With the Fifa World Cup, England vs New Zealand Test Series, Royal Ascot and golf’s US Open (yawn) well under way – not to mention Henley and Wimbledon just around the corner – it’s imperative that the armchair sports fan (and armchair sports hater) has the right vino to hand. Well, we’re here to help.
Indeed, my old chum Tom Ashworth, CEO of Yapp Bros, and I toiled late into the night – actually, early into the morning – to ensure that the wines for this offer were just so. As dawn broke and we hiccoughed our farewells, we reflected somewhat unsteadily on a job well done. As ever, drinkability is the key.
The 2025 Domaine des Oullières ‘Harmonie’ (1) is a fresh, easy-going white from a family-owned estate north-west of Aix-en-Provence from which Yapp Bros buy buckets of excellent rosé. So taken were they with this on a recent visit that they snapped it up too. Made largely from Rolle (aka Vermentino), it has sploshes of Sauvignon Blanc and Grenache Blanc to pep it up a bit and give vim, and it’s as amenable a summer white as you’re likely to find. £14.50 down from £15.50.
Eleventh-generation vigneron Arnaud Aucoeur is fêted for his Morgons and Moulin à Vents, and those in the know seek out the 2023 Arnaud Aucoeur Beaujolais Villages Blanc (2) too, an oddity given that white wines account for just 5 per cent of Beaujolais production. Grown on limestone and fermented in steel, it’s old vine Chardonnay at its most precise, focused and pure. £16.25 down from £17.25.
The 2025 Domaine Saint Gayan Sablet Côtes du Rhône Villages ‘l’Oratory’ (3) also comes with fine pedigree, the Meffre family having made wine in the Rhône Valley since medieval times. Here, in Sablet, production is also overwhelmingly red, with white wines a rarity. A blend of Viognier, Bourboulenc, Clairette, Grenache Blanc and Roussanne, it could almost be a white Châteauneuf-du-Pape, albeit a third the price. Soft, supple, spicy and creamy, it’s an absolute gem. £16.50 down from £17.50.
Just as the mighty Perrin family of Ch. Beaucastel fame make their fortune with La Vieille Ferme – the so-called ‘chicken wine’ beloved of students – so Claire Michel of Le Vieux Donjon has created the 2025 Cuisine en Famille ‘Méditerranée’ Rosé (4) with husband Adrien Fabre, to bring vinous stardust at a modest price. Made from organic Grenache Noir and, erm, Caladoc bought from trusted growers, it’s pale pink, fresh and inviting and the perfect summer vin de soif. £13.95 down from £14.95.
I still can’t quite get the Loire out of my system after my wine-soaked trip there the other week, and the 100 per cent Cab Franc 2025 l’Arpenty Chinon (5) is the ideal memento. The tiny family estate has been on Yapps’ list since 1971 and the days of current owner Emilien Desbourdes’s grandfather. Fresh, succulent, spicy, leafy and full of red fruit, it’s juicily delicious chilled. £16.95 down from £17.95.
It’s imperative that the armchair sports fan (and armchair sports hater) has the right vino to hand
I’ve enjoyed the 2024 Domaine Equis ‘Equinoxe’ Crozes-Hermitage (6) too many times to count, but for some reason have never offered it here. Mea culpa. Made at Domaine Alain Graillot by the late Alain’s son, Max, from bought-in fruit, it’s bottled early, usually in March after the vintage, to ensure a young, fresh, fruity, accessible wine for immediate drinking. It still boasts all those lovely Syrah flavours of dark hedgerow fruit, liquorice, spice and pepper and, at just 12 per cent vol, it can be knocked back with abandon. £21.75 down from £22.75.
Finally, in honour of English Wine Week (you’re coming to our mini-Spectator English Wine Festival on Thursday, right?), we’ve the 2019 Smith & Evans Higher Plot English Quality Sparkling Wine (7) from almost next door to Yapp HQ in Somerset. This is the eighth vintage from Guy Smith and Laura Evans and, a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier with low dosage, it’s apple-crisp, fresh and lively and just right for toasting an unlikely English/British victory in anything. £26.50 down from £29.95.
The mixed case (8) has two bottles of wines 1-6 and wine 7 is offered in boxes of six. Delivery, as ever, is free.
Order online today or download an order form.
To book tickets for our English Wine Festival, held in the Spectator garden, on 25 June, go to club.spectator.co.uk/events
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