Top 10 wines in the UK press

Jane MacQuitty picks out a wine you can “jump into the warm weather with”, while Jancis Robinson MW recommends a “beautifully balanced red”.

Writing in the Financial Times, Robinson focuses on the Bordeaux 2012 en primeur campaign, she wrote: “This is very far from a bombastic vintage swaggering about, demonstrating its obvious qualities as 2009 and 2010 did. This is indeed a small, cunning, cowering, timorous vintage made, when truly successful (as it is only in a minority of cases), by the skin of its teeth and with huge effort and cost in the vineyard and cellar.

“As for the panic, there is certainly a distinct air of it about the process of selling these wines, particularly after a dismal 2011 en primeur campaign. In the current economic situation, and with China much less enthusiastic, who will buy them? And, crucially, when?”

In The Times, MacQuitty writes about buying fine wine in a supermarket, adding that “drinking less but drinking better” has been the calling card of her column for years. She added: “At last there are signs that Britain’s drinkers are getting serious about wine and starting to trade up. Wine merchants have been celebrating the double-digit growth in all price bands above £7 a bottle since the new year.”

Click through the following pages to find out which wines these two, and other writers, have recommended in the UK press over the last week.

Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2012

Writing in The Observer, David Williams recommends this Kiwi wine, he wrote: “There’s so much average New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc sloshing around the supermarkets it’s easy to forget that the classic Marlborough style is hard to beat for sheer joyous intensity.

“This example, made by alumni from cult producer Cloudy Bay, is pure and simple: it fairly crackles with nervy, twanging acidity, passionfruit, and that grassy greenness.”

Château de la Jaubertie Mirabelle Blanc, Bergerac, 2010

Williams also recommends this wine, writing: “Sauvignon Blanc in Bergerac is often blended with Sémillon and given a little oak-ageing for a richer style. It’s a recipe that works beautifully in the hands of Hugh Ryman, the pioneering English ‘flying winemaker’, at his family’s estate: a mix of honeyed, subtly toasty flavours with zesty grapefruit and a little grassy hit – just the thing for a buttery roast chicken on Sunday.”

Delta Pinot Noir 2010 Marlborough

Susy Aktins, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, also picks out a New Zealand wine, although she has gone for a Pinot Noir, instead of the Sauvignon Blanc favoured by Williams.

She wrote: “One for fans of highly fruity, fresh Pinots with good acidity, this 100% Marlborough-region Pinot has lively cherry fruitcake and juicy red-berry flavours and a long, succulent finish.”

Brezza Barbera d’Alba Santa Rosalia 2010 Piemonte

Victoria Moore, in the Daily Telegraph, recommends this wine, writing that “these reds are as gentle as chiffon.”

She added: “The tannin that gives them bones and structures feels as if it has been hand-stitched with a tiny, fine-pointed needle. The Barbera would light up any evening.”

Les Bénédictins Chardonnay 2009

This is a wine that Terry Kirby in The Independent recommends as one to enjoy with “Sunday lunch”. He wrote that this wine comes from “Limoux in the Languedoc, an area otherwise best known for light sparkling wines.”

He added: “This is very different, almost Burgundian in its fullness – Chardonnay grapes are barrel-fermented, resulting in luscious, creamy fruit flavours of honey, apples and tropical fruits, yet with a spine of acidity that makes it deliciously refreshing.”

2011 Mâcon Rouge, Les Roches Rouge, Louis Jadot, France

This wine is one of those recommended by Jane MacQuitty in The Times. She wrote: “Jump into warm weather with this juicy Gamay from Burgundy, topped up with Pinot Noir, which is bursting with light, damson fruit.”

2010 Marqués de Griñon, Alea Tempranillo, Rioja

Matthew Jukes, in the Daily Mail, wrote of this wine: “Wow this is a surprise. Griñon has raised its game of late and Alea is a triumph. Rioja still offers much better value than red Bordeaux and I urge you to give this smooth, effortlessly delicious, red fruit-soaked beauty a whirl.”

Château d’Eyran Pessac-Leognan 2012

In reviewing the Bordeaux 2012 en primeur campaign, Jancis Robinson MW wrote in the Financial Times: “As the taster of the rest of the appellations, my top tip for value in 2012 is Pessac-Léognan. This pretty, wooded region on the southern outskirts of the city is warmer and less bleak than the Médoc and its grapes tend to ripen more satisfactorily.”

She picked out this wine, writing: “I loved this beautifully balanced red 2012 from Pessac-Leognan. It sells for just €11 a bottle from the cellar.”

Morrisons Vaucluse Grenache-Syrah

This is Olly Smith’s “wine of the week” in the Mail on Sunday. He wrote: “Easy to unwind with, this neat glugger represents cracking value. A simple, tangy red French vino.”

2010 Hilltops Semillon Chalkers Crossing

Writing in the Scotland on Sunday newspaper, Brian Elliott recommended this wine, writing: “A barrel-fermented Semillon from a cooler part of New South Wales (so different in style to Hunter Valley versions) delivering light lime and grapefruit acidity that sits atop toasty lees-derived substance.”