If you want cheap wine, look away now and don’t buy English. But if you want something crisp, light and reviving (still or sparkling) to drink as an aperitif, then English and Welsh should be on your radar — in fact, top of your list if you’re feeling even faintly patriotic.

I admit to having had mixed feelings about our home-grown wines. (Don’t call them British, by the way: British wine is cheap, fortified stuff made from concentrate.) There have always been admirable ones, never knowingly underpriced, but of international quality and distinctively English/Welsh in style — and nothing short of a triumph of will and skill over the UK climate and high taxes, as well as land and labour costs. Sifting through the mediocre to find the worthwhile, however, has been a bit of a lottery.

There are still poor wines, but quality across the board has been rising steadily. The big supermarkets have picked upon this, so you don’t need to live near a vineyard to collect something good this summer. The 35 English and Welsh wines distributed regionally in Waitrose stores are all available from waitrose.com/wine.

CELLAR NOTES

2006 Chapel Down Bacchus Reserve, £12.99 Delicious, tangy, floral, passion fruit-flavoured white (Selfridges; the non-reserve, Waitrose, £8.99, is also good).

2007 English White, £9.99 Fragrant, leafy, elderflower and grapefruit flavour. One of a good new trio (Marks & Spencer).

Taste the Difference English Sparkling Rosé, £17.99 Fresh, strawberry-scented off-dry sparkling pink (Sainsbury’s).

WINE BLUFF:“The bacchus grape is England’s answer to sauvignon”

Anorak fact: although it can taste like French sauvignon when grown in the UK, bacchus is a German variety

Times Recommends

• How to season a wok
• Chicago Rib Shack hits back at its critics
• Gordon Ramsay: Indian barbecue