What to Buy

Other peoples’ recommendations of what to buy

  • Finding Good Value

    Finding Good Value

    Victoria Moore, a wine correspondent from the Telegraph Newspaper, discusses the impact of inflation on wine prices in her recent article (article might be behind paywall by the time you read this). She notes that British shoppers are typically thrifty when buying wine, often seeking the best deals, particularly in supermarkets. Moore acknowledges the challenge…

  • Reviving the Riches of Australian Shiraz

    Reviving the Riches of Australian Shiraz

    Fiona Beckett from the Guardian Newspaper has an article on Australian Shiraz. In the 1990s, her favourite red wine was Australian shiraz, admired for its voluptuous, ripe and smooth qualities. However, tastes evolved and these wines became known as too sweet and jammy. However, recently, at a wine tasting, Fiona was impressed with the quality…

  • Top 100 Winners

    Top 100 Winners

    The Wine Merchant Magazine runs an annual competition where a selected panel of independent merchants blind-taste their way through more than 1,000 wines. The result is a great list of wines (also available as a magazine supplement) which arguably is the best of the best. Here are the value wines from the list: Best Value…

  • White Castle Vineyard Triumphs at 2023 Welsh Wine Awards

    White Castle Vineyard Triumphs at 2023 Welsh Wine Awards

    The Welsh wine industry celebrated the 2023 Welsh Wine Awards, held at the Llanerch Vineyard Hotel in Hensol on 6 November, 2023. The awards, marking their most successful year yet, were organised by the Welsh Vineyards Association (WVA) . In a year that also commemorates WVA’s tenth anniversary, the competition saw a record-breaking entry of…

  • Good Housekeeping’s German Rieslings

    Good Housekeeping’s German Rieslings

    The Good Housekeeping Institute’s annual Wine Awards panel, consisting of 10 WSET-accredited experts, sampled various bottles to identify the Best German Rieslings, for 2023. German Riesling wines are renowned for their sophisticated flavours, intricate depth, and invigorating zest. These wines offer a spectrum of tastes, from exceedingly dry to delightfully sweet, and usually feature a…

  • The Evolving Advice for UK Wine Buying

    The Evolving Advice for UK Wine Buying

    The UK’s wine market is undergoing a transformation, influenced by factors like the cost of living crisis, Brexit and new alcohol duty regulations. David Williams, a wine writer for The Guardian newspaper, has some advice for navigating this shifting landscape. David says the new baseline for a good, everyday bottle is £8 rather than £5.99….

  • Portuguese Wines to Try

    Portuguese Wines to Try

    An article by Nicky Rampley-Clarke in the Evening Standard looks into the diverse world of Portuguese wines which come from 55 different regions and almost 200 indigenous grape varieties. The most well-known regions include Douro, Minho, and Dão, each offering unique flavours and characteristics. Portuguese wines are generally made from indigenous grapes, giving them a…

  • Good Housekeeping Wine Awards 2023

    Good Housekeeping Wine Awards 2023

    The Good Housekeeping Wine Awards 2023 uncovers great wines across various price points, styles and regions. The awards are backed by rigorous testing from the Good Housekeeping Institute, which has a long-standing reputation for evaluating the best in food and drink. For the inaugural awards, experts tasted wines from nine key wine-growing countries and assessed…

  • Quickly Picking a Wine

    Quickly Picking a Wine

    Victoria Moore of The Telegraph highlights the familiar feeling of brain fog when faced with an overwhelming selection of wine bottles in a shop. She offers a solution for swiftly picking a wine, presenting both budget-friendly choices and pricier ‘upgrade’ alternatives Last of the summer roséBudget buy: La Vieille Ferme Rosé 2022, France – Asda…

  • Decanter World Wine ‘Value’ Awards

    Decanter World Wine ‘Value’ Awards

    Decanter has introduced a ‘Value’ category this year for wines that score above 95 (out of 100). A wine is considered ‘Value’ if it’s priced at £14.99 or below. In 2023, the wines in the Value category made up 13.48% of the 705 Gold medals given out. The criteria for these wines include exceptional fruit…

  • Red Wines for Summer, under £10

    Red Wines for Summer, under £10

    Recently, there’s been a surge in awareness about the alcohol by volume (abv) levels in wines. The duty on wines is now influenced by their alcohol content, with a notable increase for wines between 11.5% and 14.5%. This has prompted wine drinkers to be more discerning about the figures on wine labels, especially those seeking…

  • Tips for Waitrose

    Tips for Waitrose

    Jancis Robinson has useful ‘Bargains at Waitrose‘ blog post that mentions some of the more affordable, great wines available from Waitrose: WhitesA A Badenhorst, The Curator 2022 Coastal Region 13%, South Africa £8.99Morandé, Terrarum Patrimonial Semillón 2022 Maule 12.5% Chile £9.99Markus Huber Grüner Veltliner 2022 Traisental 12.5%, Austria £10.99Zacharias Assyrtiko 2022 Peloponnese 14% Greece £11.99…

  • Supermarket Comparison Sites

    Supermarket Comparison Sites

    Supermarket comparison websites can be handy when shopping for wines. I use them in two ways. The first is for branded wine, where it’s possible to find the current lowest price, and with some platforms, the fluctuation in price over time. The second way is to use them to discover all wines of a certain…

  • Best Supermarket Prosecco of 2023

    Best Supermarket Prosecco of 2023

    A recent article in the Evening Standard highlights the Best supermarket Prosecco of 2023. According to the Prosecco DOC Consortium, the UK imported 130 million bottles in 2022, reflecting a 3.5% increase from the 2021 volume. However, the Evening Standard’s article contains an inaccuracy, stating that Prosecco is made in the same way as Champagne,…

  • International Wine & Spirit Competition 2023

    International Wine & Spirit Competition 2023

    The IWSC, or the International Wine & Spirit Competition, is an annual competition that assesses and awards the highest-quality wines and spirits from around the world. Unfortunately, the IWSC web site isn’t really designed for consumers and instead it serves producers and retailers who put award stickers on their bottles. You can browse the results…

  • International Wine Challenge 2023

    International Wine Challenge 2023

    The results for the International Wine Challenge™ 2023, have recently been released. Over 40 countries entered, with thousands of wines, all of which were evaluated in a blind taste test by a panel of international experts. Over 6,000 wines received accolades. While well-established wine-producing countries like France, Australia, and Spain secured a prominent position in…

  • Decanter’s Top Supermarket Wines

    Decanter’s Top Supermarket Wines

    Decanter is often associated with covering on high-end wines. However, they also evaluate supermarket wines, which can be found in the ‘Weekday Wines’ in their magazine. A tip is to go to decanter.com and select the Wine Reviews… Supermarket Wines section. Alternatively, this link currently works. Any wine with a rating above 89 matches the…

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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