Top 10 wines in the UK press

Montes Outer Limits Apalta CGM 2010, Chile

Terry Kirby, writing in The Independent, recommended this “big and ballsy” red from Chile’s Apalta region made from the southern French grape varieties of Carignan, Grenache and Mourvèdre.

He said: “Bursting with flavours of poached plums, blueberries and dried figs, with a spicy underpinning, this will age well, but can be drunk now with autumnal casseroles.”

Price: £19.99, thewinereserve.co.uk; £19.45, kwmwine.com

Neethlingshof Estate Pinotage 2012, Stellenboasch, South Africa

At £9.99 this South African red was Kirby’s top pick for a midweek bottle with dinner.

He said: “This is a very modern Pinotage from the Stellenbosch region, lacking the sometimes musty and coffee notes of more traditional versions of this South African hybrid. This is medium-bodied, juicy and blackberry-flavoured: appealing, accessible and very moreish. Pork and chorizo meatballs would be a good match.”

Price: £9.99, winerack.co.uk

Valdespino Inocente Fino NV, Spain

With Sherry bars now popping up in the “trendier parts of London” the drink once associated with “maiden aunts” has had a “remarkable turnaround”, according to Jamie Goode who rounded up a selection of his favourites writing in The Express this week.

He said: “Fino and manzanilla are the lightest, brightest and freshest expressions of Sherry, and they make excellent food wines. This is one of the most highly regarded, from a single vineyard, and it’s bright, pure and complex with a salty tang.”

Price: £13.50, leaandsandeman.co.uk

Matusalem Sweet Oloroso 30 Year Old Sherry NV, Spain

While the region has seen some “difficult times”, Goode said the fortified wines now emerging from Jerez in southern Spain have “never been better”.

Of this 30-year-old Oloroso he said: “One of my favourite sherries, this is an incredibly complex, utterly delicious, sweet old oloroso with complex flavours of raisins, tar, spice and molasses. It’s a Sherry for fireside contemplation.”

Price: £19, Tesco

St Mont l’Empreinte 2010, St Mont, South West France

“The most neglected wine region in France is, not surprisingly, one of its most remote”, wrote Rose Murray Brown MW in The Scotsman of France’s south-west. Known locally as the “high country”, she said it was a region “rarely explored by wine lovers” but which has an array of terroirs and unusual grape varieties to try from white Petit Manseng and Arrufiac to red Negrette and Duras.

Of this example she said: “You usually find the Tannat grape in Uruguay today, but this French grape originates from south west France; here blended with Pinenc and Cabernet Sauvignon. St Mont is a new appellation with just over 1,000 hectares between Madiran and Gascony, producing plump juicy reds and very stylish whites: also try L’Empreinte white (£13.99) both extremely well made wines from one of France’s best co-operatives.”

Price: £11.50

Chateau Montus Blanc 2010, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, South West France

2007 vintage pictured

Another of Murray Brown’s top picks was this white from Alain Brumont.

She said: “Alain Brumont is now famous both for his intense white and red wines and for his reputation as a fanatic for oak, compost and anything to improve the quality of his wines. He blends Petit Manseng with Petit Courbu to make a vibrant citric white.”

Price: £20

Cornelia White 2012, Adi Badenhorst, Swartland, South Africa

David Williams, writing in The Guardian, rounded up some of the wines that the UK’s “posh” supermarkets are fighting over in the battle for your “wine pound”.

He said: “That Waitrose and M&S have the odd supplier in common shouldn’t come as a surprise: scan the back of supermarket own-labels and it’s remarkable how many familiar names keep popping up. Le Cave de Tain, a co-operative in the northern Rhône, seems to make pretty much every supermarket Crozes-Hermitage (and usually pretty well) with the exception of the terrifically peppery, meaty Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference version by Michel Chapoutier (a standout bargain at £10 for the latest 2012 vintage). Another approaching ubiquity is South Africa’s specialist in Rhône-like wines, Adi Badenhorst, one of my favourite winemakers, with the new apple-tangy, creamy, chewy textured Chenin-based white blend he’s made for M&S just pipping his somewhat cheaper efforts in Tesco and Morrisons for intensity and character.”

Price: £10, Marks & Spencer

Simonnet-Febvre Irancy Rouge 2012, Burgundy, France

This “delicate, raspberry-scented” Pinot Noir got top marks from Williams, a wine he said would be a “wonderful match for salmon”.

He said: “Another supplier listed by both the posher supermarkets is the northern Burgundian producer, Simonnet-Febvre. Part of the larger Louis Latour group, they’re the kind of familiar name that sometimes gets overlooked by Burgundy lovers in the rush to praise the new latest smaller grower. But tasting three of their wines in quick succession in the past couple of weeks I was reminded how briskly elegant and attractive they can be. Waitrose has two: a classically steely, luminous Premier Cru Chablis Montmains 2013 (£18.99), and the restrained, elderflower and gooseberry-scented Loire-meets-Chablis style of Sauvignon Saint-Bris (£9.99). Even better is the delicate, raspberry-scented Pinot Noir of the Irancy Rouge: which, among other things, is a wonderful match for salmon.

Price: £14.99, Marks & Spencer

L’Extra par Langlois Rosé NV, Langlois-Château, Loire Valley, France

Olly Smith, writing in the Daily Mail, showcased a “trove” of great value sparkling wines this week highlighting the merits of Champagne’s less-costly cousin Crémant, “fizz made in the same method but outside of the Champagne region.”

He said: “Summery splendour made from 100% Cabernet Franc. Perfect for a glass of bubbly bliss.”

Price: £9.99, Majestic

2012 Il Barroccio, Rosso Terre Siciliane, Italy

Finally Matthew Jukes, also writing in the Daily Mail, picked out this “downright exceptional wine” at a “cracking price”.

He said: “I was blindsided when I tasted it at a top end event the other day and it scored a massive 18/20 in my notes. It’s juicy, velvety and packed with black fruit and it is tailor made for the braised lamb shanks.”

Price: £7.50, Corney & Barrow, corneyandbarrow.com