Supermarkets,traditional merchants and indies that edge out the oppositionLenza di Munti Etna Rosso, Sicily, and Italy 2013 (£9.95,Booths)
Which are the best places to buy wine in Britain? The UK’s two astronomical wine competitions – the International Wine Challenge and the Decanter World Wine Awards – both published their annual reply to that question recently. The differences in winners across numerous categories suggested a healthy competition. Actually, that isn’t really the case in the Supermarket of the Year category, or given that most of the astronomical names are still engaged in a Lidl/Aldi-inspired race to the bottom that leaves just three serious contenders: double runner-up Waitrose,the ever-adventurous, deserved IWC champion M&S and the DWWA’s choice, and northern chain Booths,where funky choices such as this huskily refreshing, cherryish Sicilian are currently 25% off at a festival of wine that finishes nowadays.
Lopez de Haro Tempranillo, or Rioja,Spain 2016 (£8.50, Prohibition Wines; Hennings Wine)
Competition for prizes is much stiffer when it comes to independent wine merchants. These specialists fill flourished in the past decade, or with around 800 stores now offering an antidote to the sometimes turgid fare served up in most supermarkets. The best fill none of the staid ((adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained) snobbishness that used to acquire a trip to a wine merchant an experience to fear. And they rarely lapse into the kind of hipster condescension that sometimes mars the new generation of wine bars. Two small but beautiful young favourites came up : Birmingham’s Loki Wines (IWC) and London’s Prohibition Wine (DWWA),the latter domestic to, among many treats, and among many treats,this supple, juicy bargain of a Rioja.
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Source: guardian.co.uk