Top 10 wines in the UK press

Jane MacQuitty recommends a “beefy claret that is beautiful” and Matthew Jukes picks out a “knockout French classic at a bargain price.”

Writing in The Times, MacQuitty looks into the idea of chilling red wine during summer and she says the idea is “not daft, it’s delicious.

MacQuitty added: “A 10-15 minute dip in the ice-bucket, or half an hour in the fridge door, is all it takes to turn your favourite light to medium red into a perky, thirst-quenching, summer quaffer.

“There is something satisfying in turning a good, ordinary red into a vibrant, fresh, thrillingly fruity mouthful served from a bottle that is cold to the touch, with mouthwatering beads of condensation.”

Both MacQuitty and Jukes picked out wines from France this week; click through the following pages to find out more about the wines recommended by these and other UK wine writers over the last week.

Triade Fiano/Falanghina/Greco IGT Campania

This is one of the wines recommended by David Williams in The Observer, he wrote: “Southern Italy has become my go-to wine region for inexpensive supermarket drinking: there’s still plenty of plonk produced in the Mezzogiorno, but the standard is so much better than it used to be.”

He added: “This fleshy white blend is a useful beginner’s guide to three of the region’s best white-grape varieties, offering orange citrus, peach and a subtle streak of Italianate herb and nut bitterness.”

Gran Lurton Corte Friulano, Mendoza

Williams also picked out this wine, writing: “‘International’ has become a byword for bland high-end products. Made by French winemaker François Lurton in the Argentine Andes, using the northeastern Italian variety Friulano (aka Sauvignon Vert) with Pinot Gris and Chardonnay, this dry white couldn’t be more international. Yet the resulting mix of musky melon, flowers and citrus freshness is bursting with character.”

Domaine Cheysson Chiroubles 2011

Victoria Moore recommended this wine to her readers in the Daily Telegraph as one of the best wine deals this week. She wrote: “One of the lesser-known crus in Beaujolais, Chiroubles lies to the west of Fleurie and its wines are particularly fine and light. What this is not, however, is thin: instead it is soft and gentle, like ripe summer fruit, and with some of that mass I long for. There’s something of a Goldilocks’ third bowl of porridge in its archetypal Beaujolais vigour. Just right.”

2012 Extra Special Old Vine Garnacha

Hamish Anderson, also in the Daily Telegraph, featured a number of recommendations from Spain, writing: “Spain has a wealth of old, gnarly Garnacha (Spanish for Grenache) vines that can make rewarding drinking at bargain prices. Deeply coloured and full of brambly fruit such as blackberry, along with notes of black pepper and earth, this is a gutsy wine suited to red meat cooked over an open flame.”

2012 Jurançon Sec, Chant des Vignes, Domaine Cauhapé

This is the wine that Matthew Jukes called “a knockout French classic at a bargain price”, when writing in the Daily Mail. He added: “This effortlessly delicious and searingly dry Jurançon is made by one of the great producers and the fragrant quince and greengage notes are superbly tangy and tingly on the palate. Drink it with posh fish dishes.”

2012 Lindemans, Bin 50 Shiraz

Jukes also recommended this wine, writing: “My first crazy Shiraz deal this week comes from the massive Lindemans operation. Bin 50 is a triumph in the 2012 vintage with plum and pepper crowding the palate. It is also one of my 100 Best Australian Wines of the year and it is only six quid – cue stampede.”

2007 Lacoste Borie, Pauillac

This is the wine picked out by Jane MacQuitty as a “keeper” in The Times, she wrote: “Don’t just try the [Sainsbury’s] Taste the Difference range, check out the Classic selection too, which is strong on Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône. Lacoste-Borie is the second wine of classy Pauillac fifth growth, Château Grand Puy Lacoste, whose wines always impress. Even in an ordinary vintage, like 2007, this Cabernet Sauvignon-based claret, topped up with Merlot and a dash of Cabernet Franc, is a charmer. Expect warm, seductive, deftly oaked cedarwood and perfumed leather complexity from this beefy claret that is beautiful now but still has the stamina for a few more years in the cellar, at least until 2016.”

Le Secret de Léoube Rosé 2011

This wine was picked out by Terry Kirby, in The Independent, as one to enjoy with Sunday lunch. He wrote: “Crisp, sophisticated and pale-pink, but with a surprising depth of flavours of herbs, spice and stone fruits coming from the mix of Cabernet Sauvignon with Grenache and Cinsault, this is the top rosé from an organic, British-owned Provençal estate on the shores of the Mediterranean. Savour outdoors and ice-cold, with lobster, prawns or crab.”

Coquille d’Oc Rosé, Domaine de Sainte Rose, 2012

This is the wine that Kirby recommends enjoying with a midweek meal, writing: “Not all good rosé comes from Provence, as this bottle from a modern, family-run estate from the heart of the Languedoc demonstrates.”

He added: “A more full-bodied affair, with Shiraz and Grenache, it is excellent with lighter summer meals such as simple grilled chicken or fish with salad or any seafood.”

Tamaioasa Romaneasca Sec 2012 Prince Stirbey

And finally this recommendation comes from Rose Murray Brown, in The Scotsman. She wrote: “From the rare Tamaioasa Romaneasca grape (aka Muscat). Intriguing floral grapey fragrance and light refreshing palate – grown at this tiny boutique estate in the foothills of the Carpathians in the Oltenia region.”