Top 10 wines in the UK press

2012 David Reynaud, Beaumont Crozes-Hermitage, Rhône, France

Tim Atkin MW is full of praise for this classic Crozes-Hermitage. “I could drink a bottle of this almost every day and never get bored,” he says.

From the vineyards of the talented David Reynaud in Beaumont-Monteux, this organic unoaked cuvée has “violet and rose petal aromas, textured tannins and lovely, gluggable flavours of blackberry, black olive and liquorice”.

£16.33, Liberty Wines

1996 Château de Beauregard Saumur Moelleux, Loire, France

Writing for his excellent Wine Doctor Loire and Bordeaux specialist site, Chris Kissack picked out something a little unusual over the weekend – a mature, sweet Chenin from Saumur.

Kissack notes “the minerally Chenin Blanc sweetness showing as notes of poached pear, intertwined with scented honey, freshly infused with the aromas of thyme flowers, rosemary and even a hint of lavender”. The palate, meanwhile, has a “beautifully sweet and gentle character… all laid on a rich base of honey, biscuit and oatmeal”.

M Signature Oloroso Sherry, Jerez, Spain

Writing in the Daily Mail, Matthew Jukes dares to ask ‘What to pair with soup?’ and comes up with five excellent recommendations. We like the sound of his oloroso Sherry paired with pea and Serrano ham soup. Oloroso, he explains, has a little more weight than fino which marries well with the soup.

“Chilled, served in large glasses to allow the aroma to build, this is a heavenly, if surprising, combo,” he says.

£6 (half bottle), Morrisons

2011 Eulogio Pomares Albariño Crianza Oxidativa Rías Baixas, Spain

Staying in Spain, this time Rías Baixas, Jamie Goode, writing on his Wine Anorak blog, picks out a very unusual Albariño from Zarate winemaker Eulogio Pomares under his own label. Goode explains that tricky conditions in 2011 meant that Pomares’s grapes didn’t develop their sugars as they should have. He aged this wine for three years in tank but the wine failed to go through malolactic fermentation. It did, however, develop a thin flor, giving it a distinct oxidative character.

While the acidity is “intense”, it is not harsh, and this wine, with its “lovely textured citrus fruit character, a touch of lemon peel, some pink grapefruit and a touch of nuttiness” is judged to be “quite profound”. We are duly intrigued.

Available from Indigo Wines

2004 Lopez de Heredia Viña Bosconia Rioja Reserva, Rioja, Spain

Staying with Mr Goode, his Daily Express piece over the weekend was devoted to seven of the best reds from Rioja. On the premium side, he picks out this “deliciously complex” classic from the traditionalist producer Lopez de Heredia.

“This is a superb red,” he says “that’s been aged for more than a decade in the bottle, and has flavours of cedar, cherries and plums.”

£21.95, Waitrose

2014 AA Badenhorst Ramnasgras Cinsault, Swartland, South Africa

There’s a fantastic pick from Victoria Moore in the Telegraph under the headline “Wine for the thinking drinker” – a great example of the wonderful, cultured wines coming out of South Africa’s Swartland.

Moore notes that this wine from Adi Badenhorst has “tastes slightly floral, and of pink peppercorns, sweet cranberries, fynbos herbs and soil. Not for civilians. One for your wine-bore friends, who will love it and also love going on about it”.

£24.50, Swig

2014 Yalumba Old Bush Vine Grenache, South Australia 

Grenache is the go-to wine for David Williams writing in the Guardian. He remarks that Grenache wines are perfect for the time of year. It’s “a variety that loves basking in the sun… absorbing the heat and transmitting it back to us in the frozen north in the form of cuddly, sweetly bramble-fruited, effortlessly juicy wines”.

Picking out South Australia as a top region for consistently high-quality Grenache, he recommends Yalumba’s 2014 old-vine expression, “a wine of maximum succulence, not at all heavy but fluent with red berries seasoned with spice”.

£12, Morrisons

2002 Château Potensac, Médoc, Bordeaux, France

Fiona Beckett, meanwhile, writing in the Guardian is on the hunt for bargains. She thinks she’s found that rare beast, a good-value mature Bordeaux, from leading Médoc Cru Bourgeois producer Château Potensac.

Beckett says this 2002, selling at BBR over Christmas for just £23, was “drinking beautifully”.

£23, Berry Bros & Rudd

2010 Surveyor Thomson Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand

Sticking with Beckett’s fine wine bargain theme, the Guardian writer hopes this Central Otago Pinot is one of the wines BBR includes in its promised “biggest sale to date” happening this month.

We agree that this one is a stunner – and an excellent alternative to the all-too-often overpriced Burgundy.

£33, Berry Bros & Rudd

2014 Mas Candi, Desig Blanc, Penèdes, Spain

Finally, Tom Cannavan’s first Wine of the Week for 2016 directs us to Cava country – Penèdes in southern Catolionia.

This is a 100% Xarel-lo which Cannavan describes as “vivacious” with a “lovely nutty, green appley, sherberty, lime-like brightness” on the nose. As for the palate, the wine “bursts in the mouth” with its “vivid fruitiness” and “Epsom salt, fizzing brightness”.

£13.50, The Daily Drinker