Booths: 'I spoke to Booths' wine expert to find out the best bottles on the shelves'

If it comes from Booths, usually with a clever pun on the side, such as ‘Much Ado about Stuffing’, or ‘Morecambe and Pies’, then this is bound to be someone who has a discerning palate.

Apart from being strong and serviceable, the bags are a conversation starter, especially if you are on holiday and spot one in an Italian food market.

With only 26 stores compared with Aldi’s 1,000-plus stores and Waitrose 300-plus, Booths is just a minnow in retailing, but it has found its niche and is less of a supermarket and more of a well-established grocer.

It not only provides a fine range of regular products, but it also stocks a few quirky ingredients.

There is a strong policy of buying locally which cuts food miles and helps sustain the local economy, Booths is a definite northern establishment, and we are fortunate that three of their stores are in Yorkshire.

Ripon, Ilkley and Settle have a Booths store and even if you are some distance away from these towns, they are well worth a detour.

The wine range differs from most other supermarkets, and I chatted to wine buyer Victoria Anderson to find out why.

“Value for money is the main aim of the range, but there has to be some excitement too,” she said.

“We have a wide range of customers, with varied interests, but many are food lovers who are looking for something interesting at every price point.”

I tasted over 140 wines at their recent tasting, and here are some of the best wines that stood out on the day, but there were many more that will find their way into this column in coming weeks.

Sparkling Wines

J. Laurens Crémant de Limoux NV, France, £16: Seriously good fizz at barely more than you might pay for Prosecco. From the cool, high-altitude region of Limoux, this is made from Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc grapes, using the traditional, in-bottle fermentation method to give a wine that is dry, elegant and delicious.

E.H. Booth & Co. English Sparkling Wine, £24: Sourced from Ridgeway, one of England’s finest vineyards, this is a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier grapes, grown in Sussex and aged on lees in bottle to create a soft, creamy wine with citrus and peach flavours rounded out with toasty brioche on the finish.

White Wines

Yerevan Dry White 2023, Armenia Wine Company, £10.75: This comes in a heavy bottle, but the wine is so good, it has to be tried. Unusual, dry and fresh tasting, it comes from Armenia and is made from local grapes Kangun and Rkatsiteli. It has pear, quince and apple fruit and a long, savoury finish.

Spier Seaward Chenin Blanc 2024, South Africa, £13: Spier is an historic company that has enjoyed significant investment in recent years. Now with the environment very much towards the top of the agenda, it makes consistently good wines, with Chenin Blanc as a particular star. This is bright and zesty with lemon and peachy stone fruit flavours.

Susana Balbo Crios Torrontés 2023, Mendoza, Argentina, £13: A crisp, peachy, apricot scented wine, made from Argentina’s Torrontés grape. Enjoyable on its own, but with enough weight to go with seafood, goats’ cheese and charcuterie.

Tenuta Santa Seraffa Gavi di Gavi 2024, Piedmont, Italy, £14: From the heart of the Gavi region, this has a light floral nose backed by lemony aromas. The palate is fresh with herbal notes and a prolonged, peachy, elegant finish. Pour this alongside fish or creamy pasta.

Domaine Jones Les Parcelles Blanc 2022, Languedoc, £16.50: In the rugged hills of Southern France, low-yielding, old Grenache Blanc and Macabeu vines give concentrated flavours of citrus and apricot with a smoky tone and herby complexity. This estate is run by Katie Jones who moved to France decades ago and started to buy up neglected plots of old vines. Now she makes some of the best wines in the Languedoc.

Red Wines

E.H. Booth & Co. Côtes du Rhône 2024, France, £9.25: A really well-made CRD that will happily sit alongside a plate of sausages or a chunk of cheese. Made from a simple blend of Grenache and Syrah, there is deep, plummy fruit with complex earthy flavours, tinged with herbal notes and a long savoury finish.

Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage 2023, South Africa, £16: 100 years ago, the Pinotage grape was developed by crossing a Pinot Noir vine with Cinsault. The trouble is it really didn’t taste good for many years. Now winemakers have learnt how to get the best flavours from those grapes, and this is a fine example. With layers of raspberry fruit, red cherry and a touch of oak, this goes perfectly with a burger.

Larry Cherubino Ad Hoc Cruel Mistress Pinot Noir 2023, Western Australia £16.50: Pinot Noir is a demanding and difficult grape to grow, hence the name ‘Cruel Mistress’, for this wine but Larry seems to have tamed his mistress, allowing the grapes to develop juicy black cherry fruit backed by minerals and savoury depth.

E.H. Booth & Co. St. Julien 2019, Bordeaux, France £20: Looking back at my notes, I see that I also mentioned this wine after the last tasting. It was good then, but after another year in bottle it is simply gorgeous with rounded cassis notes and silky tannins. Buy a case right now, and bring out a bottle from time to time, making sure you leave enough for Christmas lunch.

Humberto Canale Selección de Familia Malbec 2023, Patagonia, Argentina, £21: Argentina is famous for its Malbecs, but this comes from the deep south of Argentina, in Patagonia where cool nights and long hot days develop deep flavours in the grapes while keeping a thread of freshness. This bursts on to the palate with blackberry and mulberry fruit, backed by soft tannins and a hint of spice.