Simon Judge
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Waitrose Autumn Press Tasting
I was invited to the Waitrose press tasting held in London in October 2025. While the overall wine market has been in decline, Waitrose has managed to outperform it in both value and volume, resulting in an increase in its market share. A notable highlight was the strong performance of New Zealand fine white wine, which has seen a 19% rise in sales compared to the previous year. There has also been a significant rise in interest for the ‘Loved and Found’ wine range, with searches on waitrose.com increasing by 84% year on year. Waitrose continues to see growing popularity…
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Majestic Autumn Press Tasting
In October 2025, I attended the Majestic tasting held at the iconic Lord’s cricket ground. It’s a lovely venue, full of space and natural light, which really added a sense of occasion to the event. Since the last tasting only five months ago, Majestic has expanded with the opening of three new stores in Thame, Christchurch and Wimborne Minster, with another due to open soon in Truro. In addition, Vagabond has now become part of Majestic and the expansion continues with the opening of two new Vagabond bars at St Paul’s and Liverpool Street. A different kind of diversification is…
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Calvet Fitou Le Grand Roi
This 2022 vintage comes from the sun-soaked region of Languedoc in the South of France, produced under the Fitou appellation, which requires at least 40% Carignan in any blend. This wine brings together Black Grenache, Carignan and Syrah in a style that’s both expressive and easy to enjoy. The bottle stands out with an eye-catching label designed in collaboration with Marc Felten, a French painter known for his bold use of colour. It’s a fitting introduction to what’s inside, suggesting vibrancy and personality. Although the label describes it as ‘powerful and generous’, this doesn’t translate into the heavy structure you…
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The Wine Society Autumn Press Tasting
I was pleased to attend The Wine Society Press tasting this time, having missed the previous one due to bereavement. Prior to this, the tastings were held at the private wine members’ club, 67 Pall Mall, which was proving too small. This time, however, the tasting was held at a new venue with expansive views across London, offering a much more accommodating space. The Wine Society made use of it, increasing the number of wines to 120 from their usual 80 to 100. More than half the wines on offer were new additions to The Wine Society’s portfolio. Despite challenging…
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Sainsbury’s Autumn Winter Press Tasting 2025
In early October, I was invited to Sainsbury’s Autumn Winter press tasting in London. This time, the venue was different, previously held in their head office food labs, which had quite a sterile feel. Wine always benefits from being served in surroundings that allow for a bit more atmosphere. This time, it was a warehouse-style space with lots of room, background music, and somewhere to sit, which made it a much nicer place to linger and take time over the 78 wines being shown. Sainsbury’s is picking up on some new trends, including what they refer to as ‘Textured Whites’,…
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25% Off Wine at Morrisons
Morrisons has 25% discount on 6 or more bottles of wine, More card price, £6 or more until 12 October 2025. See the recent press tasting for my picks.
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Domaine Bousquet Single Block ‘Wild Roots’
In late September 2025, I attended a dinner event marking the UK launch of Domaine Bousquet’s new single block ‘Wild Roots’ wines, part of the winery’s Ameri range, its flagship tier. While the focus was on these new releases, the evening offered some fascinating insight into how the soil, and only the soil, within the concept of terroir can influence a wine’s character. I’ve previously written about how Domaine Bousquet, a French-rooted producer, found its home in Argentina and became the country’s largest organic wine producer. More recently, I also had the chance to explore their range further at Davy’s…
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Lidl Autumn Press Tasting
At the start of October 2025 I attended the Lidl Autumn Press tasting in London, where 65 wines were shown that will form part of the October, November and December Wine Tours, along with a handful of new and existing wines from the core range. Lidl’s Wine Tours typically run for around two months, giving customers only a limited window to purchase these bottles while stocks last. Many of the most popular selections sell out quickly, which is part of the strategy to keep the offer lively and ever-changing. The rotation encourages shoppers to return regularly in search of new…
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Understanding Fairtrade Wine
Fairtrade wine carries the FAIRTRADE Mark licensed by the Fairtrade Foundation in the the UK, an arm of Fairtrade International. That mark tells you the grapes were grown and traded to Fairtrade Standards, with protections on price and workers’ rights and with an extra, ring-fenced community payment called the Fairtrade Premium. In wine this matters because vineyards often rely on seasonal labour and thin margins, and without protections both small growers and hired workers can struggle to make a decent living. For wine, Fairtrade certification has two parts. First, there are social standards for either small-producer co-operatives or larger estates…
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Fairtrade Talk and Tasting
I was recently invited to a roundtable and tasting event hosted by the Fairtrade Foundation to mark Fairtrade Fortnight. The event took place at the Argentinian Ambassador’s Residence in London and offered a fascinating opportunity to explore the real-world impact of Fairtrade wine on communities in Argentina, Chile and South Africa. Following the discussion, we were treated to a walk-around tasting of Fairtrade wines from producers across these three countries. The panel featured several key figures in the Fairtrade and wine sectors: Ed Robinson, Wine Buyer for The Co-op; Andrés Valero, Sustainability and CSR Leader at Bodega Argento; Aleesha Hansel,…
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Ramón Bilbao Crianza
This 2022 vintage is made entirely from Tempranillo and while it carries the Crianza level rather than the more prestigious Reserva or Gran Reserva, don’t let that fool you into underestimating this wine. In the winery, each vineyard plot is handled individually, with fermentation done separately before the final blend is brought together just ahead of its 14-month ageing period in American oak barrels. It holds a strong 3.9 rating on Vivino. Curiously, the bottle shows an IWC Silver medal for 2022, which is a bit strange considering that award is from three years ago. What they ought to be…
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Tesco Third-Party Wine Marketplace
I keep track of all the supermarket websites to find wines for my offers page. Something that has been quietly added at Tesco is the integration of online third-party marketplace sellers to include wine. Tesco relaunched its general online marketplace in June 2024, allowing shoppers to buy thousands of non-grocery products from approved partners alongside their usual food shop on Tesco.com. This sits within the groceries site, with a dedicated Marketplace section covering categories such as homeware, garden, DIY, toys, baby, pet care, electronics and more. At launch there were around 9,000 listings, but by January 2025 the number had…
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Chapel Down Drops £32m Winery Plan But Keeps Sales Sparkling
Chapel Down is one of England’s leading winemakers, based in Kent at the heart of the country’s wine-growing region. Best known for its award-winning sparkling wines made in the traditional method, it also produces still wines and runs a visitor centre with tours and tastings. Over the past two decades, Chapel Down has helped put English wine on the map, supplying top restaurants and retailers, exporting overseas and becoming the largest producer by volume and market share. Chapel Down had a steady first half of 2025. Sales went up, especially in supermarkets, and its core sparkling wines kept growing. The…
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Chassaux et Fils Atlantique Rosé
This Rosé comes from the IGP Atlantique in the southwest of France, a broad region that stretches along the Atlantic coast. The area benefits from a maritime climate, which gives rise to bright, fruit-forward wines. Produced in departments such as Gironde and Charente-Maritime, this particular example uses Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes, commonly used in the region. It’s a 2024 vintage with an alcohol content of 11%. The bottle itself is pleasantly shaped, offering a more refined look than expected at this price point. The wine itself has a light copper colour. There’s a gentle scent of melon, leading into…
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Demise of the Wine List
A noticeable trend in informal hospitality is the slow demise of the wine list. Fewer people are drinking wine when eating out, largely due to affordability issues. The rising costs in hospitality, driven by duty increases, environmental packaging regulations and national insurance, make both customers and proprietors more cautious. For proprietors, there is less incentive to curate and maintain a thoughtful wine list when demand is falling, and this leads to a gradual erosion of what was once a point of pride. A recent experience illustrated this perfectly. In the UK, at an otherwise excellent Italian market and pizzeria, which…
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Hatch Mansfield Autumn Portfolio Tasting
Hatch Mansfield is a leading UK wine agency, founded in 1994 by Patrick McGrath MW alongside partners from renowned producers including Louis Jadot, Errazuriz and Villa Maria. The company specialises in representing and distributing wines from independent, family-owned estates across the globe. While many of the wines it brings to market are found in independent wine shops, some of the more accessibly priced options also appear in supermarkets. At the recent ’25 Autumn Portfolio Tasting held in London, Hatch Mansfield showcased over 300 wines, spanning 25 brands from diverse regions. Principals and winemakers were present throughout the day, offering insight…
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25% Off Wine at Tesco
Tesco has save 25% off wine with Clubcard when you buy 6+ bottles that are £6 and over (£7 in Wales), from 16 September 2025 until 22 September 2025. See the recent Tesco tasting and Picks for tips on what to buy.
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25% Off Wine at Sainsbury’s
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 16 September 2025 to 23 September 2025. See the recent Sainsbury’s press tasting for tips on what to buy.
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Chasm de Cabrespine Minervois
This is a southern French red with an unusual story behind its ageing. Stored for six years in one of Languedoc’s most striking natural wonders, the vast Cabrespine Chasm near Carcassonne, this wine spent part of its time resting in clay amphorae set in the upper cave, then the rest submerged in an underground river some 200 metres below the surface. Reaching this hidden chamber involves descending 80 metres of ladders, squeezing through tight passages, and finally paddling a canoe through the darkness, a journey as adventurous as the wine itself. The extremes of this setting bring real benefits: total…
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Louis Pommery Brut Royal
Pommery was the first Champagne house to introduce a Brut style with low dosage back in 1874. ‘Brut Royal’ is the flagship non-vintage cuvée of the house, created to capture the essence of Pommery’s style, which is centred on liveliness, finesse and freshness. This non-vintage wine sits at 12.5% ABV and is composed of 34% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Noir and 33% Pinot Meunier. The fruit comes from 40 carefully selected villages across the Côte des Blancs, the Montagne de Reims and other areas of the Champagne region. It is matured in bottle for three years on lees, then spends a…
Pick Lists
Majestic | The Wine Society | Tesco | Waitrose | Sainsbury’s | Morrisons | Co-op | Asda | Aldi | Lidl | £7 and Under | Over £20
Did You Know?
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
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