Last time I wrote about wines at Tesco, some FT readers were shocked at my going downmarket. But others complain that the wines I recommend are unaffordable. You can’t win.
In preparation for my usual pre-Christmas recommendations, I submitted my palate to marathon autumn tastings organised for the media by those retailers I am confident offer some of the best value and was surprised to find how many drinkable – nay, recommendable – wines there currently are retailing for under £10 a bottle (although you will have to buy six mixed bottles to take advantage of Majestic’s prices in brackets).
I suspect this reflects the current global over-supply of wine as worldwide consumption continues to decline. I feel very sorry for the producers of these wines if they are finding it so difficult to stay in business, but my job is to serve consumers rather than producers so I feel I should pass on these 31 recommendations.
There’s another way in which UK retailers can dampen prices: by seeking out lower-alcohol wines now that UK duties are a function of alcoholic strength. Ten of the wines below, mainly whites, have an ABV stated on the label of 12% or less.
As you can see from the list below, it’s much more difficult to find bargains in white wines than in reds. But my suggestions include two dark-pink wines. There are few bargains in the bloated, homogeneous, pale Provençal rosé category. In its tasting, The Wine Society ignored this category altogether and concentrated on serious, darker-pink wines – with excellent results. Two of them even sell for under a tenner.
Rest assured that my Christmas recommendations, on four Saturdays from 22 November, will focus on wines more suitable for true celebration.
Wines are ordered by price, low to high (taking into account the lower Majestic prices if you buy a mixed case of 6 as well as current Waitrose offers). Some Tesco prices may be lower for clubcard holders.
Whites
Félix Solís, The Gathering Storm NV Castilla-La Mancha 12%
Clever blend of 55% Verdejo, 30% Chardonnay and 15% Sauvignon Blanc from all over Spain but mainly La Mancha. Good name and packaging. Looks more expensive.
£8 (£7) Majestic
Union de Viticulteurs de la Dordogne, Le Sablou Sauvignon Blanc 2024 Bergerac 12%
Fresh, pungent nose and really racy. Obviously French – thanks to its dry finish. Elderflower flavour. Well balanced.
£9 Waitrose (£7 until 28 October)
Luis Felipe Edwards, Signature Series Sauvignon Blanc 2025 Colchagua, Chile 12.5%
Pretty grassy on the nose and then light-bodied and a little sweet. Marlborough style. Some people will love it.
£9.25 (£7.25) Majestic
Colle del Sol 2024 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico 12%
Good zesty, lightly spritzy stuff with lots of fruity delivery for the money. Far from the best Verdicchio but much better than Majestic’s at the same price.
£10 Waitrose (£7.50 until 28 October)
Les Grands Chais de France, Caves des Roches 2024 Vouvray, Loire 11.5%
Much better than most supermarket Vouvrays but some palates will be upset by the medium sweetness counterbalancing Chenin Blanc’s green-apple acidity. Usefully low in alcohol. Pair with a tart apple crumble?
£7.75 Tesco
LGI, Cuvée Laborie 2024 Vin de France 11.5%
Screwcapped Gascony Sauvignon Gris, which almost tastes like a cross between Pinot Gris/Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc. Heady and great value. Gives pleasure even if it’s not exactly persistent.
£7.95 The Wine Society
Cantine Settesoli, Settesoli Vermentino 2024 IGT Terre Siciliane 12%
Picked from mid July for this western Sicilian co-op, which must have helped with the counterbalancing acidity. A bargain riposte to the fleshier Vermentinos of Sardinia.
£8 Tesco
Errázuriz, Pinot Grigio Reserva 2024 Aconcagua, Chile 12%
Water white, bone dry, vibrant and fresh with a better finish on the palate than many wines at this price.
£9 Tesco
Rose & Rose Sauvignon Blanc 2024 Marlborough 12.7%
Smoky, verging on reduced nose but with a great spine of fruit from a family of growers. Serious wine with a dry finish. Good finish. Quite a find!
£11.50 (£9) Majestic
Pringle Bay Chenin Blanc 2025 Swartland 12.5%
South African winemaking hero Duncan Savage is involved in this wine, which displays a correct varietal spread of apples and honey. Lots of freshness. Classic example of Swartland coastal Chenin.
£10.50 (£9.50) Majestic
Amandla Sauvignon Blanc 2025 Western Cape 12.5%
Much drier than most commercial Marlborough Sauvignons with real energy and green-fruited varietal flavour, not unlike a bargain Sancerre.
£9.75 Tesco
A A Badenhorst, The Curator 2024 Coastal Region 13%
The Wine Society buyers indulge in a blind tasting of their finds each year and this new wine, described by the buyer as ‘made by Swartland royalty Adi Badenhorst’, triumphed. A please-all blend of 60% Chenin Blanc, 20% Chardonnay and 20% Viognier, less expensive than his Secateurs Chenin.
£9.95 The Wine Society
Maurice Gentilhomme 2024 Mâcon-Villages 12%
Unoaked, and not as ripe and rich as many wines in this appellation but that may be a plus point for some. It’s certainly well put together by this southern négociant subsidiary of Moillard of Nuits-St-Georges. Excellent value.
£13 (£10) Majestic
Dark rosés
Château Thieuley, Le Petit Courselle 2023 Bordeaux Clairet 13%
Producers in the beleaguered Entre-Deux-Mers region need to be inventive. The Courselle family have gone back a few centuries to provide us with this appetising pale red clairet blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon that could be drunk at almost any temperature and with almost anything. Chillable red is a fashionable new category.
£9.25 The Wine Society
Contesa 2024 Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo 13%
Pale-red/dark-pink Montepulciano from south-east Italy has a lovely perfume, masses of fruit and, like the wine above, this would be a brilliantly versatile food partner. I could easily imagine it lightly chilled with a curry.
£9.95 The Wine Society
Reds
Citra, Vista Castelli 2023 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 12%
Ridiculous price for a red answer to the Contesa dark pink above. Not a bad wine, though it falls off a bit towards the stringy end.
£5.75 Tesco
Maison Johanès Boubée, Palais St Vigni 2023 Côtes du Rhône 14%
The southern Rhône is another region suffering from oversupply and offering cut-price deals. Some poor vignerons must be behind this merchant-bottled wine which is recognisably a Grenache blend even if it’s not exactly gorgeous. But it’s hearty enough for outdoor drinking – a Bonfire Night special? I could imagine it withstanding being mulled.
£5.75 Tesco
Costa do Castelo 2024 Lisboa 13%
40% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Alicante Bouschet and 10% Touriga Nacional – quite a cocktail! Very smooth and appealing with some Atlantic character to keep it fresh. Extraordinary value, although I feel sorry for the grower(s). Better than The Wine Society’s version.
£6 Tesco
Boland, Shallow Bay Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 Western Cape 13.5%
Not that obviously Cabernet, just a well-assembled, firm, fruity red at a silly price.
£7 Tesco
Mandriola de Lisboa 2023 Lisboa 13%
Like the Costa do Castelo, this is a Lisboa red made by a producer of Vinho Verde much further north. But it’s duller and less obviously fruity.
£7 Tesco
Burgo Viejo, Palacio de Primavera 2024 Rioja 13%
100% Tempranillo from eastern Rioja, including some notably old vineyards. Deep crimson. Sweet, pure fruit and very rewarding in a young Rioja way with real vibrancy. But those looking for vanilla oakiness will be disappointed.
£9.50 Waitrose (£7 until 28 October)
Maison Galuval, Les Frères Lumière NV Vin de France 13.5%
Southern Rhône blend but with much softer tannins than the usual southern Rhône red. Easy, if rather simple, drinking.
£7.75 (£7.25) Majestic
Terre de Vignerons, Atlantique Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2024 Vin de France 12.5%
From a group of 10 co-ops in south-west France comes this sweetish, fresh blend informed by modern winemaking without the chewiness associated with so many red bordeaux.
£7.50 Tesco (arriving in a couple of weeks)
LGI, Cuvée Laborie 2024 IGP Pays d’Oc 12.5%
A long-standing favourite with Wine Society members, now with a white counterpart – see above. Blend of 60% southern French Carignan, 20% Grenache and 20% Merlot is softened by warm skin contact and a little sweet spiciness. Light-bodied and a little short on the palate but very good value.
£7.75, £21 for a 225-cl bag-in-box The Wine Society
Sogrape, Grão Vasco 2023 Dão 13%
Some older wine lovers may remember when Grão Vasco, like many a Dão, was hard as nails. But this deep-garnet wine has a rich, characterful nose with something vaguely, and not unattractively, agricultural about it. Amazing amount of character for the money but sad in a way that Tesco seem to be viewing Portugal as merely a source of cheap wine.
£8.50 Tesco
Fourth Wave, Tread Softly Pinot Noir 2025 South Australia 10.5%
Low alcohol. Sweet start and virtually no tannin. Useful for those watching their alcohol intake – and it does have some Pinot flavour, despite the low price. Chillable red for drinking without food.
£8.50 Tesco
KR&V McBride & Co, Wave Crest Shiraz 2022 Mt Benson 14%
Now this is a real bargain. A property on the cool South Australian coast has been taken over from the Flemish founders by the McBride family, also sheep farmers. The technical background to this wine suggests it should sell for a much higher price. Firm, lightly medicinal Aussie Shiraz that has real integrity – and persistence. Much better than their 2023 Sauvignon Blanc at the same price.
£10.50 (£8.50) Majestic
Undurraga, Candelabro Cinsault 2024 Itata 13.5%
Juicy Cinsault from unirrigated bush vines in this long-neglected southern Chilean wine region. Vivid crimson. Just a bit too sweet for me but it’s a good price and the vines have a long history.
£8.95 The Wine Society
Domaine de Gournier 2024 IGP Cévennes 14%
Blend of Merlot and Syrah from the foothills of the Cévennes near Uzès south-west of the Rhône Valley. Sweet and rich on the nose – smells riper than a mountain wine! Easy to like with some undertow of tannin though not for long ageing.
£9.25 The Wine Society
A A Badenhorst, Curator 2024 Coastal Region 2024 13.5%
New blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Shiraz and 15% Pinotage presumably sourced much more widely than the grapes for the white version. The usual fun label. Lightly perfumed with notable acidity but gentler than some of Adi’s wines with an attractive note of baked fennel.
£9.95 The Wine Society
Famille Perrin, L’Oustalet 2024 Ventoux 13%
The Perrins have been hard at work selling (different) wines to UK supermarkets. This one is named after their restaurant in Gigondas. Very deep crimson. Concentrated fruit and well made. Ideally wait a few months for the tannins to recede, however.
£10 Tesco
For tasting notes, scores and suggested drinking windows, see my tasting articles devoted to these retailers over the next month. Wine-Searcher.com may have some non-UK stockists.
