Waitrose wine deals: Top recommendations for quality and value for the season ahead

There’s a lot to enjoy in the Waitrose wine aisle right now, even if the distance between what has traditionally been the poshest of UK supermarket wine ranges and those of its bigger rivals is less pronounced than it’s ever been.

Bridging the affordability gap

Like its peers, Waitrose is making efforts to bridge the affordability gap created by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, with regular Wine Lover Weeks, which offer customers six bottles for the price of five (or, in a trial earlier this month, four for the price of three). And, in the run-up to Christmas, the continuation of its popular £10 Fine Wine promotion, the best of which (from Beaujolais and St-Emilion to Australian sparkling and Argentine Malbec) we’ve highlighted in the pick of 25 wines featured below.

The sweet spot

Although the sub-£10 trio we’ve also picked out here – a sunny southern Portuguese addition to the reliably interesting and good-value Lost & Found range, a fragrant Italian Moscato, and a typically punchy-for-the-money Spanish Garnacha – deserve special mention in this context, this is a retailer that has never confused the genuinely good value with the merely cheap, and many of the best buys here sit in a sweet spot around £15.

Wines such as the winter-warming reds offered by stalwart Barossa Valley producer Langmeil and Domaine Boutinot in Cairanne in the Southern Rhône; the blistering McLaren Vale Riesling of d’Arenberg; or the very fine new Fino Sherry from Alvaro Domecq all punch well above their price points.

Aim higher

For space reasons, we’ve kept this review focused on the core range of Waitrose wines stocked in its 300-odd stores, but it’s worth keeping an eye on the online-only Waitrose Cellar , which is home to some of the retailer’s smartest wines, including a highlight of the tasting: the immensely satisfying and, given the quality, outstanding value (£34) 2021 Rubicon from the historic Stellenbosch estate, Meerlust (96 points).

Waitrose & Partners: top buys this autumn and winter

 All bottle prices are correct at time of publication and do not reflect special or multi-buy offers. Wines are grouped by style and ordered by score, in descending order. 

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