Stockist/Retailer: Tesco

(2024) Tasted earlier in the year I wrote: "A crowd-pleasing, easy-drinking and thoroughly pleasant blend," and having tasted it again, that sums up this approachable blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Semillon. The maximum dosage for Brut of 12g/l means it verges on being perceptibly sweet, but sharper apple and lemon to the fruit and acid balance peachy and lightly toasty note. The rolling mousse keeping everything fresh enough in a stylish fizz for a lowly £10.

(2024) From equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir, thus is aged on the lees for between three and five years. The modest mousse subsides to leave aromas that are sweet and rich, suggesting biscuit and ripe, rosy apples perhaps. The dosage is presumably at the high end of Brut, as there seems to be plenty of sweetness. It's perhaps a little too sweet for my palate, but the acid balance in the finish is good for a more approachable style.

(2024) From Champagne house Pommery's 100-acre vineyard planted in Hampshire in 2017, this blends Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The mousse is foamy and rich, with aromas of biscuit and a touch of nettle, a nicely nutty style. In the mouth this is properly dry, the apple core sense of dryness with an only slightly fatter, lemon rind overlay, pushes the wine through the mid-palate. It's a very nice, classically proportioned wine this and at £24.00 in Tesco if you have a club card, a decent buy.

(2024) From the Grand Chais de France, a large producer with wineries across France, this is a blend of Colombard, Ugni Blanc and Gros Manseng. It's labelled as a Vin de France, the cross-regional appellation, though those varieties all speak of the Southwest. It's what I'd call a very handy, all-purpose summer sipper. Aromas are clean and fresh, red apples and citrus, a little hint of creaminess. With only 11% alcohol it could be a fine, cheap garden wine if we enjoy an Indian summer, with crisp and dry flavours yet abundant, pert fruitiness making it easy to sip on its own or match to salads and lighter dishes. Not every wine has to be full of complexity and intrigue: some are just the right wine at the right price for everyday drinking. Watch the video for more information.

(2024) The distinctive blue packaging and sea-spray label sends the message that this wine comes from the Salnés Valley and some of the vineyards most exposed to the Atlantic weather in all of Galicia. It has classic Rías Baixas aromatics, with saline notes mingling with lemon and crisp green apple. On the palate there is real intensity here - moreso than in some examples - with a bite of citrus acidity anchoring the medium-bodied, cool fruit character. That ozoney, seaside nuance is never far away in a very high quality Albariño. Watch the video for more information and food matching ideas. Also in independent merchants.

(2024) It's fair to say I probably enjoyed this a little more than the fruity and pert Fiano in the same range, that feeling just a little bit too 'manufactured' for my tastes. This Sangiovese from Emilia-Romagna comes across as more straightforward and honest, plenty of cherry and red berry aromas, a hint of spice and smokiness, and a decent balance of acidity gives it freshness. Tannins also add a touch of rustic grip on the finish to make it quite a satisfying, if not terribly distinctive Sangiovese of good quality. Watch the video for more information.

(2024) Lots of talk on the back label about this wine, and its Sangiovese red partner, offering a 'bold new twist' on tradition. It's made by giant Australia-based Accolade Wines, distributors of numerous brands. Both wines are IGT Terre Siciliane from Sicily. Fiano di Avellino from Campania is the icon of this variety, and this shares the basic characteristics of gentle honey, herbs and lemon. But it is as if the dial had been turned up in terms of talcum-powder and floral perfumed aromatics, and sweetness on the palate. To that end, for me it does come across as slightly too 'manufactured'. A hint of residual sugar adds to nagging feeling of marketing being the driver, rather than a rather more unforced honesty. No doubt this will appear with a pound or two off fairly regularly.

(2024) Chablis producer Simonnet-Febvre produces this Chardonnay-based sparking wine, matured for 24 months on the lees. Fresh and lively on the nose, crisp apple and lemon notes with just a background layer of biscuity autolysis. In the mouth this has quite a fruity appeal, ripe apple and pear, with a gentle nuttiness playing against the dosage and acidity of the finish.

(2024) There's 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc in the blend here, which spent 18 months in French oak barrels, 20% new. It is Fairtrade accredited meaning farm workers receive a fair wage and good living conditions. Darkly hued in colour and aroma, plum and clove-spiced, it has an almost mulled wine-like character. A little touch of olive. In the mouth there's plenty of sweet bramble and blackcurrant fruit. I's a savoury wine this, the oak adding and earthy and charry background, but the acidity is fresh and the tannins add a rustic grip that gives it more savoury and food-friendly appeal.      

(2023) A traditional method blend of 65% Pinot Noir and 35% Chardonnay, this comes from the cool, elevated Piccadilly Valley in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. It has a lovely nose of stone fruits on a bed of biscuit, a stony mineral character beneath. On the palate it has a richness and mouth-filling texture, creaminess to the mousse and the sweet-edged fruit licked into a refined, crisp finish by shimmering acidity. On offer at £15 at time of review, that's great value.