Waitrose

  • 25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    Waitrose has 25% off 6 bottles or more of wine and Champagne priced between £6 and £100 from 26 November 2025 to 2 December 2025 inclusive. See the recent press tasting for tips on what to buy.

  • Waitrose Autumn Press Tasting

    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,…

  • Portuguese Red Blends

    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…

  • Barossa Blood Ink Shiraz

    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….

  • 25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    Waitrose has 25% off 6 bottles or more of wine and Champagne priced between £5 and £100 from 20 August 2025 to 26 August 2025 inclusive. See the recent press tasting for tips on what to buy.

  • No.1 Cederberg Syrah

    No.1 Cederberg Syrah

    I had to include this one in my awards25 series because the 2022 vintage earned both an IWC Silver and an IWSC Silver. From the West Coast of South Africa, this Syrah comes from Cederberg, where the fifth generation of the Nieuwoudt family now oversees the estate. They are widely regarded as one of the…

  • Heaphy Hill Riesling

    Heaphy Hill Riesling

    This is a distinctive white from Nelson, in the north-west of New Zealand’s South Island, a region known as Nelson Tasman. Made from 100% Riesling, this wine comes from one of New Zealand’s oldest vineyards, which is unirrigated and small in scale. The wine spent eight months resting on fine lees before bottling, adding depth…

  • Waitrose No.1 Barossa Shiraz

    Waitrose No.1 Barossa Shiraz

    This wine is part of Waitrose’s premium No.1 range, aimed at those seeking standout quality. Having been impressed by the No.1 La Val Albariño and Margaux, I had high hopes for this Shiraz, which boasts a 2025 IWC Silver medal and a 93-point rating. It’s produced by the seventh-generation Lindner family and aged in a…

  • Wildstone Roussanne

    Wildstone Roussanne

    From the Chilean producer Luis Felipe Edwards, Wildstone is a wine that pays tribute to the rugged stone that emerges untamed from the landscape, carving its own way through plains and forests of Chile itself. The grapes for this white come from the Colchagua Coast, an area increasingly recognised for producing distinctive wines. I first…

  • 25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    Waitrose has 25% off 6 bottles or more of wine and Champagne priced between £5 and £100 from 21 May to 3 June 2025 inclusive. See the recent press tasting for tips on what to buy.

  • Waitrose Spring Press Tasting 2025

    Waitrose Spring Press Tasting 2025

    I was invited to the Waitrose & Partners Spring Wine Tasting in London in April 2025, where 159 products were showcased across all drinks categories. The selection reflected a clear focus on both innovation and quality, with several key trends standing out. For Waitrose, Crémant is currently the fastest-growing category, with sales up 19% compared…

  • Blueprint Pinot Noir

    Blueprint Pinot Noir

    Blueprint Pinot Noir from Waitrose is part of a range created to highlight excellent-value, classic wines from around the world. Each bottle is chosen not just for quality, but for how faithfully it represents its style and place of origin. The label design reflects the winemaker’s region, adding a touch of visual charm to the…

  • 25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    Waitrose has 25% off 6 bottles or more of wine and Champagne priced between £6 and £100 from 16 April to 22 April 2025 inclusive. See the recent press tasting for tips on what to buy.

  • Les Dauphins Cotes du Rhone

    Les Dauphins Cotes du Rhone

    Les Dauphins wines take their cue from the vibrant spirit of 1920s Paris, a time when jazz, art, fine food and wine flourished and when the Rhône Valley saw the formation of its first co-operatives. This cultural backdrop shapes the character of these wines, which are made by the Union des Vignerons des Côtes du…

  • Blueprint Australian Shiraz

    Blueprint Australian Shiraz

    Waitrose Blueprint Australian Shiraz was a must-try for me because it was a finalist in the People’s Choice Wine Awards in the Red, Own Label category. The Blueprint range from Waitrose is designed to showcase great-value examples of classic wines from around the world, selected for their quality and their faithful representation of both style…

  • 25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    25% Off Wine at Waitrose

    Waitrose has 25% off 6 bottles or more of wine and Champagne priced between £6 and £100 from 11 March to 18 March 2025 inclusive. See the recent press tasting for tips on what to buy.

  • Fairview Barrel-Aged Pinotage

    Fairview Barrel-Aged Pinotage

    Fairview has been producing Pinotage since the 1970s, with vintner Charles Back continuing the tradition with this wine. This particular vintage, from 2022, has an ABV of 13.5% and has been aged in seasoned oak barrels. The 2020 vintage previously won a bronze medal at the International Wine Challenge. Pinotage was created in 1925 by…

  • Rustenberg Stellenbosch Malbec

    Rustenberg Stellenbosch Malbec

    This bottle was a gift from someone who came to one of my past wine tastings – thanks, Hugh. It already has a few accolades, including 91 points from James Suckling in 2023, 90 points from the Tim Atkin SA Report and a Gold Medal from the Michelangelo Wine and Spirits Awards . At 14%…

  • Calvet Sancerre Rosé

    Calvet Sancerre Rosé

    This Rosé is from the Loire Valley, France, with an ABV of 12.5%, vintage 2023. It has a pale pink colour with an aroma of red fruits. The taste is dry but not overly so, with a strong strawberry taste. What makes it particularly great is the round and mellow mouthfeel. Many other French rosé…

  • Waitrose No.1 La Val Albariño

    Waitrose No.1 La Val Albariño

    I very briefly mentioned this wine in the Waitrose Autumn Press Tasting and it warranted closer exploration. Produced by the Spanish winery Bodegas La Val, this 2023 vintage Albariño is made without oak, offering a clean and expressive character. The most intriguing aspect of this wine is how its profile transforms so dramatically as it…

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Did You Know?

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