The Italian white wines in Marks & Spencer’s new Expressions range, including the Ribolla Gialla and Falanghina, are particularly strong.
It was a welcome return to form at the Marks & Spencer autumn/winter wine tasting, which featured 124 sparkling, sweet, fortified and table wines, 42 of them new.
With sales growth, profits and the share price up, renewed vigour has extended to the retailer’s wine department, whose range (overhauled over the past few years) is now far more diverse and value-driven.
Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of the best Marks & Spencer buys for autumn and winter
After three years heading up this transformation of Marks & Spencer’s drinks division, Andrew Shaw is stepping down at the end of October, happy that the wider team, including winebuyers Dror Nativ, Sue Daniels and Belinda Kleinig, have an improved range to trade.
And the transformation has not gone unnoticed, with Marks & Spencer winning Supermarket of the Year at the 2023 Decanter Retailer Awards for the first time since 2016 – something the outgoing Shaw was especially proud of. ‘We were ecstatic to win Decanter Supermarket of the Year – it’s an endorsement of the positive steps we have taken on the range, the in-store experience and our reputation.’
The autumn/winter tasting welcomed the new 12-strong Expressions range: single-varietal wines from well-known regions but made from less-familiar grapes. While it is a good line-up in the main, starting from just £7, the premise seems very similar to that of