Wine Champions of 2021

Summing up this traditionally styled, plump and friendly grenache-syrah blend in a single word, Jo Locke MW singled it out for its ‘integrity’: made from fruit grown on both banks of the river (hence the name), this offers an authentic and affordable taste of a stunning Rhône vintage. In short, a Wine Champion in 2021.

This year our buyers agreed with the many members who buy this popular, punchy and plump Spanish garnacha. Juicy, generous and satisfying, its hint of pepper spice made it stand out in a strong line-up at our Wine Champions tastings.

This clever blend of Gascon sauvignon blanc’s lemony crispness and Languedoc viognier’s fragrant apricotty charm went down just as well with our Wine Champions tasters as it does with the many members who buy it so enthusiastically each year. We are pleased to confirm the 2020 is an excellent year for this popular thirst quencher!

This Fiano stood out in our 2021 Wine Champions blind tasting and it’s easy to see why. With peach and apricot flavours, an intense yet refreshing style, this characterful Sicilian white is easy to enjoy by the glass or with a range of dishes.

This smart New Zealand wine punches well above its weight, with elegant flint and struck-match complexity meeting delicious green-apple, melon and passionfruit. ‘A wine to buy by the case,’ said Sarah Knowles MW during the annual Wine Champions blind tasting, reflecting just how well we thought this would have slipped down had we been drinking rather than spitting!

A vivid reminder of the unparalleled joys of good Muscadet, a style that deserves so much more attention than it currently receives. The excellent and ripe 2018 vintage garlands a little extra stone-fruited pleasure around this wine’s precise, delicate and fresh core. Classy, versatile wine. A Wine Champion in 2021.

This barbera is from the beautiful Cascinone vineyard in Piedmont, north-west Italy. Bursting with ripe juicy red fruit, this medium-bodied wine has had time in large old oak casks, softening the tannins, and is a perfect pizza or pasta wine, as many think that barbera is one of the grapes that most suits tomato sauces.

A 2021 Wine Champion. As buyer Matthew Horsley put it, ‘the standard of Beaujolais this year was amazing’, and this exciting taste of the 2020 vintage showed why it’s a great opportunity to get acquainted or reacquainted with the wines. After two fuller-bodied vintages, the freshness of this well-balanced, cherry-fruited favourite certainly perked up the tastebuds.

Succulent pear and white-pepper aromas, nectarine and refreshing spritz on the palate make this a benchmark of Austria’s signature grape, from the historic Stadt Krems winery.

Smooth, generous and fragrant red from Sicily's nero d'Avola grape. This Italian red has been extremely popular since we introduced it, because it hits the spot and is great value. An International Wine Challenge and Decanter World Wine Awards bronze medal winner in 2021.

Finding such easy-drinking pleasure at this price can be a tricky business for a wine buyer, but when our team tasted the second vintage of this generous, fruit-filled Society wine blind during our Wine Champions sessions, we knew it had the x-factor. A bargain.

Very high scores were awarded to this excellent-value, vivid, vibrant and friendly Loire sauvignon in our 2021 Wine champions blind tastings. Its lemony, grassy aroma, gentle texture and clean, high-toned citrusy fruit deliver an awful lot of refreshment and quality for a fantastic price.