Top 10 wines in the UK press

Duo Des Deux Mers Sauvignon-Viognier Vin de France

Ahead of Bastille Day tomorrow Olly Smith, writing for the Daily Mail, rounded up a selection of some of the best “sub-£10 French party wines”.

“With France’s huge breadth of wine styles, regions and talent, there are plenty of gems to keep your cupboards and cellars stocked”, he said. “For good value, keep an eye out for ‘Vin de France’ on the label. It’s a category that allows winemakers to blend from different regions while still putting the vintage and grape varieties on the label.

“One of the best I’ve recently tasted is Duo Des Deux Mers Sauvignon-Viognier Vin de France (12%), a snip at £5.95 from The Wine Society.

“Fragrant, refreshing and zingy, this cunning wine is a blend of grapes from Gascony and Languedoc, uniting the Atlantic with the Mediterranean, hence the ‘two seas’ in its name.”

Price: £5.95 from The Wine Society

2013 Famille Castel, Grande Reserve Chardonnay, Pays d’Oc, France

Matthew Jukes, also writing for the Daily Mail, recommended this French Chardonnay among a selection of “delicious and very keenly priced wines”.

“With a richer palate than the White Burgundy, this wine benefits from a little more sunshine and also some oak barrel treatment making it a more exotically proportioned wine with impressive weight and staggering value for money.”

Price: £8.99, reduced to £5.99 from 15 July until 4 August, Tesco

2014 Côtes-du-Rhône Villages, Plan de Dieu, Domaine de la Meynarde, France

Another of Jukes’ top wine tips was for this 2014 Côtes-du-Rhône Villages from Domain de la Maynarde.

“Plan de Dieu, or ‘God’s Plain’, was bandit country in the Middle Ages and you took your life in your hands when you crossed it! Today, this wild land is home to stunning vineyards which make mighty, spicy reds which posses the scent of surrounding wild herbs! Meynarde is a tremendous example of this historic style of red wine.”

Price: £9.00, Marks & Spencer

Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi, California 2012

David Williams, writing for The Guardian, was also counting the pennies this week recommending this “sumptuous” Californian red available at Bargain Booze, which gives Lidl a run for its money.

“Lidl Shmidl” says the publicity material, reminding customers that the chain is all about mass-market brands at prices that match the German discounter’s range of never-before-seen lagers and gins”, he said. “It’s not the sort of place you’d go looking for a natural wine from a tiny producer, just as you wouldn’t go to a chain of butcher’s calling itself Cheap Chicken to pick up an organic free-range bird. But if you have a brand you’re fond of, it’s worth at least checking in at one of BB’s 618 stores – the price of Ravenswood’s consistently sumptuous red, for example, stacks up very well against retailing rivals great and small.”

Price: £9.99, Bargain Booze

Otra Vida Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina 2014

Williams also recommended this “superb barbecue bottle” of Argentine Malbec from Otra Vida.

“Having tasted a small sample of wines on offer at a recent tasting put on by Bargain Booze’s owners, Conviviality Retail, and then nosed around the BB website, I’ve found you have to do a fair bit of digging through some very ordinary stuff to get to the odd gem”, said Williams.

“The BB range leans heavily on the noxiously sweet and industrial, inexplicably bestselling stuff like Yellowtail, Barefoot and Apothic, or lesser-known names such as the aptly named Crimes Red, Australia 2014 (£7.99), the jarring jammy sweetness of which left my palate feeling violated”, said Williams.

“The hunt is worthwhile, though: the fragrant, juicy raspberry and cherry of Otra Vida Malbec, from the Argentine operation of Chilean producer Concha y Toro, is, at less than a fiver, a superb barbecue bottle.”

Price: £4.99, Bargain Booze

2014 Mont Rocher ‘Vieilles Vignes’ Viognier, Pays d’Oc, France

Hamish Anderson, writing for The Telegraph, rounded up three of his favourite Viogniers from around the globe, including this example from France.

“Viognier is a capricious variety, and too often the vines for the entry level are sited to meet demand rather than quality, so they can be patchy”, he said. “This is the real thing: old vines give depth to its classically peachy fruit, while balancing an invigorating bite of acidity.”

Price: £8.95 (£7.42 when buying six), thefinewinecompany.co.uk

2014 Emiliana Organic Viognier, Casablanca Valley, Chile

Chile’s Emiliana is a treasure trove for organic wines, controlling one of the largest organically farmed vineyards in the world. Anderson recommended its “rich and shouty” Viognier, which he said shows off the variety in all its “exuberant glory”.

“Its heady, musky aromas include nectarine, apricot and a mixture of exotic spice. It is kept in focus by the cooling effect of the Casablanca Valley.”

Price: £10, M&S

2014 Yalumba Viognier, Eden Valley, South Australia

“Yalumba are Viognier specialists and in my view the greatest exponents of it outside of the Rhône”, said Anderson of this South Australian bottle.

“Their key is bringing refinement to a variety that can be one-dimensional in less skilled hands. Behind the wine’s initial heady charm sit a host of flavours, citrus peel and fresh crushed basil among them.”

Price: £12.99, Waitrose

Castle Brook 2009, England

Terry Kirby, writing for The Independent, recommended a selection of celebratory sparklers, including this English example, which he described as “summer in a glass”.

“Most English sparkling hails from the south coast, but these grapes are grown on a former Roman vineyard in Herefordshire’s lush Wye Valley by an asparagus-farming family, although the wine is made near Brighton”, he said. “Simply gorgeous: light, effervescent, floral, grassy.”

Price: £32, castlebrookvineyard.co.uk

Castellari Bergaglio Ardé Gavi DOCG, Italy

Finally, Kirby pointed his readers in the direction of this sparkling Gavi from Piedmont in north-west Italy, made from the Cortese grape.

“Fine acidity with crisp flavours of brioche and citrus, and a lingering finish”, he said. “An ideal companion for oysters, scallops or any crustacea.”

Price: £21.50 (as part of a purchase of six mixed bottles), libiamowines.co.uk