GARY BARLOW JOINED OUR PANEL OF JUDGES TO PICK OUT THE HIGHLIGHTS ON THE HIGH STREET. BY LISA SEWARDS

pain is a land of firsts for Gary Barlow. Not only was it where he went on his first foreign holiday and the first place Take That performed outside the UK, but it is now also the country of origin for his first wine range.

During the pandemic, with pubs and bars closed for months on end, lockdowns served to bring out our inner explorers, and Gary has now started his own wine label. He’s also one of the judges in the fourth annual Daily Mail Wine Awards, tasting and choosing the 40 best-value bottles in Britain from a specially selected group of supermarket tipples – from reds and rosés to whites, fizzies and Ports.

Our Wine Awards have taken on a particular importance over the past couple of years during

Covid as Brits treated themselves to alcoholic indulgences to cheer themselves up. A recent

Waitrose report revealed that one in ten consumers had installed an outdoor bar, while wine retailer Majestic reported a 300 per cent online sales increase during the first lockdown.

Gary didn’t install a bar but he did research and taste hundreds of wines to develop his own range, Gary Barlow Organic. And the blind tastings proved surprising. ‘For years, I’ve wanted to get into wine yet never felt I knew enough about it to do it. But going into lockdown I thought, “Right, I’m going to learn about this,”’ says Gary, 50, who lives in the Cotswolds. ‘I made sure I had great people around me even though we were all on Zoom and locked away. So they’d send the wine to me and I’d taste ten and choose a favourite, then another favourite from the next ten, and slowly they were narrowing down what my taste was. I never knew where the wine was from or what the grapes were. So I wished we’d filmed the reveal because when they took off the covers it was Spanish wine for both red and white.

‘It was amazing as Spain is a special place for me: the first place I’d had a foreign holiday, that Take That had played outside the UK, and now my first wine. So, when I found my taste buds drawn to Spanish wines it felt like the perfect fit.’

Gary confesses he was a late starter when it came to appreciating good wine, always sticking to the ones he knew. But his palate was ignited when a friend introduced him to the joys of a full-bodied Bordeaux. ‘I was about 28 when I started to appreciate good wine with a friend of mine. We used to make records together and we started travelling. But I found my experience of travelling as a record producer completely different to travwith elling as an artist in a band. We actually had time, so rather than having room service in a van on the way to a gig, we had dinner and life slowed down a bit,’ recalls Gary, whose new album, The Dream Of Christmas, is released this Friday.

‘My friend was a real expert on red wine so was teaching me the difference between California and France, and I learnt a lot. I’d just thought red wine was red wine. Then I started to taste the difference, and when you’re exposed to good wines you get to know what you like and don’t.

‘I’m one of those people who stick with what I like. But I loved the first Spanish wine I tasted, and now they’re among my favourites. That’s a lovely journey because we always used to think wine was for a certain type of person, but it’s for everyone. When you see what we’re doing today, tasting wine for the Daily Mail Wine Awards, it’s a hobby anyone can have and it’s gorgeous.

‘My best evenings are spent

PHOTOGRAPHED EXCLUSIVELY FOR weekend

BY NEALE HAYNES good friends and family. They’re full of laughter – and great wine. I also love a glass of deep, complex red wine at the end of a long day when I’ve been with the band or sat at the computer, and you go, “Ahh,” and your shoulders drop.’

Gary has joined our panel of judges, which includes ex-supermodel, racing driver and publican Jodie Kidd, leading winemaker Emma Rice and food writer and cook Alex Hollywood. They were all blown away by the winner in the Aromatic White class – the £10 Marks & Spencer 2020 Classics No.9 Gewurztraminer, Alsace, France. ‘When it came to the aromatic wines I was like, “Wow!” They all smelt gorgeous,’ says Gary. ‘My friend and I used to choose our wines with the nose as it doesn’t tend to let you down.’

But it was a different story for

Gary when it came to the Chardonnays. ‘Chardonnay is not really my taste so I went for the lightest flavour in that category,’ he explains. By contrast, Jodie is the queen of Chardonnay and she fell for the 2019 Robert Oatley, Signature Series, Margaret River Chardonnay, Western Australia (£11.50, Co-op).

‘Not all Chardonnays are oaky in taste,’ she says. ‘I’ve really expanded my tastebuds from ordering the safe wines like a Petit Chablis and have become a huge fan of global chardonnay after tasting Aldi’s Australian 2018 Caves Road Chardonnay, Margaret River for last year’s awards.’

Her passion for and knowledge of wine began, and has expanded,

through co-owning acclaimed gastropub The Half Moon in Kirdford, West Sussex. ‘I used to be a vodka and Red Bull girl. But I got into the joys of wine through the pub. Where we live, our demographic is wealthy and older so they know what they’re talking about when it comes to wine. The winning rosé in these awards, the Co-op’s 2020 Château Barthès, Bandol Rosé, Provence, France [£13], was exactly what we need for a foodie’s

type of winter rosé. We still sell rosé during winter and it no longer has that short shelf life due to the high quality of the grapes now.’

In the pub, Jodie, her team and chef take great care to pair good wine with food. ‘When we have a new dish, we think of how a new wine might make a lovely pairing. The locals like it as it enables them to taste different wines, which is important as it can be overwhelming because there are so many wines out there. That’s why the Daily Mail Wine Awards are so good for sorting the best of supermarket wines, with cheap prices for top quality bottles.’

Alex, whose books include Cooking Tonight, is also keen on pairing wine with food. ‘I was brought up with a passion for food and wine because all our family holidays were based around where we were going to eat,’ she says. ‘My godmother was French, and I have French and Scandinavian family heritage so these influence the way I cook and eat.

‘Also as we travelled to our house in Spain for family holidays, we’d often stop at Les Routiers-recommended places along the way. We’d eat the most delicious food and pair the wines with them. Even though I was little, I had the wines watered down to appreciate them.’

Alex, whose ex-husband is Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood, really appreciates the joy of a medium-weight white wine and loved Marks & Spencer’s 2020 Viréclessé, Vieilles Vignes, Florent Rouve, Burgundy, France (£14). ‘This is delicious as I like a gentler wine. But it’s also very autumnal and wonderful for pairing with pot-roast pheasant in white wine.’

As for Champagne and sparkling wine, Emma Rice, head winemaker at Hattingley Valley Wines in Hampshire, knows the importance of letting a good fizz speak for itself. ‘The smaller the bubbles, the longer the length of flavour on the palate and the classier the wine,’ she says. ‘I like a rich style of Champagne like Bollinger or Krug. That said, you can’t beat an English sparkling wine. The winner of this category, Aldi’s NV Bowler & Brolly English Sparkling Classic Cuvée Brut [£19.99], was impressive and a good price.

‘The reason English sparkling is pricier than Cava and Prosecco is because a lot of work goes into making it. It’s like making Champagne and it’s aged for five or six years or more – but well worth the wait.’

Gary agrees, although he admits, ‘I like a sweeter Champagne but I could drink any of the choices in the bubbles categories. I do drink fizz, especially if we are celebrating in the office if we’ve won an award.’

Which, for Gary – who has sold more than 50 million records, written 14 UK No 1 hits and won six Ivor Novello awards – must be a regular occurrence.