Top 10 wines in the UK press

It is English wine week this week and many of the UK’s wine writers, including Matthew Jukes, Terry Kirby and Susy Atkins, have acknowledged this by recommending English wines.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Matthew Jukes has picked out what he refers to as “the five finest sparklers in the UK today”. These recommendations include one wine which he calls “truly grand” and he labels another “a spellbinding wine and one which will woo everyone who tastes it.”

Susy Atkins, in the Sunday Telegraph, focusses her attention on English wine producer Nyetimber, speaking to its head winemaker Cherie Spriggs.

Atkins wrote that Spriggs “puts the multi-layered complexity and longevity of Nyetimber down to ‘fruit provenance’: all the grapes come from its own vineyards in West Sussex and now Hampshire, where they’ve recently planted chardonnay on chalk soils. ‘It gives us control over the fruit character.’

“Then there’s long ageing on the lees (yeast sediment) – up to five years for the blanc de blancs, which is very rich for an English sparkler.”

In The Independent Kirby recommended a selection of wines, including one which he called “unmistakably English”.

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

Jenkyn Place Brut 2009

This is one of the wines recommended by Terry Kirby in The Independent. He wrote: “Three years’ ageing gives the blend of traditional champagne grapes – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier – grown on the chalky slopes [of Hampshire] lots of toasty, almost spicy complexity, topped off with a sherberty, spring-flower freshness that is unmistakably English.”

2010 Ridgeview, Knightsbridge Blanc de Noirs

Writing in the Daily Mail, Matthew Jukes described this as “one of the finest English sparkling wines that I have ever tasted.”

He added: “Truly grand and with some of the pomp of the very finest wines from across the Channel. Ridgeview’s sparkling range doesn’t put a foot wrong – I am in awe of the improvements they have made over the last decade.”

2009 Sugrue-Pierre, Traditional Method Sparkling

Jukes also recommended this sparkling wine, which comes from the South Downs. He wrote: “Made by Dermot Sugrue, former winemaker at Nyetimber, comes this incredible, highly complex wine. It goes on sale for the first time this week.

“With a tiny production and handmade feel throughout, this is a spellbinding wine and one which will woo everyone who tastes it.”

Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs 2007

As well as speaking to Nyetimber’s head winemaker Cherie Spriggs, Susy Atkins in the Sunday Telegraph, recommends a range of wines from the company.

Atkins wrote: “Spriggs says that this will evolve, but already it’s delectable: dry but creamy, wafting brioche and apricot aromas and tasting of apples. Match with lobster.”

Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2008

Atkins also picks out this English sparkler, writing: “Chardonnay makes up 79% of the blend, delivering light vanilla and pâtisserie aromas and a soft, lemon-meringue flavour, but a dry, fresh finish.”

Mayu Sangiovese, Elquí Valley, Chile 2011

Not all the UK’s wine writers have stuck to English wines, including David Williams in The Observer, who picked out this Chilean red. He wrote: “There aren’t all that many successful wines made from the Italian red grape Sangiovese outside Tuscany (where it’s the ingredient for Chianti among others), but this is a very creditable effort from the far northern Chilean region of Elquí.

“Maybe the fact it’s made by an Italian has something to do with that, and I’d be tempted to drink it with Italian food, too: its fleshy cherry, herbs and peppery spice would fit spag’ bol’ or any tomato-rich sauces.”

Ferme de la Sansonnière La Lune, Vin de France 2011

Williams also recommends this wine, writing: “One of the marks of a really good wine is its ability to change character as you work your way through a bottle, and going back to this white wine a couple of hours after an initial sip at a Yapp Bros event recently I was struck by the extra dimension of flavour it had taken on.

“It’s a Chenin Blanc from Anjou in the Loire, made in a very natural way, and in small quantities, so act fast if you fancy experiencing how its intense tarte tatin character evolves into something much more nutty and savoury.”

Marks & Spencer Lacrimadi Morro d’Alba 2011

Olly Smith’s wine of the week in the Mail on Sunday is this red wine, which he called “outrageously delicious.” He added: “On sale from 3 June, this fruity gem is layered with aromas of violet and lavender, with a subtle peppery punch.”

2012 Sauvignon Blanc, Brancott Estate

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Hamish Anderson recommends this NZ white, writing: “At £6.99 (and it can frequently be had for less) this is pound for pound the world’s best Sauvignon.

He added: “Brancott (pre-2010, labelled Montana) has wisely moved with the times and reined in the overtly passionfruit, tropical notes to deliver a zesty, exuberant glass that is quintessentially Marlborough, New Zealand.”

2004 Château Fourcas Dupré, Listrac

Finally, in The Times, Jane MacQuitty recommends this wine as a “keeper”. She wrote: “With so much rich, mature, truffley, meaty fruit on board, it will be hard not to crack open this lesser Listrac Claret now, from a well-regarded property, because it is drinking so deliciously and would be perfect with the new season’s Welsh, or Dorset, rosy-pink roast lamb.

“Yet Listracs take longer to mature than most and as 2004 is a good “classic” Claret vintage, according to the Bordelais, this one has three or four more years of life in it yet. Claret purists who like their game well-hung and their red bordeaux extra perfumed, cedary and silky, should hang on to this until 2017.”