Wine writer Becky Paskin has tasted dozens of bottles from Sainsbury's current seasonal selection and picked out the best buys, including a debut Pet Nat and a budget Champagne. The range spans crisp whites, dry rosés and celebratory bubbles, with prices from £6.75 to £26.
Top picks at a glance
Best overall is the Sainsbury's Fronton Négrette Rosé 2025 at £8.75. The best Champagne is the Blanc de Noirs Brut Champagne NV at £26. For Provence rosé, the Queen Côtes de Provence Rosé 2025 costs £18. The Coolwater Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2025 is £10, and the Frappato Terre Siciliane 2025, a chilled red, is £6.
How the wines were tasted
All wines were chilled before tasting, with one bottle removed from the fridge at a time. Paskin nosed and tasted from an elegant white wine glass designed for sparkling wines and chilled reds, rinsing with water between samples. All samples were spat to avoid intoxication affecting judgement, the standard for wine and spirit tasting competitions.
Notable bottles and flavours
The Taste the Difference Fronton Négrette Rosé 2025 offers an intense aroma of strawberries and raspberries but remains a dry rosé. The Coolwater Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2025, produced by Yealand Estate, is vibrant and tropical with pineapple, ripe peaches and limes. The Crémant de Loire NV, a blend of 85 per cent Chenin and 15 per cent Chardonnay, is aged on lees for twice the appellation minimum.
The Blanc de Noirs Brut Champagne NV is aged in bottle for at least 18 months, with flavours of strawberries and cream, lime zest, peach melba and stewed apples. Sainsbury's first Pet Nat, the Discovery Pet Nat NV, blends Chardonnay, Muscat and Ugni Blanc grapes and sits on the sweet side of dry. The Gavi di Gavi 2024, made from 100 per cent Cortese grapes and produced by Araldica, is fresh with stone fruit, apricot and grapefruit. The Queen Côtes de Provence Rosé 2025 blends 70 per cent Grenache and 30 per cent Cinsault, while the Frappato Terre Siciliane 2025 offers black cherries, blackberries and pepper.
Which bottle to choose
Paskin suggests the Taste the Difference Fronton Négrette Rosé 2025 as an absolute steal at £8.75, describing it as a superbly aromatic strawberry field of a rosé. She notes Négrette is an underrated grape variety, offering an introduction to something different from the usual Provence-style bottle.
