Weekday wines

Looking to try something different or adventurous, but don’t want to make an expensive mistake? Decanter’s associate editor Tina Gellie has done the hard work for you, picking out 25 exciting and accessible wines available in the UK for £25 or less

Tina Gellie recommends 25 great-value wines you can find on the UK shelves for under £25

Simonnet-Febvre, Crémant de Bourgogne Brut, Burgundy, France NV 91 £15.99 Haywood Wines, Inverarity One to One, The Drink Shop This winery has made crémants since the 1840s. Its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend shows toasty orchard fruit aromas that continue on a creamy palate with yeasty complexity and a pineapple finish. Alcohol 12% Angel Sequeiros, Quinta Gaviñeira Albariño, Rías Baixas, Spain 2014 91 £15.25 Master of Malt, Top Selection Angel Sequeiros bought this estate in 1960. Today its century-old Albariño vineyards are managed by his son Clement. Zesty and mouthfilling with great aromatic lift and palate weight, packed with musky peach, cashew tones and a saline, mineral tang. Alc 13% Clos Rocailleux, Far from the Eye, Gaillac, Southwest France 2016 91 £18 Red Squirrel Len de l’El is a grape that’s local to Gaillac, but it was almost wiped out by phylloxera. It’s usually made as a sweet wine (and often blended with Mauzac), but this is a deliciously dry varietal version with forward appley freshness. Limited stock. Alc 12% Banfi, Rosa Regale, Brachetto d’Aqui, Piedmont, Italy 2017 91 £16.99 Ann et Vin, Flagship Wines, Just in Cases, Weavers, Winedirect This sweet, frothy raspberry nectar is a guilty pleasure! Plush strawberry, grenadine and floral notes are kept in line by fruit tannins and fresh acidity. A quirky fizz, perfect alongside birthday cake, or with blue cheese or chocolate. Alc 7% Bioweingut Diwald, Grossriedenthaler Löss, Wagram, Austria 2017 91 £17 Red Squirrel A pioneering winery in Wagram – organic since the 1980s – now run by Martin Diwald. Unoaked to let the Grüner Veltliner fruit (from clay Löss soil) shine, the rich apple and pear flavours show real vitality and brightness, lifted by a tickle of ginger and white pepper. Alc 12% Crittenden Estate, Peninsula Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia 2016 91 £18.80-£22 Berry Bros & Rudd, Field & Fawcett, Noble Green Rollo Crittenden is making great strides at this estate, founded in 1982 by his pioneering father Gary. A beautiful cool-climate Chardonnay: taut, tangy and savoury with green apple fruit and baking spices. Alc 13%

Parés Balta, Calcari Xarel-lo, Penedès, Spain 2016 91 £15 Top Selection A cracking biodynamic Xarel-lo (one of the three traditional Cava grapes) that would flummox most in a blind tasting. Long lees ageing has given great creaminess to the broad pear fruit, kept vibrant by citrus acidity. Beautiful focus and originality. Alc 12.5% Hay Shed Hill, Chardonnay, Margaret River, Western Australia 2016 90 £18.99 Handford, Oz Wines This property was once a farm for returned WWI soldiers, the hay shed of its name dating from then. Made from free-run juice, this was aged for 11 months, giving a restrained yet vibrant palate of melon and orchard fruit with a leafy edge. Alc 13% Reh Kendermann, Terroir Series Riesling Vom Löss Trocken, Pfalz, Germany 2017 88 £8 Morrisons A modern expression of dry German Riesling, showing fresh kiwi fruit, wet stone and soft tropical notes. It’s not overly complex, but the aromatic fruit is balanced by bright acidity and it offers fine value for money, with good varietal character. Alc 12.5% Pietradolce, Etna Rosato, Sicily, Italy 2017 90 £16.50 Armit Wines, Baglio Wines A serious rosé from a single vineyard of old bush vines on the northern slopes of Mt Etna. Wild herbs, bitter orange and peppery iodine notes combine with high acidity on a rich, textured palate, with structure and spice from three months’ oak ageing. Alc 13.5% Astrolabe, Wrekin Vineyard Chenin Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand 2016 90 £18.40 Armit, Hic Simon and Jane Waghorn’s complex, partly barrelfermented Chenin Blanc shows that it’s not just South Africa that can impress with this Loire variety. Rich, creamy, leesy notes join honeyed apple crumble flavours and a squeeze of lemon acidity. Alc 14% Rimapere, Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand 2017 89 £17 Cheers Rimapere is Maori for ‘five arrows’, the Rothschild family emblem, as the winery is a joint venture between Baron Benjamin de Rothschild and Terry Peabody, owner of Craggy Range. Intense passion fruit and gooseberry notes, with zingy acidity. Alc 13% Cantina Orsogna, Lunaria Ramoro Pinot Grigio, Terre di Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy 2017 90 £15 Red Squirrel Pinot Grigio, but not as you know it! Skin contact (as with orange wines) has given the copper-pink hue plus texture and bags of flavour: peaches, redcurrants and aromatic floral notes with an Aperol-like, herbal citrus hint. Alc 13.5% Cantine Tomaso Gianolio, Nebbiolo d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy 2016 92 £20 Top Selection Sheer drinkability here from this family producer. Tart red cherry fruit, lifted floral and dried herb notes are supported by bright acidity and elegant tannins from 12 months’ ageing in large Slavonian oak barrels, which gives this wine the structure to age too. Alc 13.5%