M&S has a little-known £5.75 wine range — and two are great mid-week gluggers

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There’s very little you can buy for £5.75 these days.

You’d struggle to get a pint at the pub for this price, and forget about ordering a Big Mac meal at McDonald’s.

But Marks & Spencer is throwing us a bone at a time when many of us are struggling to rub two 10 pence pieces together, especially after the onslaught of Christmas gift-buying.

I’ve just discovered they have a little-known range of wines for under £6, with some bottles priced as low as £5.25.

Now, I’ve been a huge fan of the M&S Classics range forever, which showcases decent wines from popular winemaking regions around the world and is reasonably priced around the £8.50 to £10 mark.

But this budget range shows that the retailer clearly has its finger on the pulse of the nation.

Interestingly, it has come at a time when it is almost impossible to flog a wine cheaply in this country. It’s a price point that buckles under the weight of the new duty rates, transport, glass, cork, label, handling fees, margins and storage fees. In fact, it beggars belief that they’ve managed to coax any character from these wines at all, given the circumstances. 

The range is made up of six wines: three whites, a rosé and two reds. Each has a name like ‘Round and Plummy’, ‘Crisp and Zesty’, and ‘Rich and Smooth’, just to make things super simple at a time when not much is super or simple.

Whether they taste good is another story, though this is M&S we’re talking about, a company who have actual winemakers on their payroll, as an integral part of their team.   

These wines aren’t about bragging rights, gifting or looking good on Instagram – they’re midweek sippers that deliver you from the guilt factor or festive splurging.

Plus, they’re lower in alcohol (to avoid the higher duty rates), minimising calories and woozy heads in the morning. Looking online, Waitrose has a similar range at the same price, and Asda has one for a ridiculously low £3.54, and I can only imagine what that tastes like.

Naturally, I tried the entire M&S budget range, so you don’t have to. Here are my thoughts…

Vibrant & Zesty White 10%, South Africa, £5.75, Ocado

An uncomplicated style, as you’d expect, made from a blend of South African Sauvignon Blanc grapes. Clean and dry on the palate with subtle notes of fresh pear, almonds and apple blossom. If you like orchard fruit and citrus notes in a dry white wine, this one has your name on it.

Soft & Tropical White 9%, Australia, £5.25, Ocado

Like Ronseal, this one does exactly what it says on the bottle. For clarity, it doesn’t taste like wood varnish; it has an expressive nose of banana and papaya with more than a suggestion of guava. Ripe and sun-kissed on the palate with more of those banana notes coming through and a soft and citrussy acidity. My favourite of the whites, by far.

Crisp & Zingy White 1L 10%, Italy, £9.50, M&S in-store

Having said they’re £5.75 or less, this litre-bottle format works out at just over £7 for a 750ml bottle equivalent. Not sure why they’ve positioned this differently than the rest, the quality doesn’t justify the higher price point. Not that £7 is exactly expensive for a dry and citrussy bottle of white, accented by notes of apricot and white flowers. It’s made using the ubiquitous Trebbiano grape that makes, well, simple and gluggable whites like this.

Rosé

Soft & Fruity Rosé 10.5%, Australia, £5.25, Ocado

A dry Aussie rosé, made from the juicy Grenache grape, with notes of candied strawberries and dried cranberries. For the price, you can’t go wrong, though I’d be tempted to make this into your own version of mulled rosé while splashing out on a more elevated bottle of pink for the Christmas table.

Red

Round & Plummy Red 10.5%, Chile, £5.75, Ocado

Very Chilean Merlot, and by that I mean round and generous without being in any way intricate or complex. There are some creamy flavours of plum and a stalky, hedgerow fruit herbaceousness on the palate, which make it a somewhat decent budget mid-week glugger.  

Rich & Smooth Red 10.5%, Australia, £5.50, M&S in-store (or £5.75, Ocado)

This was the best of the two reds, with Christmas-appropriate flavours of mulled cherries and spiced blood orange. For a Shiraz-led blend, it’s a super light style, meaning it can also be fridge-chilled for twenty minutes before quaffing. There’s also 10% Merlot added to cushion the spice, and in fact, I think this is a decent shout for under £6.

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