The outstanding buys: Europe is well on top

The best wines in the supermarkets, it seems, are French. Although I taste and take notes on the wines for each edition of this guide over a period of several months, I extract a list of the top-scoring wines only at the very end of the process. This year, out of 32 wines I have garlanded with 10 points out of 10, I am astonished to discover that 16 are from France.

It goes against the grain. If I am asked to which country I would turn for wine supplies if my choice was limited to one only, I invariably answer Italy. But this year, I find, I have awarded only four perfect scores to Italian wines, equal in second place with Spain. New Zealand comes fourth with two, and Australia, England, Portugal, Romania, South Africa and the United States follow on with one apiece. Overall, it marks a somewhat stark global imbalance: Old World 27; New World 5.

Distribution of the honours among the retailers turns out to be rather more even. Sainsbury’s comes first this year with eight top-scoring wines – six of them own-labels – followed by Tesco with six (four of them own-labels). Asda, Majestic, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose tie with four apiece for third place, while Aldi and Morrisons both have one.

My top wines of the year

Red wines

White wines

Sparkling wines