The top 10 drinks for the Ashes

It’s crunch time in the men’s Ashes 2023 cricket series between England and Australia. db takes a look at what to drink during the final critical tests.

Thornbridge’s Centurion IPA

Joe Root likes to score runs, and drink pints. Perhaps the best way to celebrate a Root century is Centurion IPA, brewed by Thornbridge, which was originally brewed to commemorate Joe Root’s 100th test match for England, in which he scored a double century on the way to a famous victory in India.

All profits from the sale of this beer are donated to the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity, of which Joe Root is the patron. The brewery says to: “Expect ripe hedgerow fruit on the nose and a full bodied, honeyed malt character on the palate.”

Hardys wine

Not only does Stuart Broad clearly like a pint, and even runs a couple of pubs through The Cat and Wickets Pub Company alongside fellow cricketer Harry Gurney, but he also likes a glass of wine.

In 2017, Castle Rock launched its own Stuart Broad session ale, in honour of the 2015 Trent Bridge Ashes’ series, when he took eight Australian wickets in 9.3 overs for 15 runs, in a sublime spell that included five maidens.

Broad has also been a wine ambassador for Hardys, saying in 2015: “Wine is a great passion of mine and there are few better feelings than celebrating a win by enjoying a glass of red.

Victoria Bitter/”England Bitter”

If you are an Aussie, then surely you will be knocking back a few VBs on the path to glory. The latest advertising campaign from the Asahi-owned Carlton and United Brewery certainly made its allegiances clear. It made a special “England Bitter” and sent it to the England team, following the criticism and controversy after the Jonny Bairstow stumping in the second test.

London Pilsner

United Breweries’ London Pilsner made England captain Ben Stokes an ambassador for the brand in 2020 after his World Cup final heroics in 2019 in one of the white ball’s greatest ever games.

Might as well watch this while you drink one of these lagers…

Dom Pérignon

A go-to Champagne at Lord’s is also beloved on the other side of the world, it would appear. Recently, former captain and Australian cricketer David Warner’s wife, Candice Warner, showed a shot of the couple’s wine fridge in July 2022, which appeared to have seven bottles of Dom Peri P2 2000.

Ricky Ponting Wines

Due to land in the UK soon, the Sydney Morning Herald offered a great headline which perhaps best sums up the Ponting Wine collection: Can the villain of the 2005 Ashes sell wine to the English? 

Ponting Wines is a collaboration between former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting and Ben Riggs, with the flagship wine being Ponting 366, a blend of Shiraz and Cabernet from McLaren Vale and the Coonawarra regions of South Australia. Other options include a Tasmanian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

So can he sell them to the English? I guess that depends what happens in the next few weeks.

Wolf Blass

It feels a long time since former England captains Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss were stood at the crease, and it was now a decade ago that the two men were fronting the Ashes campaign for Australia’s Treasury Wine Estate’s Wolf Blass wines.

More recently, it was the official wine partner of the World Cup during England’s spectacular 2019 triumph.

Whether from England or Australia, you can enjoy a glass of Wolf Blass, perhaps its Black Label Cabernet Shiraz or its Yellow Label Chardonnay or Merlot, and remember both the good and bad times…

Tuffer’s Tipple

What better way to match commentary with wine in the ultimate audio and taste pairing? Former England spin bowler and I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! contestant Phil Tufnell’s range of curated wines, are all taken from Virgin Wines range. The ‘Tuffers’ Tipple’ range includes four reds, four whites, and a sparkling wine from across Europe and Australia.

More than enough to keep you entertained during the final two explosive test matches…

Botham Wines

Ian ‘Beefy’ Botham was something of a trailblazer in the cricket world when it comes to celebrity endorsement of wines, to such an extent that even the BBC in 2001 questioned the move, but was quickly shot down.

Now, no-one would question Sir Ian Botham’s commitment to wine — and specifically his dedication to South Australia wine. On his website, he even waxes lyrical about Penfolds legendary The Grange, and trying to convince journalist John Arlott of the joys of New World wine. Not one to let the Ashes and rivalry with Australia get in the way, Beefy’s wines come from the heartlands of Aussie wine, such as his Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, and he has also partnered with English producer Balfour on a sparkling and still rosé.

A great option if England lose the Ashes, as a reminder that Australia is about more than just cricket.

Penfolds

As mentioned above by Beefy Botham, and perhaps the ultimate drink to have upon an Australian victory is a vintage bottle of Penfolds The Grange.

Indeed, the Australian cricket team did just that in December last year, celebrating winning against the West Indies with a 2012 bottle.

The brainchild of legendary Aussie winemaker, Max Schubert, this Shiraz-dominant and Cabernet Sauvignon wine has become an icon of New World wine.