Top 10 wines in the UK press

NV Marks & Spencer Dry Fino Sherry, Spain

Matthew Jukes, writing in the Daily Mail, picked a selection of “starry” wines, including this sherry from Marks and Spencer’s which he said was “top notch”.

He said: “Please everyone go out and buy this wine and stick it in your fridge door. Then invite your pals around, slice up some charcuterie, grab some olives and nuts dig in. This wine will show you why we should all be drinking icy, tangy, palate-electrifying Fino Sherry this summer. This version is incredible value and top notch.”

Price: £7.19, Marks & Spencer

2013 La Piuma, Orvieto Classico, Umbria, Italy

Another of Juke’s selections was for this “utterly delicious” white from the Italian region of Orvieto.

He said: “It seems that the white wines of Orvieto, in central Italy, have fallen out of fashion but I can’t put my finger on why because they are always inexpensive, cheery, crisp, refreshing and uplifting. Always drink them young and you can’t go wrong. La Piuma is a steal and it’s also utterly delicious!”

Price: £7.49, reduced to £5.99 until 20 May, Waitrose

Quinta de Azevedo 2013, Portugal

David Williams explored Portugal’s “new-wave” white wines writing in The Observer this week – a country which he said “continues to thrill with its tangy and floral whites.”

Of this “tangy” white he said: “Not so long ago, you’d have had long odds on the idea that Portugal would have been among the most exciting white wine producers in the world. Up until the last decade or so, all we really saw over here was the 1970s throwback of cheap, acidic and spritzy wines from northern Vinho Verde.

“That green and pleasant cooler-climate region is in fact a good place to start an exploration of the new-wave of Portuguese whites, whether in the shape of the refined and resonant Casa de Senra Loureiro 2013 (£10.95, leaandsandeman.co.uk); the poised and peachy Soalheiro Alvarinho 2013 (£12.95, jnwine.com) or the still cheap and subtly spritzy but superbly bright and tangy Azevedo.”

Price: £8.99, Majestic

2012 Julia Kemper Branco, Dão, Portugal

Also making it into William’s “triple whammy” of Portuguese whites was this “exhilarating” wine from the central region of Dão.

He said: “One of the many things Portuguese wines have got going from them – in all colours and styles – is the stock of high quality indigenous grape varieties used to produce them. One of my favourites is encruzado from the central Dão region, which is behind some of the most idiosyncratically delicious white wines currently made anywhere in the world, wines that combine oily weight of texture with sparky acidity and minerals. Quinta dos Roques Encruzado 2012 (£14.95, thewinesociety.com) shows the variety in high-class, oak-tinged white burgundy mode; Julia Kemper blends it with malvasia fina for a tighter, more herbal, and floral, but equally rich and exhilarating experience.”

Price: £16.25, halifaxwinecompany.com; highburyvintners.co.uk; oxfordwine.co.uk

Lammershoek Chenin Blanc 2010 Swartland, South Africa

Susy Atkins, writing in The Telegraph, reviewed a selection of natural wines ahead of London’s RAW Wine Fair.

She said: “Forget fungicides, pesticides, herbicides on the vines. Only very low levels of sulphur are used on some natural wines; others use none at all, and most are not filtered. Legeron spends months on the fair’s exhaustive catalogue, listing the processes (or lack of) and techniques behind every wine. You will know exactly what you’re drinking, in detail, if you go to RAW, and will meet the growers and makers themselves – more than 150 of them.”

Of this South African white she said: “Lammershoek uses organic and low-intervention methods, and always makes refreshing wines, here a white with ripe pears and honeyed notes.”

Price: Berry Bros & Rudd, £13.45, bbr.com

Col Fondo Prosecco NV Casa Belfi, Veneto, Italy

Atkins also highlighted this natural Prosecco from Italy’s Veneto.

She said: “Bottle-fermented with no sulphur, this Prosecco is slightly cloudy and has a floral, lilies-of-the-valley quality and hint of savoury crushed rice. Only 10.5 per cent – a great spring apéritif.”

Price: Vini Italiani, £16.50, italianwines.com

2011 Mas Des Montagne Terroirs D’Altitude Blanc, Rousillon, France

Rose Murray Brown, writing in The Scotsman, picked her top 10 of wines from the the French Languedoc-Roussillon region which she said was “undergoing a renaissance with more experimentation than anywhere else in France”, and also the “source of some of the best-value wines in the country.”

She said: “A clever blend of Grenache Blanc and Macabeo, this “mountain wine” is named after its high vineyard sites in Roussillon, creating minerally thirst-quenching vivid whites. It’s made by the Lorgeril family, who own the better-known Chateau Pennautier in Languedoc, with renowned consultant Patrick Leon of Domaines Rothschild assisting. Their Grenache Noir, Syrah and Carignan-based red blend is also good quaffing stuff and even better value at £8.99.”

Price: £9.99, Majestic Wine

2012 Le Versant Viognier Les Vignobles de Foncalieu

Of this Viognier Murray Brown said: “A very popular wine at our recent tasting, where it was labelled as a bargain at under £10. Le Versant is from hillside vineyards in western Languedoc where higher-altitude plantings benefit from more Atlantic influence and higher acidity, which is crucial in the rich textured Viognier grape. With peachy aromas, this is a fresh and zippy example.”

Price: £8.50, Fine Wine Direct UK; Inverarity Morton, Glasgow; winerack.co.uk

Nuy Red Muskadel NV, South Africa

Jamie Goode, writing in The Express, picked out a selection of “sophisticated” sweet drinks from wine to honey beer.

He said: “This fortified sweet red South African muscat is fresh but rich with delicious flavours of rose hips and raspberry jam on toast. At under a tenner for a full size bottle, it’s brilliant value for money, too. Serve it straight from the fridge.”

Price: £9.50, thewinesociety.com

Rustenberg Straw Wine 2011, Coastal Region, South Africa

Another of Goode’s recommendation was from this sweet wine from South Africa.

He said: “Straw wine is made from grapes that have been left to dry or “raisin” in the sun (traditionally on straw mats), thus concentrating their juices. A blend of chenin and viognier, this is sweet, viscous and supple, with hints of honey, spice and apricot.”

Price: £12.99 (37.5cl), Majestic