennial whose Instagram feed is filled with pictures of birds – and wine tanks and vineyards. In 2020, she launched a new venture, Littlewine. Part digital magazine and slick information resource, part wine shop, Littlewine’s focus is on low-intervention, organic and biodynamic wine. For Christina, promoting growers who look after the planet is as much of a creed as drinking good wine. Not all wine businesses have such purity of purpose, but more and more are putting green credentials high on the agenda. To be fair, wine producers were early adopters; as gardeners of vines, they are acutely aware of climate change and man’s impact on the biosphere. In South Africa and New Zealand, they embarked on nationwide sustainability certification programmes two decades ago, and have a participation rate close to 100 per cent. But there has been a notable step change in recent years, with global brands as well as small family producers increasingly keen to hone the improvements made. Lindeman’s – the Australian super-brand found on every supermarket shelf – recently announced that it had achieved its goal to be certified carbon neutral in Europe by the end of 2020, after moving its wines into lightweight bottles, deploying solar power and investing in carbon credits. If you love sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, then you’ll probably have encountered Yealands wine in a shop or pub. Yealands unusually opened its doors in 2008 certified carbon-neutral from the off, but recently redesigned its packaging to forge a visual link with its environmental work. Meanwhile, not a week goes by when I don’t receive an email informing me that a wine producer has just been certified organic. The push to improve is coming at every level – from grand properties in Bordeaux, big Champagne houses, international everyday brands and small family estates. So much work is being done on every stage in the winemaking and selling process – it’s almost competitive. Writing in a new book, On Bordeaux, the negociant Mathieu Chadronnier says that sustainability work in the world’s most famous wine region, ‘even paves the way for vineyards in Bordeaux to have a negative carbon footprint.’ Wine producers are installing solar panels, using animals to reduce the amount of machine work in the vineyard, and re-wilding parts of their estates to improve biodiversity. Meanwhile, outfits like The BIB Wine Company are refining every element of their bag-in-box packaging to make it lighter and to use more recycled materials in their manufacture. We can do our bit, too, by recycling, not jumping in the car to go out just to buy a single bottle and by supporting those who are putting the most work in to be sustainable. It’s not always easy to see who’s really doing it and who’s more on the green-washing side of things, but one tip is to look for the recommendations in a new digital magazine called Cherry, whose focus is all on making kind choices. This month I'm drinking... Davida 2019 Navarra, Spain (£8, Co-op) Organic, biodynamic and with no added sulphur, this is a bright yet soft red made from the garnacha grape – think strawberry coulis. Wine pairings Bruce Jack Sauvignon Blanc 2020 South Africa (£7, Tesco) A vivid Cape sauvignon blanc that tastes of gooseberries. Try it with one-pan roast salmon with leeks, onions & parsley dressing. Cidade Branca Alentejo Red 2019 Portugal (£8, Morrisons) A rich and easy-drinking red, based on the touriga national grape. Perfect with beef & Boston baked beans. Read more articles by Victoria Moore Why you should be drinking Mediterranean wine Why you should be drinking Chilean wine Best wines for under £5 Top sustainable wines for 2020 How wine has changed in 30 years Victoria Moore is an award-winning wine columnist and author. Her most recent book is the The Wine Dine Dictionary (£20, Granta). This page was last updated in February 2021. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly.
Whether you’re after a bargain or want to splash out, here you’ll find the ideal wine to give a loved one (or yourself) this Christmas.
A good wine is a simple, yet stylish Christmas offering. Wine expert Victoria Moore rounds up her top 10 bottles to give as gifts over the festive period – we have red, white, sparkling and even fortified options to please every budget and taste. We also have our list of the best wine glasses for a lovely additional gift. 1. Antica Formula Carpano Vermouth For the negroni-lover in your life, this litre-bottle of red vermouth is a great gift. For a stocking filler, get the 37.5cl size at Ocado (£14). Available from: The Whisky Exchange (£31.25) 2. Mad Fish Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Western Australia This Aussie white is less pungent than one from Marlborough, but still refreshing. Think lemon sorbet, white grapefruit rind and cut grass. Available from Tesco (£9) 3. Christmas pudding Madeira A majestic fortified wine that tastes of dried fruit, roasted walnuts, caramel and candied citrus peel. Never mind the Christmas pudding – this makes a beautiful glass with a good hard cheddar or piece of stilton. Available from Fortnum & Mason (£16.50) 4. Ashling Park Estate Cuvée Brut, NV South Downs, England English sparkling wine keeps getting better. This, made by Dermot Sugrue, is award-winning. Airy, determined, fierce, and yet light and elegant. Available from Corkk (£29.50) 5. Domaine des Tourelles Cuvée Pierre Brun 2016, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon An atmospheric red blend from the Lebanon that would suit a Francophile who wants to stretch their wings. It’s gorgeous stuff. Available from Majestic (£12.99) 6. Domaine Jones Fitou 2017, France Katie Jones grew up in Leicester, but now lives in the rugged wilds of the Languedoc, where she makes sumptuously full reds like this. It smells of dried herbs and figs. Available from The Wine Society (£15.50) 7. Trapiche Pure Malbec Unoaked 2019, Mendoza, Argentina The juicy plum and mulberry flavours of malbec soar free here, unoaked and luscious. It’s easy to see why malbec has become so popular when it’s as tasty as this. Available from Co-op (£8) 8. The Best Pedro Ximénez Sherry, NV Spain As sweet and dark as bonfire toffee, this luscious wine tastes of molasses and molten raisins. It’s made from Pedro Ximénez grapes that have been dried in the sun, and is great poured over vanilla ice cream. Available from Morrisons (£6.25) 9. Classics No. 1 Bourgogne Blanc 2019, France Classics are a safe bet for a present, like this white burgundy that is very attractive, clear and lucid. If you want to spend a bit more, try the Classics Chablis (£12, M&S) which is also good. Available from M&S (£9 per bottle, £54 for a case of 6) 10. Bodegas Vidigal Artolas Red 2018, Portugal A quirky but easy drinking red that makes a good last-minute present for just about anyone. Available from The Framlingham Wine Shop (£9.95) This review was last updated in November 2020.
Why you should keep red wine in the fridge
Red wines aren’t just for the darker months, so cool down with our wine experts recommendations for summer by discovering the benefits of cold red wine.
If you’re longing for a change of pace after a summer full of crisp, icy whites and pale pinks, but don’t want to feel that summer is over by going full bear-hug-red, there is a refreshing alternative: chilled red wine. Some types of wine are particularly suited to being drunk with a cool tingle, but actually you might want to think about putting any red wine you drink on a hot day in the fridge. Warm sun is no kinder to red wine than it is to chocolate or fresh fruit: it makes the flavours sag and ooze so you end up with a kind of red wine stew. Just 20 minutes in the fridge before opening can pep and perk a bottle up no end. But back to topic: red wines that taste good with a more assertive chill. Tannins and bitterness are the enemies here. Tannin – also found in tea – is the compound that feels dry to your gums and tongue. At lower temperatures, the effect of both tannins and bitterness is more pronounced, so if you pick a bitter, tannic wine to chill, the experience can be startlingly mouth-puckering. If you want to experience this, try refrigerating a young barolo for a couple of hours. Some may like this, of course: it’s the wine equivalent of putting more chilli in your curry. There are grapes, however, that most agree are particularly good when drunk at a fresh temperature. These include cabernet franc, gamay and pinot noir. Cabernet franc is most famously grown in the Loire and used to make wines such as saumur, saumur champigny, chinon and bourgueil, which taste like summer pudding. A favourite is Les Nivières Saumur. There are also some excellent, plusher, examples being made in warmer places like Argentina and South Africa. Gamay is best known as the grape behind beaujolais: it has a tang of red berries and an edge of graphite. Pinot noir is grown the world over, famously in Burgundy, but it’s the cheaper wines from slightly warmer places that I like best for putting in the fridge. Look for juicy, unoaked wines from the south of France, Australia or California, whose ripe cherry and lavender flavours taste good with a clip of cold. I also like Spanish garnacha fresh from the fridge. These wines have a sumptuous, pillowy feel and a sunny flavour of strawberries. Make sure you get one that’s unoaked and once it’s chilled it will taste like strawberry coulis – gorgeous with cold, rare roast beef eaten outside with salads and some of the fresh sourdough everyone now seems to be making. Bodegas y Viñedos Monfil Garnacha 2018 Spain is absolutely brilliant. Another good cold tip is frappato. This is a red grape found in Sicily. It’s sometimes bottled on its own, and might also be mixed with nero d’avola to make a wine called cerasuolo di vittoria which really comes into its own on a hot, late-summer evening and is particularly delicious with fish – think tuna steaks or sardine pasta. Read more articles by Victoria Moore Why you should be drinking Mediterranean wine Why you should be drinking Chilean wine Best wines for under £5 Top sustainable wines How wine has changed in 30 years Best red wines for cooking Victoria Moore is an award-winning wine columnist and author. Her most recent book is the The Wine Dine Dictionary (£20, Granta). This page was last updated in July 2020. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly.
Why you should be drinking Mediterranean wine
A well-chosen bottle can evoke the feel of warm summers spent in the Mediterranean. Our wine expert picks out her favourite bottles of wine for warmer weather.
We’ve picked products we think you’ll love and may earn commission from links on this page. Read about why you can trust BBC Good Food reviews. This page was updated in July 2020. We were close enough to the Mediterranean to be able to smell it, burning our fingers in our haste to eat oily, garlicky prawns, and spooning pungent onion and tomato salad onto our plates. I can still remember the wine. It wasn’t expensive and it wasn’t rare, just a bottle of white made amongst the hills inland from Barcelona that you can buy from an English supermarket. Torres Viña Esmeralda 2018/19 (£11.25, Amazon) is tantalisingly aromatic – one of those wines that shimmers out of the bottle. It’s made from two floral grapes, muscat and gewürztraminer, and it smells of fresh grapes and freesia with citrus peel. It’s also very slightly off-dry, though you probably won’t notice any sweetness, the wine just feels gentler and more rounded than it might if it were bone-dry. If you follow the curve of the Mediterranean coastline north and east and into France, just before you reach Montpellier, you will come to the Bassin de Thau – a saltwater lagoon famous as a beautiful spot for summer holidays as well as for its oysters. Close by, there are vineyards, and in those vineyards grows a grape called picpoul de pinet, which makes a crisp, dry white wine with a faintly salty tang. Look for one that’s as fresh as possible. As I write, the 2018 bottles are on shelves, but you’ll want a freshly minted 2019. One specific southern French white that really impressed me is Domaine Mandeville Viognier Pays d’Oc 2019 (£7.50, M&S). It’s an almost perfectly summery wine. Viognier has a faint aroma of honeysuckle. It can sometimes feel a bit oily in the mouth – but not this one. This is a lilting dance of a white that comes with a heady waft of scented flowers. Keep going and you reach Provence, the global capital of pale rosé. Try Mirabeau en Provence Classic Rosé 2019 (£12, Waitrose). Rosé goes well with nearly every Mediterranean dish you can throw at it – stuffed tomatoes, garlicky lamb, you name it. And if you’re after a cheaper pink you probably need to double back to the Languedoc to find something like Maison Sur Littoral Rosé 2019 Pays d’Oc (£5.99, Aldi). I’m not sure about the royal blue bottle, but I do like the wine inside it. We need to move on. I’ll pick two wines from Italy, both from the island of Sicily. One is a light but juicy red called Rupe Secca Nero d’Avola 2018 (£8.90, Frazires Wine Merchants) that is fantastic with oily fish or with pasta in an aubergine sauce. The other is Castellore Italian Fiano 2019 (£5.49, Aldi), a white that tastes faintly of oranges and orange blossom. Wines from Greece are a new discovery for many wine drinkers. I particularly like the wines from Domaine Lyrarakis on Crete, which you can find at Berry Bros & Rudd. Check out wine made from the dafni grape; the word means laurel, and the wines do taste of bay. This month I’m drinking... Coates & Seely Brut Reserve NV Hampshire, England (Lea & Sandeman, £29.95; £31.95, coatesandseely.com) Toast a summer evening with a refreshing glass of homegrown sparkling wine. Made from pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier – the three champagne grapes – this is a thing of beauty. Wine pairings Rupe Secca Nero d’Avola 2018 Sicily, Italy (£9.35, Weavers Wines) A red that tastes of stewed damsons to pair with one-pan coriander-crusted duck, roasted plums & greens. Cantine Rallo Isola della Fiamma Grillo 2019, Italy (£6.50, The Wine Society) All peach, plums and florals. Try it with the sweet, spicy sesame, halloumi & courgette fritters with chilli honey drizzle. Read more articles by Victoria Moore Why you should be drinking Chilean wine Best wines for under £5 Top sustainable wines for 2020 How wine has changed in 30 years Why you should be drinking verdejo this summer Mediterranean diet Victoria Moore is an award-winning wine columnist and author. Her most recent book is the The Wine Dine Dictionary (£20, Granta). This page was last updated in July 2020. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly.
Wine expert, Victoria Moore, shares her favourite white wines to enjoy in the garden at home. See her top wine pairings and non-alcoholic picks.
We’ve picked products we think you’ll love and may earn commission from links on this page. Read about why you can trust BBC Good Food reviews. This page was updated in May 2020. My memories of the Barossa Valley are all imprints of heat: the heavy feel of the hot air, glare of the bright sun, and sight of winemakers in shorts (no double entendre intended). Long hours of sunshine are the reason that Australia’s most famous wine region is bestknown for powerful reds – think burly, flavour-saturated syrah with a thump of alcohol at 15% ABV. But, did you know that the Barossa Valley represents just part of a larger region known simply as Barossa? The other part is the Eden Valley. Higher, cooler and more verdant, the Eden Valley makes scintillating white wines from the riesling grape – think of the thrill of a fast ski run, the shock of tart lime juice, the aromatic oils in lime zest and the smell of white blossom, and you’re part way to imagining what they’re like to drink. If you’re able to get hold of it, Pewsey Vale Eden Valley Riesling (£15.95, Ocado) is a good choice. Barossa isn’t the only region with white wines that are underplayed and underappreciated because of more famous reds. The Rhône region in France, for instance, also makes brilliant white wines from a blend of grapes, including grenache blanc, viognier, bourboulenc, roussanne and clairette. These wines are aromatic (think waxy white blossom) with a creamy texture, and might taste of poached apricots and juicy pears. Again, if you can find it, I love Taste the Difference Côtes du Rhône White 2018 France (<a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-100262634-14104232?sid=bbcgoodfood-332239&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sainsburys.co.uk%2Fgol-ui%2Fproduct%2Fsainsburys-c%25C3%25B4tes-du-rh%25C3%25B4ne-white-taste-the-difference-75cl%3FistCompanyId%3D1e096408-041f-4238-994e-a7cf46bf9413%26istFeedId%3D689af7a8-5842-4d88-be59-1ee5688a81b5%26istItemId%3Dwxwqlmlip%26istBid%3Dt%26%26cmpid%3Dcpc%26utm_source%3DGoogle%26utm_medium%3Dcpc%26utm_campaign%3D11354746221%26utm_content%3Dshopping%26utm_term%3D%25257Bsku%25257D%26utm_custom1%3D112143920595%26utm_custom2%3D759-449-0952%26gclid%3DCjwKCAjwkvWKBhB4EiwA-GHjFhupYB1N7IZ6JZF-glHL9_kJT45Bf3Mb2aOTdMdXa248DZzj1nKugRoCpkAQAvD_BwE%26gclsrc%3Daw.ds" rel="sponsored" target="_blank">£8, Sainsbury’s) – it has just a touch of oak and goes well with chicken, especially when it’s cooked with ingredients like garlic, thyme or tarragon in a casserole. In Spain, Rioja is rightly famous for its reds, but the region also makes excellent white rioja, or rioja blanco. White rioja can be difficult to get a grip on, because it’s available in a range of styles that encompass bright, fresh white wines made with no wood, as well as heavier oak-aged whites that are redolent of vanilla and custard. Cune Barrel-Fermented Rioja Blanco 2018 (£10.99, Waitrose & Partners) is a good one. I also want to direct you to an overshadowed white that’s easy to drink, not too expensive and the sort of refreshing wine you’ll be pleased to sip in the garden on a sunny day. It comes from Bordeaux, another region whose fame is founded on the colour red. White bordeaux is usually based on sauvignon blanc, sometimes also with semillon and/or muscadelle. It can be oaked, in which case you might taste notes of baked grapefruit and dill, but it can also be unoaked, which makes it all nettle, grass, lemongrass and yellow citrus, with some blossom notes if muscadelle is involved. I’ve got two, because both are excellent: Dourthe No. 1 Sauvignon Blanc 2018 Bordeaux (£8.50, The Wine Society) and Dourthe Roqueblanche Sauvignon Blanc 2018 Bordeaux (£9.49, Waitrose & Partners). Bottles to take time over, if you can get them. This month I'm drinking Brooklyn Special Effects alcohol-free beer (£1.30 per 355ml bottle, 0.4% ABV, Tesco) Mindful drinking is on the up, and as a result, I now always have at least one alcohol-free beer stocked in the fridge. This offering from Brooklyn Brewery is dry-hopped and lemony – a real winner. Wine pairings Toro Loco Reserva Utiel-Requena 2015 Spain (£5.49, Aldi) A red that tastes of cloves and berries. Try with meatball & tomato soup. Taste the Difference Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc 2018 France (£7, Sainsbury’s) Notes of nettle and citrus are ideal with roast aubergines with almond tarator, feta, dill & green chilli. Read more articles by Victoria Moore Why you should be drinking Chilean wine Best wines for under £5 Top sustainable wines for 2020 How wine has changed in 30 years Why you should be drinking verdejo this summer Victoria Moore is an award-winning wine columnist and author. Her most recent book is the The Wine Dine Dictionary (£20, Granta). This page was last updated in May 2020. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly.
See why Chile is producing some outstanding new wines. Our columnist shares her recommendations for pinot noir, gewürztraminer, sauvignon blanc and more.
We’ve picked products we think you'll love and may earn commission from links on this page. Read about why you can trust BBC Good Food reviews. This page was updated in March 2020. The brightness of the sunlight falling on the narrow valley looked severe, and it was. As he drove us up the dusty road, away from the Pacific coast, our host told us that, in Elqui, employers are required by law to provide sunscreen for outdoor workers. We passed sprawling vineyards filled with grapes destined to be dried for raisins or used to make pisco, and on we went, further in and up, until we reached a winery that only a visionary could have built. This was six years ago. The Elqui Valley was then Chile’s most northerly vineyard region, and also a magnet for stargazers. Now, Chile’s vineyards stretch farther north still, as winemakers questing for territory have ended up in Atacama – home to the driest desert on earth – and planted vines under its clear skies. We think of Chile as a place that makes reds that are comfortable and sturdy, the sort you might think of drinking on the sofa during a boxset binge. But stories like this show that the region has a spirit of adventure, too. Chilean winemakers are becoming better acquainted with the capabilities of the land, and as they do, the wine improves. Chile produces good, aromatic whites as well. In addition to the new sauvignon blancs from Huasco in Atacama, there are piercing sauvignon blancs that smell of white currants, lemon sorbet and the gooseberries grown in the cooler regions close to the coast – look for wines marked ‘costa’ (coastal) to find one. I like Errazuriz Costa Sauvignon Blanc 2018 Aconcagua Valley, Chile (£11.99, Waitrose & Partners). There are also excellent aromatic whites made from riesling and gewürztraminer – try Cono Sur Gewürztraminer 2018 Chile (£7.50, Tesco), which tastes of puréed lychees and rosewater. I like to drink this very cold, served with very hot homemade mac ‘n’ cheese. Reds? I think we all know about the inky syrah, solid merlot and cabernet sauvignon, and the carménère that smells of tea and paprika. Perhaps you’re also hooked on the pinot noir, because Chile makes a surprisingly good drinking variety – the sort I want to order at a gastropub and eat with bavette frites or a Sunday roast, or drink at home with a lamb & redcurrant burger. Try Co-op Irresistible Casablanca Valley Pinot Noir 2018, Chile (£7, in-store at Co-op). As well as those options, you can also find dry-farmed (that is, zero irrigation) carignan from the Maule region, and a heritage grape called pais that’s beginning to make waves. Pais was the first red-wine grape planted in Chile and, in the south of the country, it creates wine that is both earthy and fruity. You could also consider Morande Reserva One to One Pais 2016 Chile (£7.99 in a mixed box of six or £8.99 per bottle, Majestic), which is quite light and juicy – it’s all red fruit like a beaujolais, with an undertone of earth. This month I'm drinking Taste the Difference Austrian Traisental Grüner Veltliner 2018 Austria (£9, Sainsbury’s) Here’s a spry Austrian white for welcoming the early signs of spring – it is refreshing with hints of white grapefruit. On a cold day, it’s great with creamy, cheesy pasta. Wine pairings Tenuta Rapitalà Nero d’Avola 2017 Sicily (£9.99, Vivino) Acidic, fruity damson and cherry notes pair well with this spaghetti with smoked anchovies, chilli breadcrumbs & fried egg. Tasca Regaleali Bianco di Sicilia 2017 (£8.99 mixed six or £9.99 a bottle, Majestic) This white tastes of peach and citrus – ideal with feta-stuffed nut roast. Read more articles by Victoria Moore Best wines for under £5 Top sustainable wines for 2020 How wine has changed in 30 years Why you should be drinking verdejo this summer Swap your bottle for wine in a can Why you should be drinking French malbec Victoria Moore is an award-winning wine columnist and author. Her most recent book is the The Wine Dine Dictionary (£20, Granta). This page was last updated in March 2020. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly.
Make the most of your budget with Victoria Moore's money-saving tips. Learn how to buy cheap wine and see the best red and white wines for around £5.
All products were chosen independently by our editorial team. This review contains affiliate links and we may receive a commission for purchases made. Please read our affiliates FAQ page to find out more and read about how we write BBC Good Food reviews. This page was updated in February 2020. How much is too much to spend on a bottle of wine? For one in three people, the answer is even a penny more than £5, according to the consumer research group Kantar. Responses to this news mostly fall into two camps. There’s the HORROR from the wine lover end and there’s the VINDICATED from all those who feel they might be treated like a pariah if they dare to admit that this is all they pay. And me? I wasn’t all that surprised. Among those £5 drinkers will be those who can’t afford to spend more, those who could afford to spend more but who aren’t calibrated to be sensitive to taste (these same people might wince if they came round to my flat and heard me playing music out of a tiny, cheap speaker), and a third set who think they can’t afford to spend more but actually choose not to. I’m talking about people like the photographer I once worked with on a wine shoot. We did a lot of tasting on that day. The photographer sighed and said he’d love to buy the £10 bottle of plush Argentinian malbec I had just showed him but – budgets, you know? Money was tight at home. I nodded. Across the afternoon he ordered and paid for two cappuccinos at £2.60 a piece – which I had particularly noticed because takeaway coffee is something I think I can’t afford. Forgoing a takeaway coffee would be enough to upgrade the bottle of wine he planned to share with his wife at the weekend. It wasn’t the choice that surprised me (after all, why not choose a coffee or two over better wine?), but the fact that he didn’t seem to realise he’d made that choice. If you want to know how much better wine can be at £7.50 or £10 than at £5, you only need look at the numbers. Duty on still wine in the UK is charged at a flat rate of £2.23 a bottle. VAT is 83p. Count £1.08 for the total margin (an importer and a retailer will need a cut), 36p for packaging and 20p for logistics and you have about 30p left for the wine itself (figures courtesy of Bibendum Wine). At £7.50 a bottle, the calculation leaves you £1.42 for the wine and at £10 a bottle you get £2.70-worth of wine. So it’s clear to see that upping your spend isn’t a fool’s game. That said, you might be seriously budgeting this month so I’ve found two of the best wines I can for a fiver (or thereabouts). The red is a soft blend of tempranillo, bobal, cabernet sauvignon and garnacha called Toro Loco Reserva 2015 Spain (buy from Aldi – £5.49). The white is the beautifully aromatic Gers 2018 France (buy in-store from M&S – £5) which is floral with a white grapefruit and green apple tang. Also, my top tip for another way to budget: buy and drink a half bottle of wine and save the bottle. When you open a new bottle, immediately pour half the liquid into the half-bottle, cork it and save it for another time. It can keep up to a week like this. Drink less, drink better. This month I'm drinking Les Hauts de Saint Martin Saint Chinian 2018 France (buy in-store from Co-op – £7.75) This gorgeous blend of syrah, grenache, carignan and mourvèdre from southern France tastes of mulberries and chestnuts and is one of the best value high-street reds I know. Great value wine pairings Surani Pietrariccia Fiano 2018 Italy (buy from Majestic – £9.99) Its tangy notes would nicely complement Gordon Ramsay’s duck with orange juice and honey from the February issue of BBC Good Food. Tesco Finest Rioja Reserva 2014 Spain (buy from Tesco – £8.50) The relaxed warmth of a red rioja would go beautifully with Tom Kerridge’s Spanish-style slow-cooked lamb shoulder & beans. Read more articles by Victoria Moore Top sustainable wines for 2020 How wine has changed in 30 years Why you should be drinking verdejo this summer The best wine racks for you collection, reviewed Why you should be drinking French malbec How to choose wine Victoria Moore is an award-winning wine columnist and author. Her most recent book is the The Wine Dine Dictionary (£20, Granta). This page was last updated in February 2020. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly.
Drink more sustainably with our top wine recommendations for 2020. Our wine expert, Victoria Moore, gives her top low waste tips and wine pairings.
All products were chosen independently by our editorial team. This review contains affiliate links and we may receive a commission for purchases made. Please read our affiliates FAQ page to find out more and read about how we write BBC Good Food reviews. Are you thinking about drinking more virtuously this year? Relax – I’m not talking about sobriety, but that other ‘s’-word, sustainability. It used to be that if a winemaker wanted to impress, it was all about the weight and size of their glass bottle. Now you’re more likely to hear, ‘Come and have a look at my beehive,’ or ‘Can I talk to you about bats, zero waste to landfill and our organic viticulture programme?’ According to the UN, sustainable development should ‘meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ It’s a broad subject, and in winemaking, that can include considering water use, choosing natural predators instead of pesticides and paying close attention to workers’ health and safety. As Valentina Lira, sustainability manager at Chilean wine producer Concha y Toro points out, different countries focus on different elements of sustainability. For instance, South Americans are apparently more sensitive to social issues, while Europeans tend to be concerned about environmental issues, such as carbon footprint. My advice? Forget about trying to find the most virtuous wine, or you’ll end up bogged down in an almost impossible calculation about whether a locally produced wine with low travel miles trumps an organic Argentinian Fairtrade wine shipped in bulk and bottled in the UK. Instead, make one positive choice from the following and trust that it is a step in the right direction. 1. Buy a wine that is sustainably certified The South African and New Zealand wine industries are world leaders in sustainability, having introduced national certification schemes in the late 90s. In both countries, more than 95% of wine is sustainably certified. Other regions around the world have their own schemes – look for a logo on the bottle. 2. Choose organic or biodynamic The world’s current cycle of extreme weather has been blamed on global warming and, ‘We cannot continue to say, “That’s not my fault, that’s the fault of others,”’ says Fabien Leperchois, vineyard manager at Domaine des Carabiniers. His family’s domaine converted first to organic, then to biodynamic production. ‘People say you can’t feed the world with organic production, but I believe if we change our consumption habits, maybe it’s possible,’ he says. Organic growers turn away from industrially produced herbicides, pesticides or fungicides. Biodynamic growers do likewise, while also promoting biodiversity and balance. 3. Don’t buy trophy bottles Wine industry players have long been ‘lightweighting’, or reducing the amount of glass in bottles, to cut their carbon footprint (as heavier bottles cost more to ship). But, a few egos still put their wines in the chunkiest bottles they can find. 4. Research Some companies work particularly hard at sustainability, but you have to make an effort to find them. Concha y Toro, for example, reduced its carbon footprint by 15% between 2014 and 2018, and is working towards becoming a zero waste to landfill company. There’s also The BIB Wine Co, which sells sustainable wines in boxes. This week I’m reading... How to Drink Without Drinking by Fiona Beckett (Kyle Books) This almost persuaded me to go dry for January! It’s full of non-alcoholic drinks, plus recipes (I like the rhubarb cordial) and a review of 0.5% and below beers. There are also drinks to suit red and white wine drinkers. Available from Amazon (£11.19) and Waterstones (£15.99). This week I'm eating... Brancott Estate Flight 2019 Marlborough, New Zealand Try this lower-alcohol sauvignon blanc with this Thai green salmon. <a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-100262634-14104232?sid=bbcgoodfood-281085&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sainsburys.co.uk%2Fgol-ui%2Fproduct%2Fbrancott-flight-sauvignon-blanc-75cl%3FcatalogId%3D10241%26productId%3D1302726%26storeId%3D10151%26langId%3D44%26krypto%3DUWTH2Un%252FPTJcv758lB5XUzwq96ksVY9yri6qiAeWtpfZtdPt8qOpudGWMVfpvhLCj8uVd8NUCrrn9tb45oVf9vkSiR7lncAzSnsAxIzvng5Ztx0TAtR2TQNwZN46C3HG%26ddkey%3Dhttps%253Agb%252Fgroceries%252Fbrancott-flight-sauvignon-blanc-75cl" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">Available from Sainsbury's (£8.50). Leewenkuil Bushvine Cinsault 2018 South Africa This smooth red pairs well with Diana’s chicken, barley & cranberry salad. Available in-store from M&S (£10). Read more articles by Victoria Moore 12 Essential Christmas drinks How wine has changed in 30 years Why you should be drinking verdejo this summer Swap your bottle for wine in a can Why you should be drinking French malbec Why rosé wine is the perfect drink for summer Victoria Moore is an award-winning wine columnist and author. Her most recent book is the The Wine Dine Dictionary (£20, Granta). This page was last updated in January 2020. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly.