Top 10 wines in the UK press

Susy Atkins and Fiona Beckett recommend wines to enjoy with a barbecue. Atkins’ choice is a “well-priced Tuscan treat” while Beckett picks out a red with a “big belt of lush, ripe fruit”.

In writing about barbecue wines in the Sunday Telegraph, Atkins said that “tradition dictates cracking into a hefty Australian or South African Shiraz.

“But plain, slightly smoky, chargrilled beef actually finds a better partner in medium, fresh-tasting Italian reds such as cherryish Dolcetto from Piedmont or young Sangiovese from Tuscany, or in a raspberryish, juicy red from the Loire.”

She added: “A marinade complicates matters, but the same lightish Italians work, or you might try a good-quality Beaujolais.

In The Guardian, Beckett went for a Chilean red wine, writing: “Assuming you’re creating the classic, meat-focused conflagration, there’s got to be a juicy red in the equation.”

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

The Exquisite Collection Gavi 2012

Victoria Moore recommended this wine to her readers in the Daily Telegraph, she wrote: “Tangy like preserved lemon; firmer and less quick-silvery than Sauvignon Blanc. Refreshingly good at an astonishing price. This northern Italian white deserves to become a summer staple in your fridge door. A great shoulders-down at the end of the day.”

2011 Lacrima di Morro d’Alba, Umani Ronchi

This wine was recommended by Matthew Jukes in the Daily Mail, who wrote: “I have been buying this wine from the Bernetti family for fifteen years and I adore its otherworldly fragrance and flavours.”

He added: “Highly-scented with pot pourri, rose petal and Turkish delight notes this is a mind-blowing wine.”

2012 Bradshaw Pinot Grigio, The Illustration Series, Cramele Recas

In The Times, Jane MacQuitty features the “50 best wines for summer” and picked out this one as the “best party wine”.

She wrote: “Look out for the distinctive peacock’s tail feathers on the label and rejoice that Asda has followed Adnams and Waitrose in stocking the ridiculously good value Romanian wines of Cramele Recas.

“This juicy, easy-glugging Pinot Grigio’s vibrant, ripe, spiced apple fruit closes on a telltale faintly exotic central European note. Enjoy this jolly white as a good party standby.”

Cramele Recas Paparuda Estate Selection Pinot Grigio

In The Observer David Williams also recommended a Romanian Pinot Grigio, although he was initially not too complimentary about the grape, writing: “Mostly, Pinot Grigio is the Coldplay of the white wine world – blandly industrial stuff with an inexplicably wide appeal.”

In regards to this wine though, Williams was more impressed, adding: “As with its equally good Pinot Noir, Romanian producer Cramele Recas’s take has more to it than that, and at a much better price. There’s a juicy orchard fruit quality here to go with the easy-drinking refreshment.”

Toscana Rosso 2011

This is one of the wines picked out by Susy Atkins in the Sunday Telegraph, she wrote of this wine: “Juicy red plums, with subtle hints of spice and smoke, make for a well-priced Tuscan treat, 80 per cent of which is Sangiovese, to go with barbecued beef in particular. ”

La Grille Pinot Noir 2010 Sylvain Miniot, Vin de France

Atkins also picked out this wine, writing: “Very soft, fresh red mixing chocolate notes with blackberries, that would suit simple grilled pork chops or pork sausages.”

Mister Shiraz 2011 Colchagua Valley

This is one of Fiona Beckett’s barbecue wines, she wrote in The Guardian: “I’ve been aching to write about since I spotted its over-the-top label at a recent Majestic tasting.”

She added: “It’s not, as you might imagine, Australian, but made in Chile by an Aussie winemaker, and it’s a big, 14% abv belt of lush, ripe (but not over-jammy) fruit. More subtle than it looks, which admittedly wouldn’t be hard, and great value at £6.99.”

Anciano Gran Reserva Tempranillo Valdepenes 2004

In The Independent, Terry Kirby picked out this wine as one to enjoy with a “midweek meal”, he wrote: “Terrific value for a midweek wine – real mature depth from oak maturing of the Tempranillo grapes, grown under the hot sun of central Spain.

“Well balanced between distinctive baked fruits, chewy tannins and yet retaining some vibrancy on the palate. Good with pasta and meat sauces or a simple steak.”

Côtes de Thongue Domaine Les Filles de Septembre ‘Tradition’ 2012

Olly Smith picked this as his “wine of the week” in the Mail on Sunday, describing it as: “Full of fragrant dark, summery fruit, this fantastic red is a joyful romp in a glass.”

2012 Vinas Del Vero Gewurztraminer, Somontano

And finally Brian Elliott, in The Scotsman, recommended this wine, writing: “This part of Spain’s higher ground not only allows Gewurz to flourish but also injects some welcome acidity to balance the perception of sweetness that underlies the customary honeyed peach and fragrant lychee flavours.”