Top 10 wines in the UK press

Winemakers’ Selection by Sainsbury’s Muscat de St Jean de Minervois NV, Minervois, France

Victoria Moore, wine columnist for The Telegraph, kicks off this week’s round-up of wine recommendations with a selection of sweet and fortified wines for Christmas.

Among them was this “well-priced” Muscat from France, which she described as a “lighter and fresher style of sweet wine”, that “smells and tastes of orange blossom and would be excellent with chocolate puddings.”

Price: £5, 37.5cl, Sainsbury’s

Rare Pedro Ximenez NV, Spain

Moore also picked this Pedro Ximenez Sherry – a classic Christmas tipple – as one of her top tips. This intensely sweet style of Sherry is made from Pedro Ximenez grapes that have been dried in the sun to concentrate their sugars.

“Every home can find a good use for a bottle of PX over Christmas,” says Moore. “This extremely sweet sherry is viscous, black as treacle and tastes of luscious raisins and molasses. I particularly like it poured over vanilla ice cream – the perfect emergency pudding. Or snack. Made for M&S by Lustau.”

£8 for 37.5cl, Marks & Spencer

Pol Roger Champagne Brut Réserve NV, France

Among Moore’s top Champagnes for Christmas under £50 was this stunner – Pol Roger’s Brut Réserve NV.

“Pol Roger’s white label is always elegant; now it is also glittering,” said Moore. “The house has been increasing its vineyard sites in prime areas and is now 50 per cent self-sufficient in grapes. A blend of all three champagne grapes.”

Price: Lea & Sandeman, £39.95 or £36.95 mixed case price; Co-op, £39.99 or £29.99 from Dec 7-Jan 3; Telegraph Wine from Waitrose, £39.99 or £31.99 from Dec 7-Jan 3; Berry Bros & Rudd, £42 or £31.50 in a case

Bodega Volcanes Carménère 2014, Rapel Valley, Chile

Moving onto The Guardian, David William’ thoughts have turned toward comfort, perhaps acknowledging the unease brought about by a shock Trump victory and impending Brexit, or simply the rising stress of the festive season, prescribing a trio of “comforting wines for troubling times”. This Chilean Carmenère scores highly. 

“Wine as comfort. It’s an idea that is especially appealing at this daylight-starved time of the year, but all the more so when we seem to be living through a surreal prequel to The Hunger Games. For me, comfort wines, like comfort food, should be soft, warm and filling. Nothing too challenging, just lots of dark fruit and a cosseting texture – the kind of red wine you can drink alone or with my favourite consoling winter dish, shepherd’s pie.

“Chile does this kind of generous style well, and this version of the country’s signature red grape, Carmenère, combines suave tannins, juicy blackcurrant, subtle leafiness and spice, even a touch of that other great edible source of solace, chocolate.”

Price: £10.99, or £7.99 as part of a mixed case of six, Majestic

Kilikanoon Killerman’s Run Shiraz 2014, Clare Valley, Australia

“Other candidates for smooth wines of substance can be found across the Andes in Argentina, adds Williams. “Malbec is of course the country’s calling card, and Taste the Difference Fairtrade Morador Malbec 2015 (£8, Sainsbury’s) is lavishly black cherry-fruited, with a brightness of acidity that works very well if your comfort food choice is tomato-rich spaghetti bolognese. But the variety is at home in blends, too, not least in Viñalba’s deep, dark Black Forest gateau combination of Malbec with Portuguese grape Touriga Nacional (£12.99, or £9.99, 2014 vintage, as part of a mixed six, Majestic).

“Then there’s Australia, home of the world’s most soothing shiraz: Kilikanoon’s exuberant example fairly billows with perfumed black fruit and good cheer.”

Price: £13, Marks & Spencer

Domaine Vaquer Cuvée Bernard Red 2014, Roussillon, France

“In France, it’s red wines from the south that offer the vinous equivalent of a warm bath or a seat at the fireside, with a recipe of some or all of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan and Mourvèdre. Start in the east, in the southern Rhône Valley with a brambly mini-Châteauneuf-du-Pape such as Cellier des Dauphins Plan de Dieu 2015 (£8.98, Asda).

“Working west, the Languedoc’s Minervois appellation brings liquorice and pepper to the deep blackberry juiciness in Château de Cesseras Cuvée Olric 2014 (£10.75, Oddbins). Then it’s down to Catalan France, where Burgundian émigré Frédérique Vaquer’s Cuvée Bernard combines the sun-filled, mouth-filling fruitiness that comes so easily in her adopted home with the soft, silky elegant style of the wines of her birthplace.”

Price: £10.99, Wine Sensations

Dead End Tempranillo 2015, McLaren Vale, Australia

Terry Kirby, writing for The Independent, put forward three wines from Australia that “confound expectations”.

“Are Aussie wines just over-oaked Chardonnay and over-the-top Shiraz?” he asks, recommending this off-the-wall Aussie Tempranillo by Dead End.

“A wacky Day of the Dead label belies the serious wine inside, its balanced character reflecting McLaren Vale winemaker Steve Pannell’s experience working in Europe,” said Kirby. “Think a juicy, youthful, medium-bodied Rioja: a small amount of oak but bursting with flavours of black cherries with just a hint of earth and spice giving added texture. Ideal with autumnal game or lighter white meats.”

Price: £19.95 nywines.co.uk

Bill Downie Petit Verdot 2015, Riverland, Australia

“Another individually crafted wine from a highly respected Aussie winemaker: these are hand-tended vines, grown through a biodynamic process from the Murray River area,” says Kirby of this Australian Petit Verdot.

“This is a great match for a casserole or a vegetable tagine: ripe, smooth, intense black fruits, enlivened with the violet-tinged lightness that can be found in Bordeaux blends.”

Price: £14.95 halifaxwinecompany.com; £15.80 thebottlebank.co.uk

Disznoko Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos 2003, Hungary

Writing for the Daily Mail, Olly Smith waxes lyrical about the virtues of Hungary’s famed sweet wine Tokaji, recommending stilton as its perfect partner.

“Pronounced ‘tock-eye’, this sweet treat comes in a variety of guises,” said Smith. “My favourite is Tokaji Aszú, made from grapes that shrivel and intensify on the vine under the desiccating spell of noble rot. Sounds less than scrumptious, but the attention to detail and centuries-old know-how culminates in a bottled miracle. Thanks to the meticulous hand-harvesting of raisin-like purple berries for maceration, fermentation and seasoning in oak barrels, this handcrafted liquid history creates a sumptuously sticky wine.”

The number of ‘puttonyos’ refers to the amount of aszú berries added to the wine, with the higher the puttonyos the sweeter the wine, with Smith recommending Aszú wines of at least five of six for you cheeseboard.

Smith described this 6 Puttonyo example from Disznoko as “intense with a balance of sweet power and fresh finesse”, that’s “super with stilton.”

Price: £29.95, 50cl, greatwesternwine.co.uk

Good Ordinary White 2015, Sauvignon Blanc, Bordeaux, France

Smith rounds off this week’s UK press recommendations with this “electrifying Sauvignon Blanc” from Berry Bros and Rudd, which he says is a “superb all-rounder for the entire festive season”.

Produced by Dourthe for Berry Bros & Rudd.

Price: £8.85, Berry Bros & Rudd, bbr.com