My best buys from Waitrose's June 2021 wine offer

Waitrose has one of its periodic 25% off six bottles discounts until next Tuesday June 29th on all wines over £5 - i.e. most of their range.

It’s a great opportunity to top up your stocks for the summer and buy wines you might not otherwise be able to afford. Note though that some may not be in stock in your local branch or only in Waitrose Cellar

Here are the ones that stood out for me at their spring/summer tasting

Reds

Dominique Piron Beaujolais Villages 2018 £8.99 down from 11.99

If you like Beaujolais (which I do) this is a must buy. Fabulously ripe and fruity. Perfect for charcuterie or grilled chicken

Esprit des Trois Pierres Costières de Nimes 2020 £6.69 down from £8.99

Big gutsy Rhône-ish red to drink with hearty stews.

Celler Capçanes Lasendal Seleccio 2019 Monsant £8.24 down from £10.99. Not in stock online but you might find some in store

Ripe generous modern Spanish red. Would be great with a barbecue

Chateau Musar Aana 2018 £13.49 down from £17.99

For those who can no longer afford Chateau Musar this is the next best option, particularly on offer like this. Slightly more forward and fruity but has some ageing potential. Great with roast or grilled lamb.

Mullineux Great Heart Red 2019, Swartland £11.24 down from £14.99

A gloriously big spicy red - and part of an employee ownership project. Perfect for a good steak.

Waitrose Blueprint Chilean Merlot 2020 £5.24 down from £6.99

If you want an inexpensive everyday red this smooth easy-drinking Chilean merlot is hard to beat.

Domaine Bousquet Finca Lalande Malbec 2020 £7.87 down from £10.49

Classy Bordeaux-like Malbec. A bargain at this price. Perfect for a Sunday roast.

White

Picpoul de Pinet Les Canots 2020 £6.37 down from £8.49

Clean, fresh - the perfect seafood white

Piccozza Pinot Bianco 2020 £8.99 down from £11.99

Really delicious smooth peachy white. Perfect for roast or creamily sauced chicken

Quinta de Azevedo Vinho Verde 2020 £6.74 down from £8.99

If you like albarino you’ll love this Portuguese white blend. Another great match for fish or shellfish.

Dehesa Las Vinas organic sauvignon blanc 2020 Castilla y Léon £6.74 down from £8.99

From the same region as Rueda, a fresh, crisp citrussy white that would be perfect for salads or seafood.

Waitrose No 1 Astrolabe Awatere Sauvignon Blanc 2020 £8.99 down to £11.99

More than you might be used to paying for NZ sauvignon blanc but snap it up - it’s delicious. Drink with almost all and every summer veg

Audrey Wilkinson Winemakers Selection Chardonnay 2018 Hunter Valley, Australia £11.99 selected shops and online

Gorgeous rich creamy Aussie chardonnay. Perfect for seared scallops or grilled lobster

Rosé

Rose de Balthazar 2020 £5.99 down from £7.99

Great value rosé from the Languedoc rather than Provence. For salads and whenever you would drink rosé

Waitrose Blueprint Provence Rosé Côtes de Provence 2020 £6.74 down from £8.99. Out of stock online but might be available in store

Classic pale crisp Provence rosé with the edge on most own label rosés from the region. Salad niçoise or goat cheese

Marsolay Syrah Rosé 2020 £6.74 down to £8.99 Waitrose Cellar only

If you’re one of the few who isn’t a fan of the Provence style. This is fuller and fruitier. One to sit watching Wimbledon

Fizz

Waitrose Leckford Estate Brut 2016 £19.99 down from £26.99

Impressive rich, toasty champagne-like fizz from Waitrose’s own vineyard in Hampshire - the best vintage of this wine I’ve tasted.

Cave de Lugny Crémant de Bourgogne Blanc de Blancs £10.49 down from £13.99

Pleasantly soft creamy 100% chardonnay fizz. Just 11.5% A good wedding wine

Mirabeau en Provence La Folie Rosé £10.99 down from £14.99

If you like sparkling rosé but find prosecco too sweet snap up this

Sweet wines

Waitrose Blueprint Moscatel £4.87 down from £6.49

Even at its full price this gorgeously orangey dessert wine is a bargain, at 25% it’s unmissable. Drink with Greek or middle-eastern pastries or a lemon or orange polenta cake.

As it's still (just about) English Wine Week you might also like to look for these bottles which I flagged up in March

Wine of the week: Monfil Garnacha 2020

I came across this exuberant garnacha when I was tasting wine at Lea & Sandeman in Notting Hill the other day and it struck me as the most incredible bargain at £8.95 (or £8.25 if you’re buying a case).

It’s packed with super-ripe black cherry fruit but not overjammy or alcoholic (garnacha - or grenache as it’s called in France and elsewhere - often tops 14.5% but this is only 13.5%). And it has a surprisingly dry finish.

It comes from the Cariñena region of Spain which is one of the country's oldest wine regions but is made very much in the modern Spanish style.

It would be brilliant with a barbecue, especially with pork ribs and also with chorizo - anything meaty, basically. I’d also be inclined to pop it in the fridge for half an hour before drinking it.

If you’re ordering from Lea & Sandeman you might also want to pick up a few bottles of their Felix Rosé (12.5%) which was flying off the shelves when I was in there. It’s less delicate, pale and creamy than Provence rosé but hugely drinkable and again great for a barbecue.

3 rose and 2 red wine bargains from Waitrose

Waitrose isn’t perhaps the first place you’d think of looking for wine bargains but at their summer tasting this week I found three rosés which you might want to snap up before the current offer ends on Tuesday June 1st.

Pierrick Harang Le Rosé de Balthazar 2020 Languedoc on offer at £5.99

I find it hard to believe there actually IS someone called Pierrick Harang but this crisp, dry rosé is pretty impressive particularly at this bargainous price. Definitely worth stocking up for the good weather we’re forecast to have next week.

La Bijou de Sophie Valrose 2020 Coteaux de Béziers on offer at £4.49 a half bottle (in 124 shops and online)

Half bottles of rosé are few and far between but ideal if you live on your own or just want to have a glass midweek with your partner. Fruitier than most Provence rosés and verging on the off-dry I’d like to drink this nice and cold.

L’Arene des Anges Costières de Nîmes 2020 on offer at £6.69

Sandwiched between the Languedoc and the Rhône - although it counts as the Rhône - Costières de Nîmes is a name to look out for on wine labels. This is a darker fruiter style than the Balthazar above - a good rosé to drink with food and even a barbecue.

Esprit de Trois Pierres Costières de Nîmes 2020 on offer at £6.69

Another Costières de Nîmes bargain. A good hearty Côte du Rhône-ish red for everyday drinking. Think pub grub like sausage and chips or a steak pie.

Dominique Piron Beaujolais Villages 2018 on offer at £8.99

If you’re a Beaujolais fan you’ll love this gorgeously ripe fruity example from the excellent 2018 vintage which is as good as many Beaujolais ‘crus’

You might also want to pick up a bottle of Waitrose’s 2016 Leckford Estate Brut which is made from grapes in Waitrose’s own vineyard in Hampshire. It’s the best version of the wine I’ve tasted so far - really toasty and champagne-like and is currently on offer at £19.99 instead of the usual £26.99

Clear Head Alcohol-free IPA

Alcohol-free beer is booming and not only among teetotallers. Many of us who take a break from drinking during the week or when driving appreciate them too.

This 0.5% IPA style beer from Bristol Beer Factory has another benefit though in that it also raises money for a charity called Talk Club, a ‘male mental fitness movement’ which creates a save and supportive environment for men to talk about mental health issues. 5% of Clear Head profits go directly to Talk Club so it’s the perfect beer to be drinking during Mental Health Awareness week.

Clear Head is a classic modern IPA, combining fresh, citrussy citra and mosaic hops, which you'd be hard pushed to tell from a full-strength beer. I’d be happy to drink it with almost anything from fish and chips to a mild(ish) veggie curry.

It’s very much part of the current trend for ‘brands with purpose’ which I wrote about in my Guardian column this week. As they put it ‘this is a beer for good’.

You can buy it direct from the Bristol Beer Factory website for £22 for 12 bottles and from specialist NoLo (no and low alcohol) retailers.

See also 5 great pairings for an IPA