206K visits/month

Simon Judge

  • Orange Wine Masters

    Orange Wine Masters

    ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    The Global Orange Wine Masters 2026 suggests that orange wine is becoming a more technically accomplished and refined category. Judges found no obvious technical faults, including unwanted oxidation, which has historically affected some skin-contact wines. The main weakness was excessive astringency. Several wines extracted so much phenolic material from the grape skins that tannin and bitterness overwhelmed the fruit. The best wines achieved the same sort of balance expected of fine red or white wine, combining fruit, acidity, texture, tannin and, where relevant, oak without any one component dominating. Gérard Bertrand was the standout producer. They won three Gold medals…

  • Ormarine Cuvée Estela Picpoul de Pinet

    Ormarine Cuvée Estela Picpoul de Pinet

    , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    This is the new 2025 vintage of this distinctive Picpoul from the South of France. It comes from the Languedoc, now administratively part of Occitanie, specifically the AOP Picpoul de Pinet appellation in Hérault. Unlike a classic Picpoul, Cuvée Estela spends a minimum of six months ageing on its lees, giving the wine greater weight and a richer, more rounded mouthfeel. The label prominently carries the words “Élevée sur Lies Fines”, making a clear distinction between this fuller lees-aged version and the producer’s more straightforward Picpoul bottlings. It comes in at 12.5% ABV. In the glass it is a pale…

  • Calabria Bélena Pinot Grigio

    Calabria Bélena Pinot Grigio

    , , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    I covered the Calabria and Bélena story in my review of the sister Rosé wine. Calabria is an Italian family that migrated to Australia in 1945, and this one takes the Italian connection a little further, using one of Italy’s classic white grape varieties. This is the 2025 vintage, made from 100% Pinot Grigio and coming in at 12% ABV. As with the Rosé, the decorative, faceted crystal-style clear-glass bottle feels rather more Italian than Australian, and it is good enough to keep afterwards as a decorative water bottle. Both the bottle and the labels look considerably more premium than…

  • Esporão Monte Velho Red

    Esporão Monte Velho Red

    , , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Esporão is a producer I’ve liked for a long time, particularly for its Reserva. A few of their newer, more approachable wines have appeared in supermarkets very recently and I’ve been less impressed with those, so I was interested to try Monte Velho Red. It is again aimed at being an accessible, everyday wine, but it is available through more premium retailers. It comes from Portugal’s Alentejo wine region and was first released in 1992 as a more accessible, everyday expression inspired by Esporão Reserva. The blend changes somewhat with each vintage. There’s lots of information on the back label,…

  • 25% Off Wine at Sainsbury’s

    25% Off Wine at Sainsbury’s

    ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Sainsbury’s has 25% off wine for Nectar loyalty card holders, sparkling and Champagne, 6 bottles or more, £6 or more (£7 in Wales), from 24 August to 30 August 2026. See the Sainsbury’s Pick List for tips on what to buy.

  • Erazuriz Estate Reserva Pinot Noir

    Erazuriz Estate Reserva Pinot Noir

    , , , , , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Viña Errázuriz was founded in 1870 by Don Maximiano Errázuriz, who introduced French grape varieties to Chile’s Aconcagua Valley in Chile. This is the 2025 vintage, made from 100% Pinot Noir. It is lightly oaked, with 50% of the wine subsequently aged for six months in French oak barrels, and comes in at 13% abv. It pours a pale red, with red cherry, strawberry and rose coming through alongside a lovely herbal character. Strawberries and cherries lead the way when drinking, followed by gentle spice and a savoury mushroom character. It is dry, with a light to medium body, although…

  • Izakaya Red

    Izakaya Red

    , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Last week I was in London and ate at Maki & Ramen in Soho. I’m becoming increasingly sceptical about ordering wine when eating out, partly because I’ve been disappointed too many times, and partly because some of the mark-ups are eye-watering. This time, though, I tentatively ordered the Izakaya Red from Portugal, described on the drinks list as “Specially made to compliment Japanese Cuisine”. It turned out to be a bit of a good surprise. The wine is Vinho Tinto by Caves Campelo in Portugal. The back label goes even further, declaring it “The Ultimate Wine for Asia Cuisine”. It…

  • Villiera Cap Classique Brut

    Villiera Cap Classique Brut

    , , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Villiera Cap Classique Brut comes from South Africa, from a producer that has become one of the country’s most respected names in sparkling wine. Villiera played an important part in establishing Cap Classique as one of South Africa’s flagship wine styles and became particularly associated with traditional-method sparkling wine, helped in its early years by Champagne producer Jean-Louis Denois. The word “Tradition” is particularly fitting here, as this was Villiera’s first Cap Classique, first produced in 1984. Villiera Wines is also home to the Pebbles Project, which enriches the lives of thousands of children in the Winelands of the Western…

  • Wine Has a Replacement Problem

    Wine Has a Replacement Problem

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    There’s a long piece on the BBC about young adults increasingly turning to prescription drugs rather than alcohol. That, together with greater health awareness, the growing use of other drugs and the rise of prescribed weight-loss drugs, made me wonder about the effect all this has on wine consumption. Wine drinking tends to make up a larger share of alcohol consumption as people get older. A particularly useful UK source is Defra’s Family Food dataset for the 2024 financial year, which reports household purchases of “wine and champagne” according to the age of the household reference person. ml per person…

  • Calabria Bélena Rosé

    Calabria Bélena Rosé

    , , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Calabria Bélena Rosé comes from Calabria Family Wines, drawing fruit from NSW/South Australia. “True Partnership” appears on the label, and there is a family story behind it. The name Bélena pays respect to the second generation, Bill and Lena Calabria, combining “Bill” and “Lena”. It celebrates their partnership in guiding the family through difficult periods and building a future for the generations that followed. The family originally came from Italy and the business is now into its fourth generation. It began in 1945 with Francesco and Elisabetta, who courageously journeyed across the world to forge a new future for their…

  • 25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Waitrose has 25% off 6 bottles or more of wine and Champagne priced between £6 and £100 from 19 August 2026 to 1 September 2026 inclusive. See the pick list for tips on what to buy. This offer isn’t available in branches in Scotland, Wales or Jersey, motorway service stations, Welcome Break or petrol stations.

  • 25% Off Wine at Tesco

    25% Off Wine at Tesco

    ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Tesco has save 25% off wine with Clubcard when you buy 6+ bottles that are £6 and over (£7 in Wales) from 19 August 2026 until 31 August 2026. See the Tesco Pick List for tips on what to buy.

  • 25% Off Wine at Morrisons

    25% Off Wine at Morrisons

    ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Morrisons has 25% discount on 6 or more bottles of wine, More Card price, £6 or more from 17 August 2026 until 30 August 2026. See the Morrisons pick list for recommendations. Note that the Morrisons web site is deficient and can only show one offer, for a wine, at a time. If you go in store you will find some wines are on double offer!

  • Heritage Côtes De Provence Rosé

    Heritage Côtes De Provence Rosé

    , , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Héritage Rosé from Famille Negrel comes from Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire. The producer is a little shy about revealing the exact blend, but it’s likely to be Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. This is the 2024 vintage, vegan, with 12.5% abv, and it has an impressive 3.9 rating on Vivino. In the glass, it’s a very pale salmon. Strawberry, redcurrant, pink grapefruit and white flower aromas give it a bright, summery character. It’s dry, with delicate red fruit and citrus, brisk acidity and a light salinity. Medium to full in body, it has a particularly satisfying mouthfeel, and that extra sense…

  • How Climate Change Could Reshape the Taste of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

    How Climate Change Could Reshape the Taste of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

    , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    A new paper asks, as vineyards get warmer and drier, will familiar grapes such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir continue to taste recognisably like themselves? The researchers analysed 256 grape-juice samples from 80 vineyards across 13 European and Argentine wine regions over the 2019–2021 vintages, looking at vine water stress and thousands of metabolites. One of the most interesting findings is that water stress is not simply “bad”. Increasing water deficit was associated with changes in hundreds of compounds, including phenolics, antioxidant compounds and glycosidic aroma precursors, compounds stored in grapes that can subsequently contribute to wine aroma. Many of…

  • Gaia Organic Malbec

    Gaia Organic Malbec

    , , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Gaia Organic Malbec takes its name from Gaia, the green goddess of the earth, who appears on the label. Behind it is a touch of French winemaking brought to Argentina by Domaine Bousquet, whose roots are in Carcassonne in southern France. The grapes are grown at 1,200 metres in Gualtallary, in Mendoza’s Tupungato Valley, where huge temperature shifts between day and night help shape the wine. The estate is organic, Demeter certified and also vegan. For this 2023 vintage, the wine comes in a lighter glass bottle than previously. It is made from 100% estate-grown Malbec grapes, aged in French…

  • Ombra Antica Galatina Rosso

    Ombra Antica Galatina Rosso

    , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    This is new to Laithwaites, and it comes from a tiny Italian wine region that is easy to overlook. Galatina, down in Puglia, is so small that the whole region produces roughly the same amount of wine as one medium-sized Italian estate. Rather unexpectedly, I found out more about the label on LinkedIn. It was designed by Miguel de Almeida Design. The central design takes its inspiration from the Torravento monastery in the Galatina area, along with the local tradition of the tarantata. This is connected with the historical belief that people bitten by a spider could be cured, or…

  • Vavasour Sauvignon Blanc

    Vavasour Sauvignon Blanc

    , , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    I’ve picked out this wine at several past Co-op press tastings, so it felt like time to take a closer look at it. Vavasour is the name of the winery, one of the founding wineries in Marlborough’s Awatere Valley, an area once considered too cool, dry and exposed for serious viticulture. The rooster on the Vavasour label comes from the Vavasour family crest. The imagery refers to the family’s Anglo-Norman heritage, with an early Vavasour ancestor traditionally said to have served as a wine taster for William the Conqueror! This is the 2025 vintage and comes in at 12.5% ABV.…

  • CDA CFWC624SS Wine Cooler

    CDA CFWC624SS Wine Cooler

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    I previously had a Caple dual-zone wine cooler and, to be truthful, it was a bit of a pain over the years. The fan became very noisy and eventually had to be replaced. I ended up fitting a special low-noise fan. The control panel also suddenly failed to display all the temperature number digits properly and it eventually ran continuously without ever reaching the selected temperatures. It became so unreliable that we eventually stopped using it altogether and it sat switched off for the last few years. The old Caple was using around 486 kWh per year, which at the…

  • Bordeaux to Allow Sweetening of Wines

    Bordeaux to Allow Sweetening of Wines

    , ,

    ·

    By

    Simon Judge

    –

    Meininger reports that Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur producers are updating rules that will allow wines of all styles, including reds, clarets, rosés and whites, to contain up to 7 grams of residual sugar per litre after fermentation. The move will mark a departure from Bordeaux’s traditional association with fully dry wines and has prompted concerns that the region could follow other European appellations towards softer, more commercially driven styles. The proposal was approved by the appellations’ management body on 26 June 2026, following a wider ruling by France’s INAO permitting the sweetening of dry AOC still wines under certain conditions.…

Pick Lists


Majestic | The Wine Society | Tesco | Waitrose | Sainsbury’s | Morrisons | Co-op | Asda | Aldi | Lidl | £7 and Under | Over £20

TipS – Infographics


Buying | Menu Ordering | Labels | Drinking | Storing | Pairing

Did You Know?

Nearly a third (32%) of UK consumers say they have already used AI for alcoholic drinks advice. More

Among socially active wine buyers, 37% have bought a wine recommended online. More

In 2026, 72% of consumers now think wine knowledge is essential to appreciation, up 20 percentage points on 2025. More

Rías Baixas wines reached more than 107 countries in 2025 and exports represented 31 per cent of the denomination’s total sales. More

Light Strike Can Cause Wine Degradation in Just One Day. More

People actively adjust their wine choices depending on who might see them. More

In the UK, 73% of Alcohol is Bought From Retail Rather Than Hospitality. More

UK wine production reached 124,377 hectolitres that year, meaning the UK accounted for roughly 0.05 per cent of world output. More

For Crémant, grapes must be harvested by hand and the wines must undergo at least nine months’ ageing before release. More

In 2024, the UK was the second-largest export market for Champagne globally, after the United States. More

Local UK bottling of wine represents about 40% of imported wine. More

Around 1% of people, typically severe asthmatics, have a sulphite sensitivity. More

A large 80% of Australian wine arrives in the UK in bulk. More

Only about 0.02% of Australia’s landmass is dedicated to vineyards. More

In 2024, New Zealand produced only 1% of the World’s wine. More

In 2024, the US imported 37% of World production of Pinot Grigio and the UK was is in second place at 27%. More

In 2024, the UK was South Africa’s largest export market, with 40% of total exports. More

In 2024, the United Kingdom imported 22.3 million bottles of Champagne, a decline of 12.7% compared to the previous year. More

Larger Champagne producers source grapes from as many as 80 different vineyards throughout Champagne. More

Champagne houses and growers collectively produce around 300 million bottles annually. More

In 2025, the Champagne region was home to about 2,124 Champagne houses and approximately 19,000 growers. More

Provence is one of the leaders in the conversion to organic viticulture, with 61% of vineyards certified. More

8% of the South Africa’s grape production is Fairtrade-certified. More

Up to 80% of wine aroma compounds come from grape skins. More

Glycerol is the third-largest component of most dry wines after water and alcohol which is why they so often feel ‘smooth’ or ‘silky’ in the mouth. More

Humans are more than 400 times more sensitive to bitter than sweet. More

Humans can detect the earthy molecule geosmin at about 100 parts per trillion and camels are so sensitive to it they can locate damp ground from roughly 50 miles away. More

During the phylloxera crisis of the nineteenth century, 90% of Europe’s vineyards were destroyed. More

In 2025, for La Vieille Ferme, also known as “The Chicken Wine”, sales surged by 49.4% to £110.8 million. More

In 2025, in the UK, Yellow Tail held the top position with sales, marking a 9.8% increase over the previous year. More

In 2024, the UK was the second-largest wine importer in volume and value. More

In 2024, the UK was the fifth-largest wine-consuming country globally. More

In 2025, global wine consumption continued its downward trend, estimated at 214.2 million hectolitres, the lowest since 1961. More

In 2025, online alcohol sales had a 20% increase in value over five years. More

In 2025, the number of UK vineyards rose to 1,104 and wineries to 238, with land under vine expanding to 4,841 hectares, a 510% increase since 2005. More

Moët Hennessy alone commands nearly 46.66% of the Champagne market, with the top three producers together holding about 61%, and the top five controlling over 72%. More

In 2024, the Champagne market was worth roughly €3.92 billion. More

In the marketing year 2023/24, white wine accounted for roughly 55% of Spain’s output, whereas red and rosé together made up about 45%. More

In the UK, 92% of wine is consumed within 48hrs of purchase. More

The majority of wines, 95%, use commercial rather than wild yeast. More

Between 0.5 and 10 litres of water, per litre of wine, are needed for cleaning during winemaking. More

Machine harvesting can achieve up to 100 tons of fruit per day vs 1 ton for a human. More

In Germany, 2025 was the smallest wine vintage since 2010. More

The majority of vineyards, 90% in 2019, are farmed with heavy chemical interventions. Only 6% are organic. More

90% of low and coastal areas in south Europe and California will no longer be able to produce good wine by the end of the century. More

IMAGE WALL

View all the images

Tools

Typicity

Food & Wine Pairing

Recent

Tags

25% Off Wine Aldi Amarone Argentina Articles Asda Australia Award Awards25 Bizarre Blog Books Bordeaux Bulk Bottling Cabernet Sauvignon Carménère Cava Champagne Chardonnay Chile Climate Change Coop Crémant Decanter Duty English Wine EPR Fairtrade Food France Germany Glossary Greece Health Hungary Iceland Italy IWSC Jeroboams Laithwaites Legislation Liberty Wines Lidl Low Alcohol M&S Majestic Malbec Merch Merlot Morrisons Natural News New Zealand Non-Alcoholic Ocado Old Vine Organic Past Tastings Pick List Pinotage Pinot Grigio Pinot Noir Port Portugal Primitivo Prosecco Regulations Research Reviews Ribera del Duero Riesling Rioja Ripasso Rose Sainsbury's Saperavi Sauvignon Blanc Shiraz Sicily South Africa Spain Sparkling Supermarkets Sustainable Tax Terroir Tesco The Wine Society Unrepresented USA Valpolicella Virgin Wines Waitrose Wanderlust Welsh Wine What to Buy Wine Art WineGB WIne Glasses Zinfandel