Top 10 wines in the UK press

Jane MacQuitty reveals her picks for the “best red wines for summer”, while Terry Kirby recommends a “lovely pale pink” rosé that’s ideal for “high summer and warm weather drinking.”

Writing in The Times, MacQuitty reveals her “50 best red wines for summer”. These include the “best barbecue red” and “Jane’s favourite.”

Terry Kirby also has summer and warm weather in mind as he picks out three rosé wines, in his column in The Independent.

Click through the following pages to find out more about these wines and others recommended in the UK press over the last seven days.

2011 Anubis Mendoza Malbec

In The Scotsman Brian Elliott wrote that this “is a pleasingly soft wine with appealing suggestions of eucalyptus that underpin the raspberry fruit, but then gives way to a well-balanced edge of slate-influenced minerality and a final burst of acidity.”

He added: “It is full, long and even brings in a whisper of cinnamon.”

Lamberhurst Bacchus Reserve 2012

In The Guardian David Williams started his own version of The Ashes, the cricket series between England and Australia that starts this week. He recommended both an English and Australian wine and this is his pick for English wine.

He wrote: “Unlike the cricket, there’s no doubt England are the underdogs when it comes to wine production, but on their day (as a sport pundit would put it) they can turn out some distinctive, lighter dry whites.”

He added: “Lamberhurst’s Sauvignon Blanc-like Bacchus, with its gooseberry, red apple, and English summer-bracing acidity, would not disgrace itself in a taste-off with a cooler-climate Aussie Sauvignon.”

Jansz Premium Cuvée NV

This was Williams’ pick for Australia, he wrote: “The English climate is better-suited to sparkling wine production than most of Australia, and I’ve yet to taste anything from mainland Down Under that’s definitively better than the best bottles from Ridgeview, Nyetimber, Coates & Seely or Gusbourne Estate, to name but a few.”

He added: “Tasmania is a different story, however: with a milder and more variable climate than the rest of the country, its vineyards are dominated by the classic Champagne varieties of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Examples aren’t that easy to come by over here, but Jansz’s toasty but pristine non-vintage is excellent value, if not quite as refined as, say, Coates & Seely Blanc de Blancs, Hampshire NV.”

Escarpment The Edge Pinot Noir 2012 Martinborough

Victoria Moore recommended this wine in the Daily Telegraph, she wrote: “Martinborough, tucked away on the southerly tip of New Zealand’s North Island, is becoming increasingly well known for the calibre of its Pinot Noir. I’m a big fan of the style – lighter on its feet than one from Central Otago and a bit less soprano than the high-nosed, floaty Pinots from Marlborough. This is beautifully scented – a delight.”

Riscasoli Albia Rose 2011

This “Tuscan blend of Sangiovese and Merlot” is one of the wines recommended by Terry Kirby in The Independent, for “high summer and warm weather drinking”.

He added: “A lovely pale pink, it has classic rosé flavours of red fruits, with surprising length and a nice overall mineral quality. Drink in the garden with some big prawns or a lobster.”

2012 Negroamaro, Feudi di San Marzano

In picking out her top 50 summer red wines, Jane MacQuitty, in The Times, recommended this as the “best barbecue red”. She wrote: “M&S’s Italian range goes from strength to strength, but this easy-drinking, richly coloured Negroamaro, not entirely accurately dubbed the bitter black grape, has been on its list for ages and deservedly so.”

She added: “This chunky, yet unoaked, sweet, velvety Italian red bursts with the sort of delicious, fat, heavy, spiced prune, plum and liquorice-licked fruit that makes it a great barbecue red.”

2011 Fitou by Mademoiselle Jones

This wine is listed as “Jane’s favourite” in The Times, she wrote: “Katie Jones worked for 17 years at the Tuchan co-operative, so if any Englishwoman knows what’s what at this western end of the Languedoc, she does. She owns seven hectares of up to a century-old Carignan and Grenache, plus 20-year-old Syrah. Blend together, give it a dusting of French oak and you get a dazzling fat, tangy, violets and herb scrub-scented red, with a bitter chocolate finish. Magnificent.”

2012 Amalaya, Calchaqui Valley

Matthew Jukes recommend this wine in the Daily Mail, writing: “A blend of 85% Torrontés and 15% Riesling, Amalaya is the essence of the summer, bursting with exotic perfume on the nose and a rapier-sharp finish. Perfect for upmarket entertaining.”

2008 Averys, Pioneer Range, Merlot

Jukes also picked out this wine and he wrote in the Daily Mail that “I cannot begin to explain how good this wine is in just three sentences.”

He added: “It comes from exceptional vineyards in Red Hill, in the most chichi district in Victoria – Mornington Peninsula. Bursting with red and black berry notes and blessed with a heavenly, silky texture this is a phenomenal red wine.”

Chablis AOC 2012

In the Mail on Sunday, Olly Smith’s wine of the week is “outrageous value for money”. He added “This stunner from Lidl offers zooming, breezy freshness and a real spark in the glass. Awesome stuff – fill your basket.”