Simon Judge
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Portuguese Red Blends
Hannah Crosbie’s Guardian piece explores why Portuguese red blends are thriving in the UK while single varietal wines struggle. Portugal has more than 250 native grapes, but field blends dominate because old vines are planted together, making blending the natural choice. Consumers are unfamiliar with grape names such as Baga, Castelão or Touriga Nacional, which makes single varietals a harder sell. By contrast, blends feel approachable, are often labelled simply as “field blend” and offer excellent value. Sommelier Sinéad Murdoch explains that blends “fly off the shelves” because people know and trust them, whereas single grape wines tend to intimidate…
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Barossa Blood Ink Shiraz
Barossa Blood Ink Shiraz is making a bold show this Halloween with a limited-edition makeover, featuring striking new front and back labels designed to catch the eye and chill the spine. While the look is for Halloween, what’s inside the bottle remains the same as the usual Barossa Ink Shiraz, the UK’s top-selling premium Shiraz. This 2024 vintage comes in at 14% ABV and continues to ride a wave of popularity, with Barossa Ink Shiraz growing at an impressive 9.8%, outpacing the wider wine category. It’s part of the broader Grant Burge label, which now stands as the second fastest-growing…
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Pierre Jaurant Sud de France Rosé
This rosé comes from the Pays d’Oc region, a broad sweep of vineyards along the southern coast of France. Assuming it remains consistent with previous vintages, it’s made entirely from Grenache and sits at 12.5% ABV. Talking of vintages, unusually, no vintage is mentioned on the bottle. Rather than being bulk bottled, this wine is bottled in France. Previously recognised as Aldi UK’s ‘Nation’s Favourite’ wine in October 2024, it has clearly won favour with many. In the glass, it’s a delicate rose gold. The aroma leans generously into citrus and red fruit, giving a lively and appealing first impression.…
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WineGB Trade and Press Tasting
At a time when France, Spain and Italy are reducing their vineyard areas, Britain, though far smaller, is expanding. Over the past year registered vineyards have risen by 74 to reach 1,104, while 25 new wineries have been added, bringing the total to 238. The planted area has grown from 4,209 hectares to 4,841 hectares, an increase of around 15 per cent, and there are now 99 different grape varieties recorded across the country. WineGB, the national trade association representing Britain’s vineyards and wineries, has had to adapt to this growth too. Their annual London tasting had outgrown its previous…
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Echo Falls Summer Berries Fruit Fusion Box
Vinarchy, a wine company formed in 2025 from the merger of Accolade Wines and Pernod Ricard Winemakers, has released its Echo Falls Summer Berries Fruit Fusion in a new box format, tapping into the growing popularity of boxed wines in the UK, with sales reportedly up 35% year-on-year. This latest addition lands squarely in the middle of that trend, though what it actually is depends on how you approach it. Technically, yes, it’s a Rosé grape blend, but you won’t find that written on the packaging. The box simply describes it as an ‘Alcoholic Mixed Beverage’ and any traditional cues…
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Aldi Autumn Winter Tasting
Aldi’s wine press tasting was at Tate Modern in London, my first press tasting of the Autumn–Winter ’25 season. The tasting was smaller than usual at around sixty-five wines plus a handful of fortifieds. The wines shown were mainly seasonal and what’s arriving soon, rather than in the core range. We were told Rosé has been a big success for Aldi over the past year. Also, Veuve Monsigny’s recent win at the World’s Best Champagne awards has driven an 80% uplift in sales. With the cost of living still biting, Aldi expects the night-in to keep outpacing the night-out, so…
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Animus Douro
This 2023 vintage wine from Vicente Faria Vinhos is a Portuguese red made in the Douro valley from a blend of 40% Touriga Franca, 30% Tinta Roriz and 30% Touriga Nacional. At 13% abv and vegan friendly, it has also earned a commendation at the IWC 2025. The fragrance is vivid, beginning with a lift of perfumed violets with a background of gentle woodiness, dark fruit and an intriguing metallic edge. On first sip, bright cherry takes the lead. It is dry but fruity, with a medium to full body and low to medium tannins that carry enough strength to…
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Champagne Foil Debate Ends as Tradition Yields to Choice
The Drinks Business is reporting that the Comité Champagne has dropped its opposition to an EU ruling that makes neck foils on Champagne bottles optional, concluding after new research that removing them neither harms sales nor damages the region’s image. The decision follows years of debate across the sparkling-wine world. English producers have argued that scrapping foils trims production costs by 10p–50p a bottle, while some Champagne houses worried that losing this luxury cue might dent demand. Environmental arguments also featured, with estimates that foils account for about 0.6% of Champagne’s production-related greenhouse-gas emissions. Others stressed hygiene and security. A…
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Jam Shed Sauvignon Blanc 1.5l Box
Jam Shed Sauvignon Blanc is a new wine under the familiar Jam Shed label, appearing in a smaller 1.5-litre mini box format, the equivalent of two standard bottles. This release comes from Vinarchy, a wine company formed in 2025 from the merger of Accolade Wines and Pernod Ricard Winemakers. The name blends Vin, French for wine, and archy, from the Ancient Greek for leadership. The group now manages a broad portfolio of global brands, including Hardys, Campo Viejo and Jacob’s Creek. Jam Shed itself has carved a reputation for producing approachable, flavour-driven wines that offer good value. Drawing inspiration from…
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Spain’s Wine Industry at a Red-White Crossroads
The American Association of Wine Economists recently posted a chart showing Spain’s wine production has been declining and it has also shifted away from red. Spain’s falling output is mostly a climate story, amplified by weaker demand and policy responses. After peaking in 2018, production has trended lower as drought, heat and erratic rainfall have reduced yields and made harvests earlier and more variable. 2023 was especially poor, with Spain’s wine output dropping to about 28.3 million hectolitres, its lowest since the mid-1990s. At the same time Spain’s vineyard area edged down by about 1% in 2023, and authorities activated…
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Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs Brut Sparkling Wine
Part of my #awards25 series, this South African sparkling has a Gold Medal from the IWSC 2025 with an impressive 96 points. It’s from Robertson in the Western Cape and is an example of a ‘blanc de blancs’, a term that means white wine made solely from white grapes. In this case, it’s 100% Chardonnay. Produced using the Méthode Cap Classique, South Africa’s take on the Traditional Method used in Champagne, it undergoes its second fermentation in the bottle. This is the 2019 vintage, though it was only disgorged in 2024, allowing time for ageing. The bubbles are small and…
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Fast Track Guide to What Makes Wine Taste the Way It Does
At a high level, what you taste in a wine comes from three places: the grapes and their fermentation (primary aromas and flavours), the choices made after fermentation (secondary, such as oak, malolactic and lees) and the effects of maturation and age (tertiary). Thinking in these three layers helps you separate where specific notes and textures originate. The growing environment is fundamental because it governs how grapes ripen, which sets the baseline for sugar, acidity, tannin, alcohol and the spectrum of fruit and non-fruit flavours. Vines need heat, sunlight, water, nutrients and carbon dioxide to complete their annual cycle and…
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Screaming Devil Côtes de Provence Rosé
I’ve previously written about this wine, picking it out at Asda press tastings. The new 2024 vintage had a lot to live up to, so I was eager to see whether it matched the standard set by earlier years. For anyone unfamiliar, Screaming Devil is a tongue-in-cheek spin on Whispering Angel, a name that quickly caught attention, helped along by a sleek bottle design and a price tag that made it an instant favourite among fans of more premium rosé. At 12.5%, this ‘dupe’ is made from a blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah grapes. It’s produced and bottled at…
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Ramos Family Reserva Tinto
This is a great red I came across at the London Wine Show, showed by Oakley Wine Agencies, the UK importer. Originating from Portugal, it’s the result of João Portugal Ramos’ work in Estremoz, Alentejo, where he began planting vines back in 1989. The wine brings together Alicante Bouschet, Touriga Nacional grapes and a handful of indigenous varietals with part of the blend aged in oak. At 13% ABV and from the 2023 vintage, it’s approachable straight from the bottle without the need for breathing. It opens with a caramel aroma that leads into a dry yet fruit-driven character, rich…
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Bordeaux Royalty Chooses Vin de France
Château Lafleur has fired the starting gun on one of the most consequential shifts in modern Bordeaux. In a letter dated Sunday 24 August 2025, the Guinaudeau family confirmed that, from the 2025 harvest, all six of the estate’s wines will drop the appellations of Pomerol and Bordeaux and be labelled Vin de France. For a domaine whose micro-parcels in Pomerol are among the most coveted in the world, the step is as audacious as it is symbolic. The letter frames the decision as the logical extension of Lafleur’s long-held philosophy of working “off the beaten path”. It argues that…
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Louis Couturier Crémant de Bordeaux Rosé
A sparkling Rosé from the heart of the Entre-deux-Mers, the stretch of land between the Dordogne and Garonne rivers. Dry in style and produced by Les Grands Chais de France, a large cooperative and négociant house known for its wide portfolio across Bordeaux and beyond, this wine comes in at 11.5% ABV. It is made predominantly from Merlot at 90% with a touch of Cabernet Franc making up the rest. Its quality has not gone unnoticed, earning a Bronze medal at the IWC 2025. It pours with a rose gold hue, throwing off a fine stream of small bubbles in…
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Climate Change Fuels Rise of Non-Vintage Wines
The BBC is reporting that climate change is leading more winemakers to produce non-vintage still wines, blending grapes from different years to cope with increasingly unpredictable weather. While vintage has long been seen as a mark of quality, extreme conditions like heatwaves, wildfires, and frosts are making single-year production more difficult. To maintain consistency and avoid spoilage, respected producers in California and Italy are embracing non-vintage blends, despite lingering stigma. Winemakers such as Chris Howell in Napa Valley and Riccardo Pasqua in northern Italy have turned to multi-year blends after facing climate-related challenges. Both argue that blending across vintages allows…
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Leyda Pinot Noir Rosé
This Pinot Noir rosé from Chile is made by the renowned Chilean winery Viña Leyda. It comes from Chile’s Valle de Leyda in the San Antonio Valley, part of the Aconcagua region. Viña Leyda is widely recognised and is the most awarded coastal winery in Chile. Its reputation is further bolstered by the achievements of its team, with viticulturist Tomas Rivera being named Best of the Year in Tim Atkin’s 2022 Chile report, two years after Viviana Navarette was selected as his Best Winemaker. This 2023 vintage sits at 12.5% ABV and is made entirely from Pinot Noir. The grapes…
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Grape Explications
Neal Hulkower, author of Grape Explications, sent me his book to review. It is less a single, neatly packaged volume and more a glorious grab bag of articles, essays and musings. Think of it as a well-stocked cellar of words poured from his writing since the late 1970s. Neal David Hulkower is a wine writer, reviewer and tasting room professional with decades of experience, all seasoned by an earlier life in academia, aerospace and the boardrooms of technology and operations. Since the late 1960s, he has been everywhere wine has needed him: pouring in Oregon tasting rooms, selling in shops,…
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Comte de Saint Emmanuel
This arrived by accident, a substitute for a bottle that never turned up. The name may sound grand, but it’s a white label name without particular provenance. However, behind it is the producer Amand Chaperon, with grapes coming from the Entre-Deux-Mers region. A blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it promised familiarity, though expectations were kept low given its 2024 vintage. I suspected something overly tannic and too young to enjoy now. It opens with a dark fruit aroma, immediately giving way to a generous burst of fruit on the first sip. The structure is medium bodied, with medium tannins…
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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