Looking for a refreshing tipple to end the Spring on a high?
Well the secret is out: you needn’t break the bank to get a good drink! Great wines can be sourced for great prices, if you’re smart about it and get the right advice – and you’ve come to the right place for it!
Sampled from all over the world but sharing magnificent tastes, check out our range of picks below:
Vilarnau Rosé Reserva Organic Cava, Spain
As frugal fizz goes, it doesn’t really get more cost effective than Cava. Produced via the same method as champagne, where bubbles are born from a second fermentation in bottle.
Vilarnau is a brand you should literally have on your lips, certified organic and all-round well put together sparkling. I recently wrote about the Brut, but the rosé is equally dry and delicious with Garnacha and Pinot Noir delivering notes of wild raspberry and violets.
Buy it for £10 (save £2 until May 17) from Ocado.
Jansz Premium Cuvée, Tasmania
I may have overdone the Waitrose mentions, but they’re running some cracking deals at the moment. Case in point with a fizzy favourite of mine, Jansz from Tasmania, a region producing some of Australia’s finest bubbly.
Jansz have even trade-marked their production method as the Méthode Tasmanoise, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Méthode Champenoise.
Or maybe they’re deadly serious, as they should be with a wine that delivers dry notes of nougat and white peach.
Buy it for £13.49 (save £5 until May 17), from Waitrose.
The Wine Atlas Feteasca Regala, Romania
I wouldn’t usually recommend anything around the £5 mark or under, unless it’s sock-knocking-off value for money, which this is.
The vinous treasure trove of Eastern Europe is less of a well-kept secret, as people like me keep on banging on about it.
This medal-winning white, from Cramele Recas, one of Romania’s significant producers, has the refresh factor of a wine a fair few quid more.
Buy it for £5 from ASDA.
Santa Rita 120 Reserva Especial Sauvignon Blanc, Chile
Rhetorical question for you: why pursue money-off promotions when there are countries that naturally deliver value for money? The answer? Make sure you’re chasing Chile, a viticultural mecca which can grow just about anything.
Chilean sauvignon blanc is a great case in point, stylistically sitting somewhere in-between Sancerre and New Zealand. Santa Rita is a big-name producer, but don’t let that put you off, not while there’s lemon blossom and peachy notes to be nuzzled.
Buy it for £8 from Sainsbury’s.
Specially Selected Côtes du Jura, France
It’s no shocker that Aldi is on the list, though a bubbleless chardonnay from the Jura region of Eastern France is less likely. We’re used to Aldi’s ever-popular, sparkly Crémant du Jura, though this still version is like a sapid glass of the Jurassic coastline, in a good way.
Lying between the Alps and Burgundy, the limestone-heavy soils of the region seem to pump in peach and apricot flavours with a hint of hazelnut richness.
Buy it for £7.99 from Aldi.
Mirabeau Belle Année Rosé 2.25L, France
This sells for £10 per bottle, so you get three for the price of two in its discounted box format. Not that it’s all about quantity, ahem. Boxes are bang on for open-air escapades or to serve straight from the fridge as we move into summer.
It’s a textbook Provençale pink, made by a fascinating English family who are nailing the rosé game. Flavour-wise, think all the summer berries with a twist of pink grapefruit.
Buy it for £19.99 (save £5) from Waitrose.
Le Bijou Rosé de Sophie Valrose Coteaux de Beziers, France
I like to think I’m above money-off deals, but it turns out I’m not. I’m clearly hard-wired to pounce on promotions.
With that in mind, get your mitts on this bottle from the Languedoc region, where economies of scale make it a prime value-for- money destination.
These vineyards are tucked along the Mediterranean coast, producing a wine that tastes like biting into a ripe, fleshy cherry with a pinch of garrigue.
Buy it for £6.99 (save £3 until May 17), from Waitrose.
Ile de Beauté Corsican Rosé
Huge generalisation alert, but no one wants an off-dry rosé in spring. Well, maybe they do, but I personally can’t think of anything less refreshing. Give me lean, lively, zesty and citrussy with a splurge of stone fruit, any day.
Oh, hello Corsican Rosé, with all of said characteristics and more, where have you been hiding? Talk about flavour with a super-refreshing saline twist in the tail…
Buy it for £9 (save £2) from M&S.
Chilean País
Chillable, spring-appropriate and incredible value, you can’t say I don’t spoil you. País is pronounced ‘pie-ees’ and used to be the most planted red grape in Chile, brought over by the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.
It was largely forgotten until its recent resurrection from the grapey graveyard, delivering light and refreshing reds that demand some fridge-chilling. Basically, for seven quid you can get your hands on a rustically enchanting version of pinot noir.
Buy it for £6.99 (save £1) from Aldi.
Sabina Tempranillo Tinto, Spain
£40 for a lifetime Wine Society membership, with wines like this for under a sixer? I’m not on commission, but it’s a must for a wine-lover as you’ll soon be saving serious coin.
While you’re at it, Spain can deliver massive value for money, so tempranillo outside the big-name regions like Rioja and Ribera are where it’s at.
This is from Navarra with knock-out notes of plum and raisin, no wonder it’s a member’s favourite.
Buy it for £5.95 from the Wine Society.
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