I double checked a problem at Wine GB’s tasting last Wednesday. British wines are usually a smelly price for what they are, still styles in particular. They’re expensive to make so they’re expensive to buy. But this point is lazy, it’s a broad stroke that needs double checking, so I decided to ask the toughest and most important question at Wine GB’s tasting. What can I suck down for under £20?
I’d like to first admit that I wish the R in ‘Cork’ was both capitalised and emboldened on my press lanyard… particularly when passionately discussing mouth feel and a reluctance to spit. Secondly, there are some delicious options under £20 that deserve a space in your mouth. I’ll recommend 3 and keep the rest of my suggestions to myself.
Sandridge Barton - Sharpham - Dart Valley Reserve 2023 - £16
Something very good is happening at Sandridge Barton. The Dart Valley Reserve smells great, it's as though someone’s been smuggling fresh gooseberries and pears under a well-kept hedgerow. The acidity is lively but not rude and the flavours come through on the pallet. It would be a bad day for a bucket of hummus and nearby carrots if a few bottles of the Dart Reserve were to hand. It’s a blend of “Madeleine Angevine with a touch of Bacchus, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc”, a mount Rushmore of England’s crisp varietals. Grown in South Devon, it spent 6 months waiting patiently in stainless steel before being unleashed into Britain’s back gardens and pleasantly loosening conversations.
Simpsons Railway Vineyard Rose 2023 - £20
100% Pinot Noir and 100% class, hence I sipped it with my pinkie raised and covered my Lanyard for a moment. The Simpsons’s Railway Vineyard Rose has fistfuls of grapefruit, strawberry, and cranberry with a little weight to the pallet from some time on lees. The concentration and clarity of flavours is remarkable, so much so I was visibly giddy and gestured a stranger towards the bottle. Keep this well away from hen do’s, it’s better suited to conversations about interior design and how monumentally crap Whispering Angel is.
Lyme Bay Bacchus (M&S) 2023 - £15
Perhaps you are buying high end Tupperware in M&S before taking a wrong turn. Correctly priced Bacchus is now staring you in the face, its label simple and classy. This sort of access to British wine (albeit very middle-class access) at this sort of price is vital for letting more folk taste Britain. If it’s green, you can probably smell it in this jolly Bacchus, garden peas, grass, apples, mint, lime… It is a genuine alternative to Loire Sauvignon Blanc. The folks at Lyme Bay are based in Devon, though this Bacchus is a soup of counties, Kent, Essex, and Herefordshire mostly I believe. If you’d like some serious Pinot Noir, Lyme Bay does that as well.
This question of price is important because we still don’t see enough British wines on lists in London, not to mention this cost of living crisis. The folks choosing wine lists cite price as the biggest barrier for selecting British wines as opposed to quality. As more delicious stills come under the £20 mark, we might begin seeing Madeleine Angevine in seafood restaurants, Bacchus in pubs, or even British Rose next to East London’s small plates.