If you like your wine but you’re looking for some new bottles to try this Spring, Ben Franks has got you covered. Here’s Ben’s six best wines for the adventurous wine consumer looking for their new favourite, along with two honourable mentions. All these wines are available at Waitrose Cellar, the online specialist shop front for the top end supermarket Waitrose.
People often say “Life’s too short for bad wine”, which I wholeheartedly agree with, but I would add that life’s also too short for the same wine. Don’t get me wrong, I have a few favourites I like to go back to from time to time, but one of the exciting things about wine is in trying something new.
However, when you’re faced with so much choice in the supermarket picking something new can be daunting. That will always be why your local indie wine merchant is special, because there’s someone passionate there to guide you towards your next favourite. If you don’t have an indie wine shop local to you, then top end supermarkets like Waitrose with their world class buying team can offer a strong second choice. As I’ve mentioned before, you only get Waitrose’s full wine range online at Waitrose Cellar, so I’ve put together a list of bottles you’ve probably never tried before that I’m confident you’re going to love.
Before we get into what made by top six and why, I’ve got two honourable mentions from South Africa. Spring is a great time of year to taste something new, not least because the sunshine coming out and flowers beginning to bloom tend to raise our spirits, but it’s also when supermarkets tend to kick-off their offers after the early year detox.
My first honourable mention for the adventurous wine consumer is a rosé. From the beautiful Babylonstoren Estate in Simonsberg, their varietal Mourvedre Rosé (£18.00, Waitrose Cellar) does something different to your classic Provence. The Mourvedre grape, with its thicker skin, ripens fully in the South African sunshine but retains its acidity thanks to its vineyard positioning on the mountain foothills. You get summer fruits against a waxy-like citrus that gives the wine body and a voluptuous, fresh finish. It’s perfect for pairing with Spring BBQ afternoons or kicking back with a friend on the patio and a bowl of salted crisps.
My other honourable mention would have probably made the list if it wasn’t for Spring as this red has a rich, full-bodied character. The wine is Vilafonté’s Seriously Old Dirt 2021 (£26.00, Waitrose Cellar). The wine is selected from unique vineyard sites each with its own ancient soil profile, which is verified by its Vineyard Geological Identity (VGI) and overseen by vine grower and consultant Marco Roux. These deep-rooted vines express varying characters across each of Vilafonté’s parcels. Each is tasted and blended together by winemaker Arlene Mains and the result is this Bordeaux-inspired, Cabernet Sauvignon based red wine that’s glorious to drink. Deep, fruity and yet somehow mineral and fresh to finish, it’s a lovely showcase of South African star power. I particularly enjoy the wine’s layers of spice, which are elegant and complementary to the fruit, and mean it’s never cloying, heavy or brash. Ideal for sipping as is, or with a good cut of meat.
The 6 Bottle Case:
Cost: £96.00 (including offers, usually £101.00). Swap the fizz out for an honourable mention to save a few quid.
NV Estate Quartet, Roederer – £33.50 // Big, toasty, creamy Cali fizz made for true celebrations.
2024 Villa Flora Lugana, Zenato – £15.00 // An easy favourite of mine with that “yellow” style orchard fruit that’s bittersweet, fresh and moreish.
2023 Heinrich Hartl, Zierfandler – £11.50 (on offer, usually £14.50) // Dry, waxy, zesty and spicy, you won’t forget this white wine.
2024 Organic Pinot Noir, Calmel & Joseph – £11.50 (on offer, usually £13.50) // Light, easy-going Pinot Noir from the safe pair of hands that is Calmel & Joseph. 2024 sucked for a lot of folks, but this is poised and yummy.
2023 Reserve Valle de Uco Bonarda, Santa Julia – £11.75 // Not as hot and boozy as a Malbec, Bonarda still has all that smooth & silky fruit you want in a full-bodied red wine during Spring.
NV Full Rich Madeira, Henriques & Henriques – £12.75 // Madeira in Spring? It’s madness we don’t drink more Madeira. This, served lightly chilled, is the joy we all need in the world.
Honourable mentions:
2025 Mourvedre Rosé, Babylonstoren – £18.00 // A rosé with substance! Still dry and pale pink but with Mourvedre’s fullness for a satisfying, refreshing gulp.
2021 Seriously Old Dirt, Vilafonté – £26.00 // Remarkable Bordeaux-blend, full of ripe fruit but gentle on the tannins and a pleasure to drink.
The winning six wines from Waitrose Cellar
While both those wines are excellent, I am very excited to share with you my top six favourites for Spring drinking. When it comes to fizz, those who know me will know I’ve got a soft spot for the Champagne house Louis Roederer. The Roederer wines are consistently well made, particularly in their maturity. When you drink a Roederer you know you’re drinking Champagne, without it being obnoxious and attention seeking.
While the Champagnes of the Louis Roederer label in France take a more elegant path, my pick for Spring is something new, focusing on the brand’s California venture with their namesake American sibling Roederer Estate Quartet NV (£33.50, Waitrose Cellar). Here, with the hot Cali sun, you get golden fruit that brings weight and depth to the sparkling wines. This fruit is complemented by long, toasty lees ageing and a rich, biscuity backbone. If you’ve sipped fizz and thought it all a bit underwhelming, then try the Roederer Estate Quartet. You’ll rediscover what all the fuss is about.
Alongside this magnificent fizz, I’ve picked two white wines out for your case. The first is a favourite of mine from the Waitrose range that I’ve recommended many times before: Zenato Villa Flora Lugana (£15.00, Waitrose Cellar). This is a Trebbiano-based white wine from northern Italy. What I like about Italian white wines, which is often overlooked, is the fruit has a higher phenolic ripeness thanks to the Mediterranean sunshine that’s balanced by sea breezes and mountain influences. This gives the white wines a deeper, more “yellow” (rather than green) style of citrus that is reminiscent of grapefruit, waxy lemons, or in some cases oranges. This complements the notes of fresh pear and white peach to create a truly all-rounder white wine. I’d pick the Zenato Lugana over Sauvignon Blanc nearly every day of the week!
The second white to make the case is from Austria. While the wines from Germany and Austria can be difficult for us Brits to pronounce, there are almost always hidden gems to be found from these countries. Although, I do think they keep the best stuff from themselves. Luckily Waitrose has enough buying power and kudos to attract wineries like Heinrich Hartl. Heinrich Hartlel Zierflander (£11.50 on offer, Waitrose Cellar) is a white wine that uses the naturally sweetish grape Zeirflander, which you may never have seen let alone tasted before. The wine itself is dry with a balancing acidity in the form of gooseberry and lime-like citrus. That familiar fruit character is made interesting by a lightly nutty and spicy backbone, which is something shared with many of Austria’s wines made from indigenous grapes, such as Grüner Veltliner. If you pair this with fried food (yes, I’m thinking schnitzel) you’re in for a treat.
Spring time doesn’t mean skip the red wines
I actually enjoy a good glass of red when the sun’s out, especially when it’s still fairly cool like in British springtime. There’s two bottles of red that I think make an excellent case for joining my box of something new from Waitrose; the first is a Pinot Noir.
Yes, I know you’ve had Pinot Noir before but the one I want to talk about today is the Calmel & Joseph Organic Pinot Noir (£11.50 on offer, Waitrose Cellar) from the Languedoc-Roussillon in the south of France. Calmel & Joseph has a winemaking style I really admire, especially in their Piquepoul Noir (a grape you can find in Waitrose’s Loved & Found range for only £7.00), which is a lighter and herbier style than you may expect. In their Organic Pinot Noir you are greeted with light, crisp berry fruit that has a gentle acidity and cries out to be lightly chilled and happily quaffed. It also has a slight herbaceous note that’s cooling and lifting in itself. If you usually drink juicy young or even mature, barnyard Pinots from Burgundy, then give something different a go with this Pinot Noir from Calmel & Joseph.
The next red is one you might not have tasted before but I’ve especially picked out for you Malbec fans. It’s the Santa Julia Reserve Valle de Uco Bonarda (£11.75, Waitrose Cellar). The Bonarda grape doesn’t have the thick skins and structure of a Malbec, but if you’re enjoying a younger vintage – which most of us are forced to with the popular demand of Malbec nowadays anyway – then you don’t need that. The Bonarda grape is naturally lighter in alcohol but without compromising its dark, inky colour and jammy, plummy fruit. It has very soft, silky tannins and Santa Julia’s reliable and well-priced version is bold on the finish. Now you can enjoy a Malbec style Argentinian red without the hot flush. Just like it’s Malbec cousin, Bonarda is a great steak wine or alongside blue cheese.
Something special
Have you ever tried Madeira? Madeira is a fortified wine from the Portuguese islands of Madeira off the coast of north-west Africa. Madeira wine’s process is similar in its early stages to Port, with the wine fortified by the addition of grape spirit. Unlike Port, Madeira then goes through a unique process of oxidation and heating, which makes it virtually indestructible but also gives it a unique caramel-like and nutty character. You can get fresher styles, often made from the white grape varieties Verdelho, Sercial, Malvasia and Bual, but the vast majority of Madeira is made from the dark-skinned grape Tinta Negra Mole.
That’s exactly the variety used to make Henriques & Henriques Rich Full Madeira (£12.75, Waitrose Cellar). You may ask where I get off suggesting Madeira for a Spring wine case, but to be frank it’s crazy that we’re not all drinking more Madeira wines. They range from dry to lusciously sweet and can be some of the best food pairing wines you can buy. They are also, thanks to their unpopularity, extremely good value for money. The H&H Rich Full Madeira is firmly in sweet wine territory with a lusciously toffee-like character, deep plum and cocoa notes. It is lighter in body than Port and you can freshen it up by lightly chilling the wine. When you do, sip a glass with your favourite dark chocolate. Spring or not, you’ll be in for a special moment.
If you only try one thing from this list, make it the Madeira. It is the perfect choice for an adventurous wine drinker.
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Fancy more Waitrose wine recommendations? Why not read my monthly round-up and bookmark it for your next shopping trip. View my Waitrose Top Picks Wine Buying Guide here.
