Wine Q&A: When will I be able to buy 2023 wines?
Grapes ripen each autumn and these are turned into wine as soon as they are picked. This happens once a year and the year that the wine was made is shown on the bottle label and is known as the wine’s vintage.
As grapes are grown all over the world, this means that they ripen at the time the wine-growing country has its season of autumn. Here in the UK, and the rest of the northern hemisphere Old World wine countries, grape picking happens during September and October. This makes sense as we can see from other fruit growing in our gardens and hedgerows – like apples, pears and blackberries – are ripening too.
But in southern hemisphere wine-growing countries (the New World) their grapes ripen 6 months earlier in our spring – it’s still autumn but it starts during February.
Australian wines will be the first to appear in our shops this autumn. After they start picking their grapes in February the grapes will be crushed and the juice will be fermented into wine – which will be ready for first drinking about 6 months after that.
So we will start to see these wines in UK supermarkets around August this year.
Meanwhile keep on drinking the wines made in 2022!
Wines recommended by www.wineuncorked.co.uk
The Weather Man Fairtrade Sauvignon Blanc 2022
£5.75 Co-op
5*
Great value South African Sauvignon Blanc that will please all white wine lovers with its creamy melon flavours that don’t scream “gooseberry Sauvignon Blanc!!”. Fresh and fruity with a creaminess that many will enjoy. There’s a bit of lightly toasted bread flavour going on there too which is as far removed from New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc as can be. A bargain.
Co-op Irresistible Fairtrade Sauvignon Blanc 2022
£5.75 Co-op
5*
Amazing value South African Sauvignon Blanc with flavours of grassy lime. You can’t go wrong with this agreeable wine at only £5.50.
Tyrrell’s Hunter Valley Brookdale Semillon 2022
£15 Tesco
4*
At £15 a bottle this isn’t your everyday quaff but if you’re looking for a posh wine that’s very drinkable then this is it. Fresh pear and crisp apple flavours with a celery dryness. It’s relatively low alcohol too at only 11%.
Look out for white wines from New Zealand. The 2022 vintage has just reached the shops – some of them anyway! Laithwaites has a large selection:
Bees Knees Chenin Blanc Viognier 2022
£11.99 Laithwaites
Nelson Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2022
£13.99 Laithwaites
Mussel Pot Sauvignon Blanc 2022
£13.99 Laithwaites
Split Rock Sauvignon Blanc 2022
£13.99 Laithwaites
Sunday Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022
£13.99 Laithwaites
Kora Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022
£12.99 Laithwaites
Queen Bee Viognier 2022
£12.99 Laithwaites
The Huguenot Chenin Blanc 2022
£10.99 Laithwaites
Limited Release Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022
£18.99 Laithwaites
The Escapist Sauvignon Blanc 2022
£8.99 Laithwaites
The wineuncorked.co.uk wine rating system uses a maximum of 5 stars:
5* outstanding – the top rating given by wineuncorked.co.uk
4* very good wine
3* good wine but over priced
2* a disappointing wine
1* little to offer
0* avoid – pour down the drain
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© Paula Goddard 2023 www.wineuncorked.co.uk
