Top 10 wines in the UK press

2012 Saumur-Champigny, Domaine Filliatreau, Loire, France

Matthew Jukes, writing in the Daily Mail, recommended this “precocious” red from the Loire.

He said: “This wine comes from one of my favourite estates in France and it is made by the talented Fred Filliatreau from the Cabernet Franc grape. Bursting with PYO red berry notes, this is a precocious red with a light frame and thrilling balance. If you have never fallen for Cab Franc before this wine will do the trick.”

Price: £12.25, Yapp Brothers,yapp.co.uk

2012 Muscadet, Jean Sablenay, Loire, France

Another top pick was this Muscadet from France which he said had notes of “green apple, citrus and sea spray.”

He said: “One of the most refreshing of all French white wine styles, Muscadet, in the right hands, is a bargain and also a benchmark wine for everyday drinking. Green apple, citrus and sea spray notes combine to bring us a thoroughly authentic and downright delicious creation. There are a few cases of 2013 in the country already so if you pick this up by mistake, don’t worry, it’s delicious, too.”

Price: £6.99, Majestic

Julien Sunier Fleurie 2011

Fiona Beckett shone a light on Beaujolais writing in The Guardian this week, a style of wine she said had been struggling against its “bright bubblegum-and-banana “nouveau” image”.

She said: “It’s an accessible, memorable name for an appealing, versatile wine that many would enjoy just as much as rosé if they gave it a chance. It’s made, as you may know, from Gamay, which has less of a reputation than the more glamorous Pinot Noir that features in the rest of the Burgundy region, but is capable of producing highly drinkable wines at a fraction of the cost.”

She added: “If you want to see what beaujolais is capable of, try the sublime Julien Sunier Fleurie 2011 (12.5%, £19.50 at Berry Bros), a wine in which you can almost smell warm earth and wild flowers. Expensive, yes, but a Burgundy of that quality would cost at least £10 more.

“The quality of Beaujolais has also been greatly improved by a new generation of vignerons, more organic and biodynamic viticulture and, at the cheaper end, a greater use of screwcaps. Of the dozen I tried for this feature, some were less to my taste but there wasn’t a single dud among them. And that’s rare.”

Akashi-Tai Honjozo Sake, Japan

David Williams, writing in The Observer, picked a selection of “rich, flavoursome and deeply intense”  wines to enjoy with Japanese food this week, from this traditional sake to a sherry.

He said: “Among the conflicting advice about matching food and wine, perhaps the most reliable is the old dictum: what grows together, goes together. I’m thinking of classic European combos from places where food and wine culture has developed symbiotically, like Galician seafood and the peaches and salt of albariño or fatty Gascon duck and the bruising, bristling reds of Madiran. It makes sense, according to this principle, to match what Nigel calls the gastronomic “essence of Japan” with its alcoholic equivalent, and a bottle of this intense umami-rich, brothy-savoury sake is indeed a seamless fit for miso.”

Price: £16.99, Selfridges

Bodegas Hildalgo Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana Single Vineyard Sherry, Spain NV

One might not think to pair a Japanese dish with a Spanish sherry, but according to Williams it is the perfect match.

He said: “Nobody ever made any friends by being too strict in their interpretation of wine and food matching rules, and there are in any case plenty of combinations that prove that the opposite of the ‘grows together’ idea.

It would be hard, for example, to think of two regions further apart – geographically and culturally – than Japan and Andalusia. And yet, the salty iodine tang and savoury mealy depths of good bone-dry Manzanilla sherry could have been designed to pick out those same qualities in miso. Bodegas Hidalgo makes some of the best: whether the widely available La Gitana brand, or in this deeper, saltier single-vineyard bottle.”

Price: From £10.50, thewinesociety.com, www.tanners-wines.co.uk

Radford Dale Chardonnay, Stellenbosch South Africa 2010

Williams’ final selection was this “Burgundy-inspired” South African Chardonnay from Stellenbosch which he said would pair well with a miso-marinated chicken dish.

He said: “If you’re not in the mood for the full-on flavour assault of sherry and sake – and even in their gentlest incarnations there is a certain uncompromising element to both until you’ve got your eye (or palate) in – I find that chardonnay often offers a measure of the full-bodied savouriness that works so well with miso.

“Not all chardonnay: it has to have spent a bit of time in oak barrel and the winemaker will need to have stirred the dead yeast cells around (what’s known as bâtonnage) to give a bit more body. The Burgundy-inspired South African producer Radford Dale does this with great skill: the oak is subtle, the wine still fresh, but there’s enough nutty savoury flavour to work with Nigel’s miso-marinated chicken or a roast chicken with a little miso paste spooned into the gravy.”

Price: £15.50, Oddbins

Altano Douro Quinta do Ataide 2011

Olly Smith, writing in the Daily Mail, explored the murky world of sulphites – a natural bi-product of fermentation found in many wines – asking if we should be concerned about their presence in our wine at all, while recommending a number of wines which have no added SO2.

He said: “Under EU law, a wine containing more than ten milligrams of ‘free’ sulphur dioxide per litre must be labelled ‘contains sulphites’. It’s added as it acts as a preservative, and zaps microbes that might otherwise spoil the wine. Not a problem for most of us, but an unlucky minority have reported unfortunate reactions such as wheezing or tightness of breath. Reds tend to contain fewer sulphites than whites.”

Of this Portuguese low-sulphite red he said: “This beauty is scented and floral with a powerful black cherry tang to the flavour. Splendid for Sunday Roast.”

2012 Marqués de Casa Concha Chardonnay, Concha y Toro, Limarí

The best Chardonnay’s of Chile, according to Hamish Anderson, were showcased in The Telegraph this week, which he described as a “thing of beauty”.

He said: “One of the top-end ranges from Chile’s largest producer, this has a lovely old-school feel, rich and bold with flavours of cream and tropical fruit, and nuances of spicy oak. It is saved from being overblown by Limarí’s life-affirming acidity, which gives structure. Made for roast chicken.”

Price: £11.99, Tesco

2012 Grey Chardonnay, Casablanca, Ventisquero

Anderson also picked this “powerful” Chardonnay from Casablanca.

He said: “Casablanca, north-west of Santiago, was Chile’s first cool-climate area, planted in the 1980s. This is one of the country’s finest expressions of the grape, powerful and textured but not overbearing; flavours of smoke, spice and pineapple will continue to develop.”

£13.59, citybeverage.co.uk

Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2009, England

Got a wedding coming up this summer? Then you will probably be sipping on some sparkly. Jamie Goode picked out his favourite sparkling wines to raise a wedding toast to writing in The Express this week, which included English sparkling wine house Nyetimber’s Classic Cuveé.

He said: “Nyetimber of West Sussex has been making excellent fizz for two decades now, but a new wine-making team brought a further step up in quality for the 2009 vintage. Fresh and precise but with satisfying complexity, this is wine with real depth of flavour.”

Price: £29.99, Majestic