Editors’ picks: A range of great wines to try – October 2026

Wine & dine with Michael Caines MBE

I never thought I’d spend a summer afternoon – house-made gin in hand – on the balcony of one of Lympstone Manor’s 21 individually decorated guestrooms and suites in Exmouth, Devon.

My fellow visitors have gone off to the nearby Pool House Restaurant and Bar for a swim; in the distance, the vineyard rolls down towards the glittering Exe estuary.

The Grade II-listed Georgian manor house, now a luxury hotel and one-star Michelin restaurant, was the brainchild of chef Michael Caines MBE, a passionate wine lover keen to produce food-friendly, early-drinking English wines.

In 2018, he teamed up with long-standing business partner Steve Edwards and Clem Yates MW of Lyme Bay Winery to plant 8ha of vines on the property’s south-facing parkland.

During the intricately crafted dinner by the master chef, we tasted the award-winning Triassic Pinot Noir 2020, from the estate’s first vintage – perfumed dark berries and eucalyptus, with minerality and dark spice.

The upcoming 2025 already shows charming wild berry puree and rose petals, salinity and elegance.

The whole-bunch-pressed Edwards Chardonnay 2025 is savoury and textured, its ample fruit waiting for the oak to settle.

Among the sparklers, I suspect the new demi-sec rosé – generous red cherry, cassis and spice lifted by bright freshness – will become a diners’ favourite upon release.

Beyond Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in Oregon

Although Willamette Valley’s Björnson Vineyard debuted with the 2009 vintage, the family’s wines couldn’t be found in the New York City area – until now.

To kick off its east coast distribution through Banville Wine Merchants, the Salem-based winery hosted a casual evening rooftop tasting with half a dozen wines.

Of course, there’s a Pinot Noir, currently the 2023 Willamette Valley bottling (US$29 The Cellar d’Or), popping with Bing cherry and vibrant acidity that carries red fruits, vanilla, cola spices and fine tannins.

But Björnson is also notable for its offbeat options, including the first commercial US plantings of now-rare Gouais Blanc, a parent of Chardonnay and Gamay, among many others.

In the windy Van Duzer Corridor AVA, Mark and Pattie Björnson experiment with alternative varieties suited to fresh, crisp wines.

Out east, the winery’s Chardonnay is joined by a Chenin Blanc and the lightly textured 2024 Pamar Vineyard Aligoté (US$32 The Cellar d’Or), full of spiced pear, citrussy acidity and accents of fresh herbs.

I love that the wines come in Revino reusable bottles to cut down on tasting room waste. Revino collects the empties, removes the labels and capsules, then washes and inspects the bottles so Björnson can refill them

Heroic viticulture in Tenerife

Tenerife is often considered an island of two halves.

This was all too evident as my plane descended into Tenerife South airport, skirting a tad close to the towering hotels of the highly developed southern tip of the Spanish volcanic isle.

But take a drive to the leafier, greener northern side and it’s a different story.

Here, Juan Jesús Méndez’s Viñátigo in La Guancha has made a name for heroic viticulture on the Canary islands.

A visit begins in front of 120-year-old ungrafted Listán Negro vines, followed by a 12m descent down an impressive corkscrew staircase to the winery, built deep into the rock.

For a perfect introduction to this volcanic terroir, try the latest vintage of the Ensamblaje Blanco (2024, £34.95 NY Wines), a joyful blend of local white varieties, including Gual, Marmajuelo, Vijariego Blanco and Malvasía Aromática.

Meanwhile the amphora-aged, singlevineyard Camino de La Peña 2023 serves up a wonderful, hydrocarbon-driven palate, intense lemon acidity and a touch of struck match.

I’m looking forward to opening the skin-contact Elaboraciones Ancestrales Blanco 2023 that slipped home in my suitcase to bring a touch of Tenerife sunlight to a grey October day.

Barrique Fine Wines: northern entrepreneurial flair

I first met Edd Simpson when we were both completing the final stretch of the WSET Diploma.

Before Brexit, before Covid, before the invasion of Ukraine, before crippling inflation… ah, those were the days.

In 2020 – and despite obstacles big and small – Simpson started a neat import and retail business, Barrique Fine Wines; he then opened NoNo Wine Bar in Leeds in 2025.

The sister ventures leverage Simpson’s rounded portfolio of producers and wines of great character, depth and technical exactness.

They include some of the most interesting bottles I tasted this summer.

Among my favourites were Mesquida Mora’s Acrollam Blanc 2025 (£26.95), a trip to Mallorca in a glass; Jordi Miró’s Textura 4 Naturalment Brisat 2024 (£25.50), a clean, elegant orange wine to convince the sceptics; and Jorge Piernas’ Soldados de Cuera 2024 (£37.95), a benchmark expression of Macabeo.

All are testament to the talent of small producers and to the passionate determination of entrepreneurs such as Simpson, and all are available from Barrique Fine Wines.

Scott of the Luberon

In 1992, British filmmaker Ridley Scott was keen to buy a French holiday home; fast forward 34 years and he’s the proud owner of a cutting-edge winery surrounded by 35ha of vines in the Luberon.

On a recent visit, I was lucky enough to taste a selection of Mas des Infermières wines with the man himself – from the easydrinking entry-level wines named after his dogs, including the Lulu Blanc and Jojo Rouge, through the Source range, designed to remind you of being in the Luberon, to the more powerful and complex Chevalier wines.

At the tasting, I was most taken by the light and fruity Source Blanc, a blend of Rolle, Roussane and Clairette, and the Chevalier Rouge, a spicy blend of Carignan, Syrah and Grenache, but at lunch the following day at Insitio in Vaugines, it was the Chevalier Blanc (same grapes as the Source Blanc) that really shone, its greater weight helping it to match perfectly with a tasty fish dish.

The bottles all bear quirky labels drawn by Scott and what’s inside them represents the type of wine he likes to drink: fresh, low-alcohol and suitable for any occasion.

They don’t currently have a UK agent, but fingers are crossed for a deal soon.

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