Following on from my White Wine 411 last week, here are the bottles I’ve been enjoying recently, all available in and around Edinburgh from a variety of places, at a variety of different price points.
If you’re looking for a bargain: Deluxe Fairtrade Chenin Blanc (Lidl ~ £6) – citrus and green fruits with well-balanced acidity. Pretty good value for money.
If you want a safe bet: Ned Sauvignon Blanc (Sainsbury’s – £10.75) – a classic example of a sauv blanc with notes of passionfruit, pineapple on the nose, greener notes of kiwi and cucumber on the mouth. It’s reliable, it’s safe. It’s like a VW Polo.
If you want to feel grown up: Beppe Morchetto (DrinksMonger, Bruntsfield – £9.50) – fresh and clean, with peach and grapefruit notes. Made from a blend of Chardonnay and Garganega grapes, this has more depth than your usual supermarket chardonnays. It also has an aesthetic label, (which is not why you should choose a wine, but it doesn’t hurt if you want a candle holder afterwards…).
If you’re looking for something more exciting: M&S White Rioja (M&S – £7) – easy to drink, with light notes of pear, lemon verbena and melon. Rioja is better known for its red, but this white doesn’t disappoint. My best tip if you want to try more interesting wines without the intimidation of a hipster wine shop is check out the wine in bigger, more upmarket shops like M&S or Waitrose, as they tend to have a good range at the same price point of the smaller Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s (especially with MUP) but they have a bigger variety of grapes and countries.
If you need to bribe me: Camel Valley Bacchus (Waitrose – £17) – not the usual student choice due to the price point, but my highest rated white of 2025 so far. In this case, the higher price is definitely rewarded – a little on the sweet side, but mostly well balanced with notes of overripe peaches, heather and gooseberries. This comes from a Cornish vineyard and is a great example of what the growing British wine industry has to offer. I’m deeply in love.
Illustration by Rosie Warwood, @rosiewarwoodart on Instagram.