Meet the judges with A LOT of BOTTLE

The sun is shining, the banqueting table here at Daily Mail HQ is groaning under the weight of 160 superior bottles of wine – all wrapped in tin foil – and the judges are licking their lips at the prospect of blind-tasting them for the first ever Daily Mail Wine Awards.

That’s the tempting scene as our esteemed panel, compered and marshalled by Weekend’s wine columnist Matthew Jukes, take their places. Today’s expert judges – top chef Richard Corrigan, actor, TV presenter, singer and unabashed wine-lover Alexander Armstrong, BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen wine expert Jane Parkinson, and winemaker Emma Rice – have been complemented by four novices (including yours truly) to represent the average supermarketwine buyer. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

HOW THE WINES HAVE BEEN CHOSEN

Matthew has spent the previous weeks tasting thousands of supermarket wines to whittle them down to eight top-notch tipples in each of 20 categories, from prosecco to pinot noir, chardonnay to Champagne. They’ve been chosen to suit all palates, but critically they all represent excellent value.

Matthew is quick to point out to us apprentices there is to be no swallowing. ‘ There are no taste bud sin your throat,’ he chides. ‘They’re all in the mouth.’ And we must drink water between each sip. ‘You need to keep your palate clean. Nothing is worse than tired tastebuds,’ he warns.

Of course, his fellow professional judges know this, as well as the meanings of the bizarre technical terms used to describe wine, such as brawny, flinty, fleshy, bretty and even sweaty. But they insist you don’t have to sound like a sommelier to sip and swill away and put your finger on what you like.

WHY WE ONLY JUDGED SUPERMARKET WINE

Wine is the UK’s favourite tipple, with 60 per cent of adults drinking it regularly. More importantly, over 80 per cent of wine sold in Britain is through retail outlets such as supermarkets. And with more varieties available than ever before, finding interesting, well- chosen wines is more challenging than ever. Which is why the results of these awards will be indispensable reading for the discerning wine-drinker.

BRILLIANT BOTTLES AT A TENNER – OR LESS

Wine connoisseur and bon viveur Richard Corrigan, Irish chef and patron of Corrigan’s Mayfair and Bentley’s Oyster Bar and Grill, says, ‘I’m always astonished when I taste some of the incredible wines available in British supermarkets. They’re a paradise for the wine lover as they offer so much variety. As a restaurant owner, I always try to keep ahead of the supermarkets. Never mind them being a minefield for customers – they’re a minefield for people in the wine-and-restaurant industry too.

‘This is why the Daily Mail Wine Awards are so brilliant,’ he continues, ‘as the results will point customers in the right direction. We’re looking for fantastic wines that don’t break the bank. An average-priced decent wine used to cost £60. Now you can get something special from the supermarket for £10-£15. In fact, several of our winners cost £8 or less.’

Fine-wine collector Alexander says he doesn’t usually spend less than £20 on an off-the-shelf bottle of wine. ‘I try to keep my alcohol units down so I’ve got to make sure the wine units I drink are delicious,’ he says. As a boy who was served a tiny glass of f ine wine at meal times, he knows how to spot a great vintage. ‘ I grew up in a delightful but freezing farmhouse in Northumberland. When wine came up from the cellar it was freezing too. So Dad would put it on the back of the Aga at lunchtime and wouldn’t pull the cork out until dinner, by which time it was pretty much bath temperature,’ he laughs.

His real education started on a French exchange at the age of 14, when his hosts offered him his own mini- decanter of red Burgundy at lunch. ‘I was a good deal taller than my French exchange – Thibault De Rohan-Chabot – so his father thought I was old enough to enjoy the wine. It was heaven and I haven’t looked back.’ He now has a collection of some 300 cases stored at The Octavian wine vaults in Bristol.

THE FAMOUS 5S TASTING SYSTEM

And so to the tasting, conducted under exam-like conditions because Matthew insists on silence while each category – or flight – is tasted to max- imise our focus on the flavours. The tasting is done under the 5S system, starting with the See. First we tilt our glasses, a third full, at a 45° angle against the white tablecloth to observe the true colour of the wine. Is a red full-bodied like the black fruits of a malbec, or light- bodied like the magenta of a pinot noir? Next comes the Swirl, where the wine is circled around the glass up to five times to unleash the flavour. ‘It opens the aromas which makes the next step easier,’ says Alexander. Now it’s the Sniff, which gives a clue as to what you’re about to taste, such as the lemon, tropical-fruit tones of a white wine.

Stage four is the Sip and Swish, where you move a tiny sample of wine around your mouth like mouthwash. As they sip, the judges breathe in gently to draw the aromas into their mouths and nasal passages. This elegant swishing is soon interrupted by a series of dreadful gargling noises – all part of the professional experience to detect acidity at the sides of the mouth and sweetness to the front.

Then comes a choice – to Swallow or Spit the wine out into a spittoon. The professional judges choose to dispose of their mouthfuls to keep their palates as clean as possible and pace their alcohol intake. The more neanderthal among us happily swallow every drop, just to make sure we haven’t missed anything.

HOW THE JUDGING WORKS

One wine in each of the 20 categories was chosen by the judges as the out- right winner, with two voted runnersup. As he’s someone with a penchant for a top Bordeaux, we wait with bated breath for Alexander’s verdict on the selection of reds. ‘I love The Cubist Old Vine Garnacha, Spain 2016. This is a stonking wine,’ he declares. ‘The old-spice fruit and the tannins are particularly good. This is punching far above its £10 price tag.’

He and Richard love this wine, and also agree on the winning chardonnay: the 2018 Vandenberg Chardonnay from South Australia’s Adelaide Hills. ‘It’s among the most fascinating chardonnays I’ve drunk,’ says Alexander. ‘At £10 a bottle at the Co-op it’s a very nice surprise.’

As a country boy from Ballivor, Ireland, Richard likes farmyard flavours. ‘I’m always looking for pinot

noirs that stir memories of my childhood, the farmyard smells,’ he says. ‘I’m impressed with the pinot noir & gamay category winner, the 2017 Asda Extra Special Yarra Valley Pinot Noir from Victoria, Australia, at £7.98.

‘The winning chardonnay, the Vandenberg, is also exceptional,’ says Richard. ‘It has massive aromas of buttery-smoky hazelnuts and spiced apple, and roars on the palate with overtones of vanilla and cinnamon.’

WHAT ABOUT SPARKLING WINE?

When it comes to fizz, we can rely on the technical expertise of Emma Rice who, as head winemaker and director of Hattingley Valley wines in Hampshire, tastes some 40 of her English sparkling wines each morning during the blending season. But there’s a price to pay, she says. ‘ I can only taste so many wines in a day as the acid’s so high. The enamel on my teeth has disappeared, so I have to order special chewing gum from Thailand that helps harden the enamel. But essentially, my teeth are b*****ed,’ she laughs. It must be worth it – she has twice been voted Britain’s winemaker of the year.

She’s impressed with the Champagne winner. ‘The NV Tesco Finest Premier Cru Champagne is good and solid. It’s not going to frighten the horses by being weird or off- piste, and at £19 it’s not going to break the bank.’

Like others among us, Emma pre- fers Spanish cava to Italian prosecco and thinks it has gained an undeserved bad reputation. ‘You can’t beat the value for money of the 2016 Codorníu 1872 Vintage Cava, which won its category,’ she says. ‘It was outstanding for the price.’ It’s currently on offer for £7.99 at Waitrose.

THE RISE AND RISE OF ENGLISH WINE

Emma’s eyes light up when it comes to the English sparkling wines. ‘The winner of the Daily Mail English sparkling wine – the 2014 Marksman Blanc de Blancs from Sussex – is excellent value at £26,’ she says. She agrees that the English sparkling wine business is booming – up 64 per cent from 2016 – thanks to the combination of a warmer climate, more sophisticated wine knowledge and fresh investment. Plus, the fruits of this year’s extraordinary British summer are soon to be bottled in what could be the best-ever vintage for English sparkling wine. ‘It rivals Champagne in terms of price, quality and the fact that it’s hand-produced,’ says Emma. ‘The English sparkling wine producers are at the top of their game.’

NOW BROADEN YOUR PALATES!

Like Emma, Jane Parkinson is keen to encourage buyers to try something new. ‘Britain is the shop window for the world when it comes to wine. We should make the most of it to avoid getting into a rioja rut or a sauvignon blank,’ she says. ‘This is why the Daily Mail Wine Awards are so important, to showcase what’s on offer in supermarkets, especially as we buy most of our wine from them.’

She particularly enjoys the Australian and South African wines today. ‘I’m especially impressed with the 2017 Rustenberg Chardonnay from Stellenbosch, South Africa, and the Australian wines, like the 2017 Asda Extra Special Yarra Valley Pinot Noir. You think of pinot noir as coming from Burgundy, but the Australian ones are great too. It’s fantastic to see the best of what’s on offer at supermarkets from all over the world.’

Alexander agrees. ‘The Daily Mail Wine Awards have been an extraordinary wine- tasting marathon. We came through England, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, from light-bodied to full-bodied, dry, sweet and even sticky wine. I’ve never been more happily exhausted.’