Weekday wines

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

Recommended by: James Button, Tina Gellie, Georgie Hindle, Julie Sheppard, Amy Wislocki and Sylvia Wu

Yalumba, Craft 3 Sparkling Brut, South Australia 90

£10

Marks & Spencer

This fizz, made from the three traditional Champagne grapes, has bready aromas, with green apple and citrus. Savoury, yeasty biscuit flavours join ripe, honeyed yellow apple. Good acidity balances a creamy texture from malolactic fermentation and lees ageing. SW Alcohol 12%

Domaine Vincent Dampt, Chablis, Burgundy, France 2017 92

£22

Harrods

An extra year in bottle has added complexity and weight to this ‘basic’ Chablis, from one of the region’s star producers. 2017 was marred by frost and hail, but you wouldn’t know it from the ripe green-apple and citrus flavours, leafy edge and flinty minerality. TG Alc 12.5%

Donnafugata, Vigna di Gabri, Sicily, Italy 2017 91 £22 Exel

A blend of Ansonica with Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Viognier, gently oaked. Waxy, faintly honeyed nose, white flowers, peach and lime. Austere, mineral palate with a terracotta texture and bright acidity, plus flavours of pepper, stone fruit and a fresh, bitter, herbal edge. JB Alc 13%

Made by Julie, Blanc de Blancs, Vin de France 89

£10

Latimer Vintners

Julie Rispal created this fizz to bridge the gap between Prosecco and increasingly expensive Champagnes. Fresh notes of pear, peach, green apple and lemon deliver freshness, acidity and fruit with a soft finish. A blend of 60% Chardonnay, 25% Semillon and 15% Ugni Blanc. GH Alc 11%

Waterkloof, Sauvignon Blanc, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2018 92 B £18.89-£22 All About Wine,

Hennings, ND John, Noble Green

Just 4,000 bottles of this wine were made, released only in top vintages. Fruit comes from two blocks just 3km from the ocean, giving restraint and vibrancy to the textured palate of citrus peel, herbs and stony minerals. Lovely! TG Alc 14%

Inama, Soave Classico, Veneto, Italy 2018 91 £15.99 Majestic

When it comes to Soave, you can’t go wrong with Inama. From vines up to 30 years old, grown on volcanic soils in the heart of the Classico district, this is matured for eight months before bottling. Lovely spicy richness, good acidity, plus almond and stone-fruit generosity. Wonderful typicity and great value. AW Alc 12%

Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Remus, Montlouissur-Loire, France 2017 94 £20 Lay & Wheeler

A blend from the domaine’s Montlouis vineyards, aged in barrels for 12 months. A very fresh nose with melon, pear, citrus and saline notes. There’s also salinity on the palate, which is absolutely delicious, with lively zest, spice and mineral notes dancing around the lime-juice core. The bone-dry finish combines a hint of oak creaminess and nectarine sweetness with moreish acidity. JB Alc 12.5% ➢

Mockingbird Hill, Riesling, Clare Valley, South Australia 2018 91 £8.99 Waitrose

While young German Rieslings are typically more peachy and floral, Australian Riesling will give you zesty lime. This one is grown at fairly high altitude for Clare Valley, and has juicy lime in abundance – guaranteed to wake you up! Keenly priced, it would be a great match for ceviche. AW Alc 12%

Oastbrook, Pinot Gris, Sussex, England 2018 89 £19 Oastbrook, Winebuyers

Oastbrook’s first Pinot Gris is made in partnership with winemaker Simon Woodhead. White peach and apricot on the nose, with a mineral and white pepper undertone; saline green apple and lime fruits on the palate plus notes of green grass and citrus zest. The finish is very cleansing. SW Alc 12%

Nervi, Conterno Il Rosato, Gattinara, Piedmont, Italy 2018 89 £17.95 Corney & Barrow

A new wine from the owners of the Cantina Giacomo Conterno estate. This Nebbiolo rosé is dry and crisp but with oodles of mouthwatering cherry and strawberry fruit. Bakewell tart aromas make it dangerously approachable. A great aperitif option. AW Alc 13.5%

Domaine la Soumade, Cuvée Prestige, Rasteau, Rhône, France 2016 92 £18.99-£19.99 Cambridge

Wine Merchants, Dunell’s, Harrogate Fine Wine Co, Roberts & Speight

A lively, lifted GSM blend full of blackberry, dark cherry and red plums, along with wild herbs on the supple palate. There’s fresh acidity, fine structure and firm tannins, with gentle spice and a lovely sappiness. TG Alc 14%

Berry Bros & Rudd, Reserve White by Collovray & Terrier, Pays d’Oc, France 2018 90 £8.95 Berry Bros & Rudd

White stone-fruit aromas join citrus and hints of blossom. Soft and creamy texture with underlying acidity and a lemon lift. Mainly Chardonnay from Limoux, some aged in barrique, with Mauzac, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc. GH Alc 13%

Sainsbury’s, Taste the Difference Fairtrade Chenin Blanc, Wellington, South Africa 2019 88

£8 Sainsbury’s

This includes 2% of naturally fermented Chenin vinified on skins and 2% of sweet Chenin from raisined grapes. Yellow stone fruit is cut through with mouthwatering acidity, leading to a crisp, chalky finish with grapefruit pith. JS Alc 12.5%

Berry Bros & Rudd, Extra Ordinary Claret by Ch Villa Bel-Air, Graves, Bordeaux, France 2016 92 £16.95 Berry Bros & Rudd

Everything a claret lover could want: rounded with a smooth attack, packed wth rich blackberry fruit, plus a dusting of cocoa powder and warm baking-spice notes to finish. Elegantly built and a great winter food wine. JS Alc 13%

Morrisons, The Best, Marqués de Los Rios Gran Reserva, Rioja, Spain 2012 91 £12 Morrisons

A deliciously savoury red, perfect for the Sunday roast. It’s hitting a sweet spot of maturity now, with chamoislike tannins on a silky palate of wild red berries, plums and exotic spices, with wellintegrated oak and fresh acidity. TG Alc 14%

Main Divide, Pegasus Bay Riesling, Waipara Valley, Canterbury, New Zealand 2015

£13.99 Majestic

Don’t let the fact that this isn’t bone-dry put you off – it’s fantastic value for money and the marked acidity keeps it fresh, even though some botrytised fruit has been added to give it a lovely richness. Bags of ripe apricot fruit and lime citrus, with a mineral streak. Pair with fragrant Asian curries: the touch of sweetness will balance the spice. AW 12.5%

Toro Loco, La Finca, Utiel-Requena, Valencia, Spain 2018 91 £10.99 Aldi

Aldi’s basic £3.99 Toro Loco red is a customer favourite, but this far more nuanced example, from the best Bobal grapes, vinified and aged in amphorae, is well worth its modest price. Medium-bodied with currants and textural fruit tannins on the bright palate. TG Alc 13.5%

Château Pey La Tour, Réserve du Château, Bordeaux Supérieur, Bordeaux, France 2016 90 £11.50 The Wine Society

A wonderfully affordable Bordeaux full of vibrancy and freshness. Intense aromas of blackberry alongside spiced, soft tannins. It’s full-bodied but refined, with juicy fruit given structure by oak ageing. Lovely now but will age. GH Alc 14.5%

Outlook Bay, Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand 2018 90 £9.99 Lidl

Fantastic value for a New Zealand Pinot Noir! Fragrant aromas, with bright, brambly red and black berry fruits rather than the meatier, darker style of some Central Otago examples. Lean, clean and stylish, this would go down very well with roast chicken. AW Alc 13%

Vigneti Zabù, Il Passo Verde Organic Nero d’Avola, Sicily, Italy 2018 89 £12.99 Liberty Wines

A lake near the vineyards used for this special cuvée tempers the Sicilian heat. Half of the fruit is aged in French and US oak for eight months. The oak doesn’t mask the masses of dark black-cherry and plum fruit, with a hint of brown sugar on the finish. AW Alc 13%

Bodegas Verum, Ulterior Parcela No17 Graciano, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain 2016 90 £19.95 Enotria&Coe

Part of a fascinating trio – taste it alongside the Mazuelo and the Garnacha. This Graciano has spent four months in oak and eight in amphorae, rounding out the fleshy, tarry blackberry fruit. Lovely purity and length. AW Alc 13.5%

Journey’s End, Kendal Lodge Cabernet Sauvignon-MerlotCabernet Franc, Western Cape, South Africa 2018 £8 Marks & Spencer

Great value, with distinctive Cape styling. Well-extracted tannins, fresh acidity and coffee oak, with inky cassis from the 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, fleshy plum and a fresh herbal lift. TG Alc 13.5%

Sainsbury’s, Taste the Difference, St-Chinian, Languedoc, France 2016

£9 Sainsbury’s

Laurent Miquel’s family winery has produced wine here since 1791. This warm, friendly blend of 80% Syrah and 20% Grenache is densely packed with ripe dark red berries, garrigue herbs, fresh red-fruited acidity and soft tannins. TG Alc 14%

Emilio Lustau, San Emilio, Solera Familiar, Jerez, Spain 90 £11.95 Berry Bros & Rudd

Dark and rich: pure raisins in a glass! From Pedro Ximénez grapes that have been dried under the hot sun, this is smooth, complex and lusciously sweet but with enough acidity so that it doesn’t feel heavy. Buy it for a late-night tipple or to pour decadently over ice cream. GH Alc 17%

Viña Laurent, Polemico País, Secano Interior, Itata Valley, Chile 2018 92 £11.95 Corney & Barrow

Once seen as a humble grape, País steps into the limelight when grown on longforgotten, gnarly old vines. Fruit for this delicious red comes from 150-year-old ungrafted vines, and it’s made by former Bordeaux winemaker Damien Laurent and his Chilean wife Lorena. The vibrant, floral, cherry and summer-pudding palate is backed by crunchy acidity and chalky tannins. A top-value drop. TG 13%