12th May 2022, 7pm BST British Summer Time London (3pm EDT in USA), £14 per household
Morrisons offers best value for getting in the wines for the next WineUncorked online tasting on Thursday 12 May at 7pm. It’ll be a taste-off between English white wine v French white wine: Which tastes better? and a bottle of English Chapel Down Flint Dry £7.50 (down from £14 until 17th July at Morrisons) and a bottle of French Terre et Vignes Sauvignon Blanc at just £5 would make great comparisons.
But these aren’t the only wines that would make great tasting companions for the tasting. Here at WineUncorked we don’t prescribe specific wines to bring along to our monthly online tastings, but make suggestions on suitable types.
So what wines should you bring along?
- One bottle of English white wine that isn’t a sparkling – it can be of any grape variety or name
- One bottle of French white wine made with the Sauvignon Blanc grape variety – look on the label for Sauvignon Blanc or Sancerre
But let’s look at what’s out there at the moment
English White still
You only need to bring along one bottle of English white wine
Hawkins Brothers English Bacchus 2020
£17.50 purchase Hawkins Brothers
By far the best tasting non-sparkling English white wine around. A lovely balance of flavours with peach and pear plus the expected elderflower that makes Bacchus so very English.
The Wine Society’s English White 2020
£8.50 purchase The Wine Society (now the 2021)
A blend of six grape varieties you will only have heard of unless you follow the English wine scene closely but one of them provides a distinct grapefruit kick. Is it the Madeleine Angevine, Reichensteiner, Phoenix, Seyval Blanc, Solaris or Siegurebe? Add in the pineapple, melon and apple fruitiness and the whole mix is a delight. But don't serve it too cold, even though it is a white wine, as the delicate flavours will disappear.
Tuffer’s Tipple English Bacchus 2020
£13.99 purchase Virgin Wines
English Bacchus is often touted as the English version of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with similar gooseberry flavours. Well this wine has that plus bags of lime flavours too – if you remember the green one in a packet of Opal Fruits (later known as Starburst) or Rose’s Lime Juice Cordial then you’ll get the flavour. But there is a sweet orange and lemon tinge to slightly balance things.
Tesco Finest English White 2019
£11 purchase Tesco
Light elderflower and lime aromas and flavours. Sharp but not undrinkable.
Morrisons
Chapel Down Flint Dry £7.50 (down from £14 until 17th July)
Morrisons The Best English Dry White Wine £14
Majestic
Chapel Down Flint Dry £15.99
Lyme Bay Chardonnay £19.99
Waitrose stock five English still white wines
Chapel Down Bacchus £12.79
Chapel Down Flint Dry £14.99
Giffords Hall Bacchus £13.99
Giffords Hall Madeleine Angevine £13.99
Simpsons Estate Chardonnay £16.99
French White Sauvignon Blanc/Sancerre
You only need to bring along one bottle of French white wine
£15 purchase Tesco
Satisfying sweet-sour flavours that you expect from a well-made wine. Fruity flavours of peach, melon and apricot may be sweet but aren't cloying and are balanced with the fresh acidity of grapefruit and lime. Balanced.
Tuffer’s Tipple Sauvignon Blanc 2020
£11.99 purchase Virgin Wines
Lemon freshness plus apple and melon fruitiness.
£7 Morrisons, £8 Asda, Ocado, £9 Tesco
Attractive aromas of apple pie and light gooseberry with a floral hint.
Calvet Limited Release Sauvignon Blanc 2017
£6.99 Co-op, Waitrose
A fresh and zingy Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc. Fruity aromas mix together to give a fresh appeal with lemon, apple, gooseberry and pineapple all sedately asking for your attention. Zingy lime and apple pie are the main flavours along with a grassy edge. A class wine. Match to fish and chips.
Calvet Prestige Sauvignon Blanc
£7.50 Tesco, £9 Ocado
Better to treat this wine more like a red and decant it into a jug before drinking to allow the flavours to balance themselves out. The result is light elderflower and creamy apple flavours with some minerality and the woody damp pencil effect. Sophisticated.
M&S Gold Label Sauvignon Blanc
£6 M&S
Light gooseberry and melon aromas are soothing and pleasant. There's more gooseberry on the flavour but this time it's quite tangy. A nice lunch-time quaff to match to quiche.
Aldi Tourraine Sauvignon Blanc £6.99
Morrisons Terre et Vignes Sauvignon Blanc £5
Tesco Oriel Sauvignon Blanc, £7.50
Tesco Louis de Camponac Sauvignon Blanc, £6.50
You’ll also need to bring along
- One bottle of elderflower cordial or some sugar dissolved in water
To make the sugar dissolved in water, measure about 3 teaspoons of sugar into a cup and add boiling water. Stir and let it go cold. The amount of sugar and water doesn’t need to be that precise, just dissolve some and bring it along.
What’s the tasting on 12th May all about?
Sparkling Britfizz grabs all the headlines but what about the cheaper everyday stuff that is English white wine. Available in all of our supermarkets, from Aldi to Waitrose and all the others in-between, English white is fun, fresh and fruity – but does it need some help from our store cupboard? Plus does it match up to similar French white wines like Sauvignon Blanc? Let’s find out. Compare and contrast wines in a fun and informal way.
Look out for the 9th June 2022 tasting on Cheese and Wine Matching: Let’s all shout ‘hard cheese!’
