The bargain summer wine list: the 51 best bottles, from £8 and under

Times

16 hours ago

Summer celebrations don't have to be fuelled with expensive wines. It's entirely possible to find delicious whites, good reds, mouthwatering pinks and decent bottles of fizz for £8 or under. You do have to know where to look, though. Rooting out the top 50 bargain wines here involved trying every single one of the wines that supermarkets showed at their spring and summer tastings,and plenty of the wine merchants' offerings too.
It might sound like a wonderful job — but, believe me, there were as many duds as delights. Clearly 2025's perfect storm of dramatic duty hikes, a weak exchange rate and increased shipping and transport costs have been a challenge, resulting in less choice and wishy-washy, lower-alcohol flavours. Yet, for all that, there are some fantastic summer wines to be found.
As always, Aldi and Lidl, the German discounters, have come to the rescue with some extremely good-value bottles. Anyone with prejudices about these no-frills supermarkets will overcome them as soon as they dive into Aldi's citrussy Pierre Jaurant French Sauvignon, £4.85, or Lidl's buttery Australian 2023 Cimarosa Chardonnay, £4.99. This summer's best bargain Kiwi sauvignon is a zingy, gooseberry and lush passion fruit 2023 Freeman's Bay Sauvignon Blanc, a £5.99 Aldi snip, or plump for Lidl's creamy, black-fruited 2023 Deluxe Australian Barossa Valley Shiraz, £7.99.
Asda's wine buyers have also worked hard this summer, with the likes of a white rhône-like 2024 Extra Special Languedoc Blanc, £7.54, scented with viognier, roussanne and marsanne, and a brilliant-value-for-money, tank-method fizz, the floral, stone fruit Wine Atlas Lake Garda Sparkling, a £6.97 steal. The behemoth Tesco is fighting back on all fronts with, among others, a bouncy, apple blossom-perfumed Codorniu Herencia Cava, yours for just £7 until July 14, and a zesty red cherry-ripe 2024 Marques de los Zancos Red Rioja, £6.25.
Marks & Spencer's Found range has some unusual, keenly priced bottles, plus this summer's cheapest, tastiest pink, the syrah-led 2024 Italian Rosato from clever Cantine Settesoli in Sicily, yours for just £6.50. Morrisons also has a few plums, including a lip-smacking Loureiro vinho verde, just £7 until July 15. Look out too for Waitrose's cut-price charmers, including a young, tangy unoaked claret, the seductive, violet-scented 2021 Château Margerots Bordeaux Superieur, £11, down to £8 from July 2.
If I had to pick one summer party steal it would be Aldi's superior Specially Selected DOCG Prosecco Valdobbiadene, £7.99, down to £4.99 from July 10 to July 16. Prosecco's not typically my thing, but if an elegant, frothy, orchard-fruited fizz is yours, get in the queue. Happy hunting.
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11 per cent, Aldi, £4.15Jolly, non-vintage, bargain buy Central Valley merlot, topped up with a dollop of tintorera and dash of syrah with lashings of soft, green, plummy fruit. It makes a handy, lighter summer red, perfect with pasta and pizza.
11 per cent, Aldi, £4.85 Sauvignon is our most popular white wine by far and this summer's bargain-basement gem is a humble vin de France. Its gentle, citrussy zest, with a dab of sweetness, is the perfect picnic white and — at this price — a steal.
11 per cent, Lidl, £4.99 A cheap-as-chips, buttercup gold Aussie, bursting with the sort of light but lively, buttered glazed pineapple fruit that chardonnay fans can never get enough of. Lidl's New World offerings don't always hit the spot but this one most certainly does.
11 per cent, Aldi, £7.99, down to £4.99 from Jul 10-16 Prosecco's not my thing but if it's yours, queue up at Aldi for what's likely to be a sell-out stampede. Predominantly made from the glera grape and sweeter than most, what you get is an elegant, frothy, orchard-fruited mouthful.
11 per cent, Tesco, £6, down to £5 from Jul 15Easily the best of the non-vintage Isla Negra reds and from the same Chilean stable as Cono Sur. Bursting with ripe, smoky, blackcurranty fruit, plus a dab of chocolate on the finish, it's equally at home with red meat or veggie fare. Given away for a fiver.
12 per cent, Asda, £6.24, down to £5.50 from Jul 3-30A delicious, smoky, vanilla pod-scented rioja, with a fine, tangy finish that makes it the white wine to serve with everything from punchy summer salads to burnt barbecued fare. Despite the topsy-turvy 2024 vintage, Espartero is all easy-drinking, bright, vibrant, juicy fruit.
10.5 per cent, Booths, £6, or 2 for £5.50 each Jul 2-29Don't turn your nose up at non-vintage whites; Isla Negra's bosky sauvignon, zhuzhed up with grapey pedro jimenez, makes a refreshing, lower alcohol summer sip. With masses of green pepper and lemongrass pizzazz, it's summer in a glass.
12 per cent, Lidl, £5.79Pinot grigio is as popular as ever. The rub, though, is to find one, especially at this price, that has any flavour at all. Luckily Lidl have come to the rescue with this greeny-white, perky, lemon zest and celery salt gem from pinot grigio vines grown close to Lake Garda in the Veneto.
10.5 per cent, Co-op, £5.80A mouthwatering, light, zesty, budget summer garden party soave that, surprisingly, is a better buy than the Co-op's £8-plus version. Made exclusively from the garganega grape, this vegan-friendly soave has oodles of unoaked, crisp, zingy, lemony fruit.
11 per cent, Asda, £5.98, down from £6.48 until Jul 30Chile's best bargain basement pinot noir continues to punch well above its weight with delicious, beefy, rustic, mocha fruit. Given that this burgundy-style red is more than £8 elsewhere, my advice is to stock up now.
14 per cent, Asda, £5.98, down from £6.48 Once upon a time cheap pinotage was vile but new-era winemaking, including scrubbing dirty cellars and grubbing up virused vines, has cleaned up the grape's act and reputation. Hence this spot on, bright, coastal pinotage, with oodles of sweetly spiced black cherry charm.
11 per cent, Asda, £5.98, down from £6.24 until Jul 2Hurry along to Asda to scoop up this delightful and delightfully cheap viognier that's £2 more elsewhere. With less alcohol than previous vintages, this exotic, honeysuckle and spiced yellow peach-laden Chilean makes the perfect summer party white.
14 per cent, Aldi, £5.99Southeast European wines go from strength to strength and this unusual red from North Macedonia is made exclusively from the kratosija grape, better known as zinfandel. Crammed with sweet yet tangy, squishy red and black fruit, it's a summer must-try.
12.5 per cent, Aldi, £5.99Kiwi 'savvy' is our favourite white wine by a country mile and as usual Aldi's Freeman's Bay is the cheapest and best. A clever combo of ripe, zingy gooseberry with lashings of lush passion fruit pizzazz, this is an Aldi core line so there should be enough to go around.
13 per cent, Aldi, £5.99Juicy, fruity, easy-swigging Languedoc merlot with masses of plump, red berry fruit — tailor-made for chilling on sunny days, or enjoyed at room temperature on cold days. With a tad more alcohol than lots of cheap reds, it's the bottle to drink with burnt barbecued fare.
11.5 per cent, Lidl, £5.99Pecorino — the wine, not the cheese — is a handy Italian summer aperitif white made from an ancient grape grown halfway down the Adriatic coast in Abruzzo. Pale in hue but with wonderfully elegant, floral, herby, lemon blossom scents, it's a brilliant sub-£6 buy.
13 per cent, Tesco, £6Portugal produces brilliant value-for-money reds, including new-wave bottles like this one. It's mostly syrah and cabernet sauvignon, beefed up with a dollop of alicante bouschet and touriga nacional, making for a tasty, red plum jam-luscious, crowd pleaser. Vegan-friendly.
13 per cent, Tesco, £6A classic Aussie duo, with shiraz filling out cabernet sauvignon's hollow middle. It's a machine harvested, lush bramble-fruited, fat, hearty, non-vintage red with a dusting of French and American oak. Barbecued burgers, anyone?
13.5 per cent, Asda, £6.17Cariñena in northern Spain, a good hop southeast of Rioja, is home to some terrific value-for-money reds just like this impressive bright crimson purple garnacha. Overflowing with bold, ripe, cassis and blackberry fruit, it gives you a lot of bang for your buck.
8.5 per cent, Morrisons, £6.25, down from £7.25 until Jul 15It's hard to keep your alcohol content down in summer, but Casillero del Diablo's Belight hits the spot. Made from cinsault, carménère and sauvignon blanc, what you get is lots of ripe, peachy, fruit that will go down well at picnics and parties.
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13 per cent, Tesco, £6.25Tesco is on a roll, with good wines to be had from top to bottom including this impressive red rioja made exclusively from the tempranillo grape. Unoaked and harvested at night to hang onto every ounce of fruit, it's a delicious, bright, zesty, red-cherry mouthful.
13.5 per cent, Asda, £6.48Uber-popular malbec remains our No 1 red wine choice and this 2022 Mendoza edition has been pumped up with a helpful 15 per cent dab of classy, barrel-matured Uco Valley malbec. What you get is a deliciously dark-hearted blueberry and black chocolate wallop.
13 per cent, Lidl, £6.49Puglia's primitivo grape, one and the same as California's zinfandel, makes a brilliant barbecue bottle, with masses of savoury, strawberry-ripe fruit, tailor made for charred meat. Lidl sells lots of different primitivos so make certain you nab the right bottle.
11 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £6.50 Castile-La Mancha's workhorse airen grape may not be the most exciting but Bodegas del Saz's unoaked, cool-fermented 2024 gets my summer thumbs-up. Brimming with bright, ripe, easy-drinking yellow peach fruit, this screw-top white is perfect for picnics.
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11 per cent, Tesco, £6.50, down from £7.75, Jul 15-Aug 11It's worth waiting a fortnight to nab this refreshing Spaniard at £6.50. Made from the parellada grape and garnacha blanco, and with uncomplicated verdant fruit plus a dash of grapefruit on the finish, it's the sort of simple white we should all have in the fridge.
11 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £6.50Hats off to Marks & Spencer's buyers for rooting out this refreshing, fruity yet delicate pink from clever Cantine Settesoli in Sicily, which makes rafts of good varietal wines at keen prices. Mostly peppery syrah, with a dash of hearty nerello mascalese, it's a surprisingly light, floral charmer.
11 per cent, Tesco, £6.75, down from £7.75 until Jul 20 Rueda, a good hop northwest of Madrid, is a brilliant source of tasty, sauvignon blanc-esque Spanish whites, and this one from Pagos del Rey is a favourite. Harvested at dawn to hang onto every ounce of fruit, this organic and vegan-friendly 2024 bursts with zesty, lime peel style.
11.5 per cent, Tesco, £6.75, down from £7.50, Jul 15-Aug 11 A mouthwateringly summery, glorious Gascon white, roughly equal parts of the colombard and gros manseng grapes. Overflowing with juicy, citrus and pepped up with a tangy pink grapefruit finish, enjoy this wine as a sparky aperitif or with a seafood starter.
11 per cent, Asda, £6.97 Asda's Wine Atlas range highlights unusual grapes, regions and wine styles. None could fit the bill more neatly than the Cantina di Soave's tank-method pop. Made from garganega grapes grown around Lake Garda, it's a brilliant value-for-money sparkler with easy-swigging, light, floral stone fruit.
14.5 per cent, Asda, £6.98Turbo-charged, delightfully cheap zin from the fruit bowl of America, with masses of seductive, floral, bramble and violet fruit. Exceptional is the new name for Asda's better own-label wines and this unoaked malbec and petit verdot-enhanced zin really is a cracker.
13 per cent, Lidl, £6.99Not every Lidl Italian hits the spot but this bold, oaky, potpourri-scented charmer certainly does. From one of the finest Tuscan vintages yet, even at this humble chianti riserva level, it's a humdinger — and a keenly priced one at that.
13 per cent, Lidl, £6.99 Every bit as good as the 2023 vintage and, frankly, Lidl's best sub-£7 French white. With fuller bodied, spicy, citrus blossom and stone fruit charm, this southern rhône white, made from viognier, roussanne and marsanne, is a summer essential.
12 per cent, Sainsbury's, £7, down from £8 until Jul 1Tasty cabernet franc-based pinks like this one are wonderfully summery and perfect to crack open with Ottolenghi-inspired summer fare. Atlantique's pretty orangey-pink hue leads onto a gutsy, redcurranty palate, with a fine salty spin on the finish.
10 per cent, Morrisons, £7, down from £8.25 until Jul 15 Spritzy vinho verdes — especially those made from the aromatic loureiro grape — make handy summer fridge-door whites. Serve this light but lively, soft, floral, lemony sip as a summer aperitif or with simple white meat and fish dishes.
11.5 per cent, Tesco, £7, down from £8 until Jul 14 A keen price for one of the best Codorniu cavas on a supermarket shelf this summer. It's made with a dab more macabeo and xarelo than parellada, but no matter — this vegan-approved bubbly from the oldest family business in Spain is all apple blossom and bouncy citrus charm.
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11 per cent, Tesco, £7, down from £8 until Jul 14 Love sancerre but hate the £25 price tag? Lap up this delicious sparky sauvignon blanc instead from further west along the Loire river in Touraine. Hand-picked, unoaked and cool fermented, it's brimming with grassy, gooseberry and nettle fruit that's tailor-made for fish and seafood.
12.5 per cent, Asda, £7.47Find Argentinian malbec too brutish? Take a trip to the malbec grape's first home deep in southwest France at Cahors. With lighter fruit and less alcohol, Asda's Exceptional has some of the grape's distinctive rustic, smoky style but with a delicious, minty, red fruit spin of its own.
14 per cent, Aldi, £7.49Tasty, two-thirds grenache to one-third syrah Côtes du Rhône Villages is a good step up from basic red rhône and worth paying a tad extra for. Brimming with bright, tangy, red plum skin and dried strawberry fruit, it shows just what can be done in a hot, dry year by a good producer.
12.5 per cent, Asda, £7.54 The Midi has taken a leaf out of the Rhône's book with this delightful roussanne, clairette, grenache, viognier and marsanne mix. Brimming with exotic floral scents and baked quince and yellow peach oomph, it's just the ticket with punchy barbecue fare.
11 per cent, Co-op, £8.65, down to £7.65 from Jul 16-Aug 12Australia makes lots of great pinot noir but this oak-chipped, lower-alcohol edition shows how good the grape can be under £8. With sensual, soft, floral fruit leading onto an equally delicate, gamey palate, plus a dusting of oak, it's catnip for pinot noir drinkers.
12 per cent, thewinesociety.com, £7.95The good old Wine Society's Duo series wines are easy-glugging, great value for money bottles and this year's Plages is a night-harvested mostly cinsault and grenache combo plus a splash of syrah. This exuberant pink's dry, herby fruit is just the ticket with seafood.
12.5 per cent, Aldi, £7.99German pinot noir is increasingly popping up on supermarket shelves and this authentic, garnet red '23 from a good source, the Pfalz, is the mesmerising bottle to buy this summer. With light, but lively, herby fruit, plus a tickle of spice on the finish, it gets my thumbs up.
13.5 per cent, Lidl, £7.99South Australia's Barossa Valley is home to some gorgeous, creamy, shiraz tub-thumpers and this is one of them. Crammed with rollicking, bold, earthy, blackberry and black raspberry fruit, it's the sort of full-flavoured and full-bodied red that big food needs.
13.5 per cent, Aldi £7.99Aldi has long championed Portugal's characterful reds from the Douro and elsewhere. The latest vintage of this reserva is a terrific combo of all three Douro port grapes and delivers vanilla pod scents and layer after layer of deep, dark, oaky fruit.
12.5 per cent, Sainsbury's, £8, down from £9 until Jul 1 The wizard Midi winemaker Laurent Miquel creates wonderfully seductive viognier and this is one of them. Machine harvested at night to enhance the fruit, this unoaked, golden white bursts with orange blossom, nectarine and hawthorn verve.
13 per cent, Waitrose, £11, down to £8 from Jul 2-29A new wave, young, tangy, unoaked, bright crimson purple claret from the lesser Entre deux Mers region that, at just £8, is a cut-price steal. What you get is a wonderfully aromatic bouquet reminiscent of violets, pepped up with masses of plummy merlot and curranty cabernet fruit.
11.5 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £8Bulgaria is coming back, care of Domaine Boyar and the indigenous dimyat grape, topped up here with chardonnay. Unoaked but with the sort of unusual, exotic, floral spice you might expect, it's the bottle to serve to guests who have been everywhere and tasted everything.
12.5 per cent, Waitrose, £8, down from £11 until Jul 1A restrained yet refreshing new-era white rhône — a grenache-dominant blend but with a dollop of clairette, viognier, roussanne and bourboulenc in the mix too. It's all white flowers and gentle peach and pear fruit, plus sufficient backbone and body to copy with punchy summer salads.
12.5 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £8Sicily's Cantine Settesoli does a terrific job getting the best from all manner of this hot, arid island's grapes, including this elegant white made exclusively from cataratto. Unoaked and with delicious light, leafy, floral, aniseed-spiked fruit, it's an easy-drinking summer crowd-pleaser.
11.5 per cent, Marks & Spencer, £8Hand-picked corvina and rondinella grapes, with a dab of molinara, grown on hilly slopes overlooking Lake Garda, make for an arresting rosé. Chiaretto pinks have that hint of bitterness so beloved by the Italians, but Fioritura's zesty, herby palate leads onto a sweet candied peel finish.
13 per cent, Waitrose, £8, down from £10 until Jul 1I've had my eye on this limestone soil-enriched Languedoc for a while now, a wine made from 40-year-old vines and given a blast of toasty French oak. What you get is a gorgeous, creamy, nutty, sweetly spiced mouthful that's a whizz with curried chicken or a spicy salmon dish.