Top 10s Top 10 English wines

Date Published:

22/08/2008

Once regarded as something of a joke in the winemaking world, English wine is now having the last laugh, boasting a variety reds, whites, pinks and some fabulous fizzes to put the rest of the world to shame. Stuart Walton picks out 10 enticing English beauties, with occasions to match

Girls on top

Chapel Down English Rose 2007, £8.99, waitrose.com
Stack up the DVDs and roll out the rosé, girls, this sassy, fresh pink from Kent is what long, gossipy evenings were invented for. Made from a whole bunch of grapes you don't need to have heard of, its crisp, fruit-scented style and flame-lipstick tint will tickle your tastebuds and get your tongues a-wagging. And at 11 per cent, the alcohol won’t stun you into submission.

Perfect for picnics

Three Choirs Parson's Leap 2006, £6.49, morrisons.com
If it's stopped raining by the time you're reading this, get out into the great outdoors and enjoy some of 4Food’s picnic food suggestions. Picnic food is best accompanied by whites with plenty of herbaceous summer scent to them. With its grassy hedgerow fragrance and properly English silly name, this light, cheery white fits the bill perfectly. Down the hatch!

Party piece

Denbies Surrey Gold, £6.75, denbiesvineyard.co.uk
Even if everybody else is likely to turn up to your party with a bottle of Pinot Grigio, make sure you stay ahead of the pack by serving an impeccably chilled, crisply refreshing white from, er, Surrey. That's right, Surrey. This home counties medium white has it all – lemony zing, floral charm and a hint of sweet spice. OK, it sounds like the name of a cider, but what you gonna do?

Pulling power

Sharpham Red 2006, £15.89, bestenglishwine.co.uk
Hoping to get lucky? Increase your chances by pulling out the stops and turning on the charm. If the cooking’s good enough to reel them in, the wine should follow suit. This classy, vibrant red is from clotted-cream country in the south of Devon and is almost as rich, with juicy blackberry fruit and a muscular, oaky style. Go that extra mile by decanting it into a jug around an hour before the doorbell goes and you can't fail.

Good for guzzling

Bookers Vineyard Dark Harvest 2005, £7.95, bookersvineyard.co.uk
There might just be time between downpours to get out there and blacken some sausages if you’re so inclined. Far and away the best wine to drink with barbecue food is a ripe, fruity red that slips down nice and easy. This medium bodied Sussex red has oodles of raspberry ripeness and a hint of oak. You could even give it half an hour in the fridge to sharpen it up (no, really).

Salad days

English White 2007, £9.99, marksandspencer.com
This isn't the time of year to be piling on the pounds, so keep in shape with a light lunch. Lunchtime wines need to be dry and appetising, and light enough to leave your head reasonably clear for the afternoon. This M&S dry white has enough citrus freshness to go with leafy dishes, and that telltale hint of elderflower that marks out many of our home-grown wines.

Drown your sorrows

Chapel Down Bacchus 2006, £9.01, waitrose.com
In the mood for a tear-jerker like Ghost or Steel Magnolias? If you're having one of those evenings when only a box of tissues, a box of chocolates and a glass of something comforting will do, this clean, crisp, appley white has broad enough shoulders to lean on and will enfold you in its arms with lush, ripe fruit flavours. Quite a few outlets have it, including Tesco, Waitrose and Booths, and it’ll cost you around £8.99.

Dangerously indulgent

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference English Sparkling Rosé, £17.99, sainsburys.co.uk
There's lazy and then there's plain bone-idle, which is what you're going to get this Sunday. That's when you want a glass of something that's going to taste both sublimely indulgent and dangerously easy to drink. This sparkling pink is full of summer strawberry charm, right down to the finishing hint of sweetness. Dunk halved strawberries in it, or drink it with strawberry ice cream. Because you're worth it.

Takes the biscuit

Duchy Originals English Sparkling Wine, £15.99, booths-wine.co.uk
Sometimes you just want to celebrate being with the Special One in your life, whether it's your anniversary or not. Let's not get too Mills & Boon about this, but hey, you're still together and it still feels right. Duchy Originals will bring the right touch of swish to the occasion - and we ain't talking biscuits. Made in Sussex, the estate's English sparkling wine combines elegant lightness of texture with a depth of flavour that comes from ageing in the bottle.

The champagne of Sussex

Nyetimber Vintage 2001, £24.69, waitrosewine.com
There's only one thing that'll make their jaws drop - apart from you sashaying through the door looking good enough to eat - and that's luscious, world-class fizz that comes from England. And with this beautiful bottle of bubbly you have it. The price might seem a bit steep - until you taste it. What you get is a rounded, rich, toasty mouthful of Sussex bubbles with a balancing touch of crispness. It's made by the same method as champagne, from the same three grape varieties, and tastes just as good.

Fancy some tucker with your tipple? Try these boozy recipes.

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