The average UK spend on a bottle of wine is still only a miserly £3.86. And this is what makes the first week of my annual Top 100 Summer Wines of particular import to those bargainhunters among you.
What is interesting this summer is that France is fighting back for the lion’s share of the bottles that you value enough to lug home to drink. This time last year, I rated just half a dozen white and red French wines good enough to make it through to the final selection of 25 bottles under £5. But, in the run-up to last Christmas, with plummeting sales and the price of French wine and vineyards in freefall, the Gauls came out fighting, and offered such good rapport qualité-prix, or relationship between price and quality, for their unique, distinctive, characterful wines, that this figure has doubled.
That trend continues this summer with almost half of today’s field made up of French wines, and just a quarter coming from the New World, the reverse of what happened 12 months ago. Australia’s success has slowed and California is nowhere to be seen.
In the coming weeks, look out to see if this pattern continues to be reflected in the under-£8, £12 and £20 categories. Now read on for the best of this year’s summer
bargain bunch.
jane.macquitty@thetimes.co.uk
WHITES
STAR WHITE: 2004 Tariquet, Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne, Famille Grassa, France, Somerfield, £4.99.
This classy, zesty, colombard, ugni blanc, chenin blanc and sauvignon blanc-based white is a step ahead of its competitors. I loved its glorious grapefruit, lemon and elderflower-scented fruit. A mouthwateringly juicy white that will take happily to a summer aperitif role and is an ideal fish and seafood white.
La Terre Blanc, French Table Wine, France, Tesco, £3.99.
This easy-glugging, French summer white goes with everything, from simple salad suppers to grander mixed fish and meat buffets. Bravo Bruno Kesseler, the winemaker, who blended this white from Gascony’s floral colombard and humble ugni blanc, perked up with the Loire’s tart, lemony melon de bourgogne, better known as the muscadet grape. Enjoy its aromatic, gentle, leafy, lemony fruit, well-chilled.
2005 Limited Release Colombard, Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne, Calvet, France, Waitrose, £4.99.
Calvet are one of the most consistent and quality-conscious of all the Bordeaux négociants, as the mouthwateringly crisp, light, lemony, floral, green apple pizzazz of this white proves. Enjoy this usefully screwcapped, low 11 per cent alcohol white on the beach or at barbecues. As the back label puts it: “A wine to be enjoyed when in full relax mode ....” Um, quite.
2005 Les Jamelles Sauvignon Blanc, Vin de Pays d’Oc, France, Morrisons, £4.99.
Les Jamelles is another tried-and-trusted producer, based in the Languedoc. The appealingly simple, gallic, no-nonsense labels deliver similarly straightforward, easy-drinking French wines. I enjoyed the delicious, soft, floral gooseberry spice of this tasty, early-bottled,
stainless-steel, low temperature-fermented sauvignon, and so will you.
2005 Quadro Sei Single Estate, Gavi, Italy, Marks & Spencer, £4.99.
M&S’s Italian range gets better each year, which explains why two of its sub-£5 offerings have popped up here. Piedmont’s white wines play second fiddle to the region’s reds, which is a pity as a good gavi made from the cortese grape, just like this one, can and does deliver the sort of lean, light, dry, nutty, apricotty and vaguely lime-charged fruit that gives it wide summer-food appeal.
2005 Les Jamelles Chardonnay, Vin de Pays d’Oc, France, Morrisons, £4.99.
A smidgeon more alcoholic than the sauvignon, and a more food-friendly white, whose elegant stone-fruit flavours (peach, nectarine and apricot) are enhanced by a dash of smoky oak. One third of this chardonnay is fermented in oak barrels, some new, some one-year-old, to give it richness and complexity, with the remainder fermented in stainless steel, before
blending.
2004 Da Luca Alto, Pinot Grigio del Friuli, Italy, Somerfield, down £2 to £4.99 from June 7 until July 4.
Da Luca’s new single-varietal, single-region range under the Alto label is hugely superior to its basic £4.99-level wines. This one comes from the cooler, Alpine Friuli region. So dive into this fat, spicy, grapey, toasted almond-styled pinot grigio, from a good Piedmont year, with lots more oomph and attitude than you would expect from this variety.
2005 Le Marmorelle Frascati Superiore, Azienda Vinicola Saita, Italy, Waitrose, £4.49.
This curiously titled wine’s name stems from the fact that the soil here is speckled with the crushed marble from early Roman remains. A fine, toothsome toasted-almond and Granny Smith-scented frascati, made from two thirds of the malvasia grape, with the remainder trebbiano, it is best served with an alfresco salami and ciabatta lunch, or as a simple supper white with punchy anti-pasti, or white meats and fish.
2004 La Borie, Coastal Region Chardonnay, South Africa, Majestic, £6.99, or buy two for £4.99 each; Morrisons, £5.99.
La Borie is a picture-postcard French Huguenot wine estate in the heart of the Paarl Valley, just 30 miles northeast of Cape Town. Part of the KWV empire, the old national wine co-operative, La Borie has used new technology to wring the best from the warm, dry 2004 harvest. Lap up this honied buttered-toast chardonnay, with lots of fat, oaky fruit on the finish.
2005 Misiones de Rengo Sauvignon Blanc, Rengo, Chile, asda, £4.56; Morrisons, £4.99.
Stumped for whites to serve with the last of the English asparagus or a risotto with the first homegrown peas? This strong, zippy, verdant sauvignon, almost the star white in this section, will come to your rescue. Blessed with zesty, sweet lime, asparagus and pea pod-charged fruit, it’s best served well-chilled with food.
PINK
2005 Domaine de la Berthète, Vin de Pays de la Principauté d’Orange, Pascal Maillet, France, Oddbins, £4.29.
The closest pink in style to Principauté d’Orange would be a Côtes du Rhône Rosé, but you would have to pay much more for that label. So ignore the big names and drink deep of this stylish saignée-method pink, whose just-stained juice is drained off its 50-50 grenache and cinsault grapes to create an enticingly light, spicy rose-pink wine.
REDS
STAR RED: 2005 Vin de Pays de l’Ardèche Gamay, Cave de Saint Désirat, France, Marks & Spencer, £3.49.
The gamay grape’s stronghold is Beaujolais, but transported to the Ardèche, it produces some extraordinarily good, gulpable reds that are great value. Displaying a brilliant crimson-purple hue, and with just 12 per cent alcohol, this seductively scented, rich, plummy, spicy, berry-laden red makes a perfect summer picnic and party bottle.
2005 Les Jamelles Cabernet Sauvignon, Vin de Pays d’Oc, France, Morrisons, £4.99.
This soft, ripe, leathery, 13 per cent alcohol, mulberry-stacked, part oak-aged cabernet, made from lower-yielding, 15-year-old vines grown on sloping vineyards in the Cevennes foothills between Nîmes and Béziers is just the job with charcuterie or milder grilled meats. It is also a perfect partner to the Les Jamelles Sauvignon or Chardonnay, according to your menu.
La Terre Rouge, French Table Wine, France, Tesco, £3.99.
Not one for the purists, but, chilled right down, this is an enjoyable everyday red to be slung into the picnic basket without ceremony, or drowned with ice-cubes or fruit juice if needed. From Les Grands Chais like the white, but this red is made from a blend of grenache, merlot and carignan grapes, grown in several different southern French regions at higher, cooler altitudes and warmer, lower ones.
2005 L’Oc de la Bouysse, Vin de Pays d’Oc, Domaine de la Bouysse, France, Majestic, £4.99, or buy two for £3.99 each.
Almost the star red in this section, L’Oc comes from an old Corbières vineyard that has been upgraded by the wine growers Mme Pages and M. Molinier, with carignan-improving vines, including grenache, syrah, mourvèdre and merlot. So, along with the firm, dusky, flavours you’d expect, there’s some fine, warm, herby, briary spice.
2004 Finest Vintage Claret, Bordeaux Supérieur, Yvon Mau, France, Tesco, £4.99.
Yvon Mau is a well-known Bordeaux négociant business whose wines always seem to hit the spot. Predominantly merlot with a larger dollop of cabernet franc and a smaller one of cabernet sauvignon, this straightforward bordeaux supérieur is aged for six months in American oak, with one fifth in French oak, all combining to make an elegant, plummy, herbily austere mouthful.
2003 Crozes-Hermitage, Cave de Tain, France, Sainsbury’s, down £2 to £4.99 from Wednesday.
Almost 500 Sainsbury’s stores stock this delectable red rhône, so there should be sufficient to go round. The Cave de Tain l’Hermitage co-operative is as starry as ever, and this spicy, perfumed, syrah red’s concentrated, peppery, plum and blackberry layered fruit is, at this price, one of the bargain-buy barbecue reds of the season. Buy long to see you through the summer.
1998 Almena Real Reserva Rioja, Vinedos de Libarta, Spain, Somerfield, down to £4.49 until June 20.
I am not a huge red rioja fan, yet 1998 was one of its best years, and there is no denying that this fine, mature, cedar, sandalwood and tobacco-laden aged reserva, made from the tempranillo, graciano and mazuelo grapes, and given 18 months in American and French oak, is the bees’ knees. Enjoy its beefy spice with grilled, or roasted red meat, and even milder barbecued fare.
2004 Finest Australian Merlot Reserve, South Eastern Australia, Tesco, down £1 to £3.99, until June 20.
Right now, Tesco’s screwcapped version is the best own-label sub-£5 Aussie merlot on the high street: a plump, spicy, plum and creosote-charged, 13 per cent alcohol-licked merlot, with that characteristic hot country, or hot vintage, fruitcake finish and a dash of petit verdot in the mix. Buy plenty of this easy-drinking red to see you through the barbecue season.
2005 Fairtrade Chilean Carmenère, Curico Valley, Chile, Waitrose and Co-op, £4.99.
The Los Robles co-operative was one of the first in the New World to give its workers and grape growers decent wages and a guaranteed price for
their grapes after an earthquake in 1939. So feel good about the world with this dependable Fairtrade-labelled red. With its delicious, scented, dusky, verdant, spiced-raspberry fruit, it’s the top sub-£5 carmenère on the high street.
2005 Reggiano Rosso, Single Estate, Cantina del Coppiere, Italy, Marks & Spencer, £4.49.
New wines pop up from time to time in the Old World, and the recently created Reggiano Rosso appellation, Italy’s new-wave answer to beaujolais, is one. A mix of Emilia-Romagna’s local red grapes grown in the cooler hills, this easy-drinking red with light, appley, almost minty, crunchy berry fruit, is best served chilled on hot days with spicy salamis or meaty pastas.
2005 Finca Las Moras, Limited Edition Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentina, Co-op, down £3 to £2.99 until June 4.
Argentina continues to be the dark horse of the New World, but still hasn’t enough great wines to push Chile off its perch. Where the country does rule is at the cheap-and-cheerful end, with rafts of tasty sub-£5 reds like this. I loved its ripe, sweet, earthy, blackcurrant and sloe-scented fruit, whose juicy style will win it many barbecue fans.
2005 Errazuriz Estate Pinot Noir, Viña Errazuriz, Chile, Majestic, £6.24, or buy two for £4.99 each until June 8.
Errazuriz’s wines have popped up here many times, but this is the first occasion the pinot noir has won through. So in the absence this summer of any good bargain-priced red burgundy, try this instead. This robust, gamey, oaky red, with lots of sweet, earthy chocolate and moccha spice on the finish, should be drunk now while its fruit is still vibrant. N
2003 Da Luca Alto, Barbera d’Asti, Italy, Somerfield, down £2 to £4.99 from June 7 to July 4.
Da Luca’s posh red partner to the Alto pinot grigio is this delicious, full-bodied, barbecue-friendly red, made from the fashionable barbera grape. Not in the same league as nebbiolo, but this tangy, clove-scented red, made from hand-harvested, low-yielding vines, and rounded off with four months in French and American oak, has lots of fat, chocolatey fruit on the finish.
2005 Casa Bonita Bonarda Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina, Morrisons, £2.99.
Yet another £2.99 Argentinian wine wonder made by leading flying winemaker Peter Bright, who has made wine in more northern and southern hemisphere countries than I can recall. Made from Italy’s bonarda grape and France’s malbec, this ripe, perfumed black cherry-layered, yet restrained 12.5 per cent alcohol red is ideal with roasted and grilled red meats and medium cheeses.
