Tipples for the tennis (Picture: Metro.co.uk/Supplied)
With Wimbledon in full swing, the perfect drinks match is more important than ever, particularly in the final week.
Whether you are on Murray’s Mound, watching from a pub or in the comfort of your own home, here are our top picks for the perfect tipple in your hand. Ace!
Check out our full selection of drinks picks below.
Côtes des Roses Rosé (Picture: Supplied)
Don’t judge a wine by its bottle unless it’s in the shape of a rose, that’s my mantra. In this case, it’s part of the story.
Legendary rugby player-turned-winemaker, Gérard Bertrand held a competition among young French designers to come up with an iconic bottle shape, with a recent Parisian graduate scooping the prize.
What about the wine? Lip-smackingly bone-dry with peach and apricot flavour inflections and alfresco sipping written all over it.
Buy it for £12.99 from Majestic.
Vin du Can Sauvignon Blanc (Picture: Supplied)
Now we’re over the shock of wine in a can, which are the tastiest tinnies? From Copper Crew to Mirabeau, Hun to Most Wanted, the quality is on the rise.
New on my radar is Vin du Can, a single serve range featuring a white, red and rosé. Vegan and in easy-to-chill, recyclable aluminium cans, this one’s made from Languedoc-grown grapes in the south of France. Flavour-wise, think green apple and lemon sherbet.
Buy it for £2 from Sainsbury’s.
Bolney Estate Pinot Gris 2019 (Picture: Supplied)
Here’s an historic moment of national pride – this was the first English wine served in Wimbledon boxes in their 138-year history, back in 2015.
It did the double in 2016, which was groundbreaking at the time, given English wine wasn’t as fully embraced as it is today.
Pinot Gris, aka Pinot Grigio, works well in Blighty, particularly on chalky Sussex soils, creating dry, aromatic whites with a palate of honey-dunked orchard apples.
Buy it for £19.99 from Majestic.
Lillet Rosé (Picture: Supplied)
Their first launch in 50 years, and it’s a good’un, thank goodness. This is a wine-based aperitif, made from Grand Cru Bordeaux grape varieties Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscatel, blended with liqueurs flavoured with sweet orange peel from Spain and bitter orange peel from Haiti.
There’s also a balancing bitter blast in the blend from a pinch of Peruvian quinine. Just add frozen watermelon chunks, lemon juice and ice to create a Lillet Frosé.
Sipsmith Strawberry Smash Gin (Picture: Supplied)
Mown grass, tennis rackets and 122,000 punnets of strawberries aren’t the ingredients of this gin… I’m just setting the scene for Wimbledon.
Sipsmith is the championship’s first official gin sponsor, bringing so much scope for using a ‘mixed doubles’ pun, but I won’t. They have at least five years of the partnership, so I’ll have the opportunity.
This iteration is distilled with berries from a local strawberry farm that supplies Wimbledon, alongside fresh English mint.
Buy it for £22.50 from Waitrose.
Van Hunks Brut Cap Classique (Picture: Supplied)
They had me at the brand name, what can I say? A South African sparkler made in the same way as Champagne, called the ‘Cap Classique method’ over there.
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes grown in the viticultural mecca of Stellenbosch, are aged on the yeast lees for 30 months for full-thwack, biscuity richness.
Named after eccentric legend, Jan Van Hunks, this brand burst on to the scene with sparkling mead and has since branched out.
Buy it for £17.75 from Amazon.
Gentle Riot Sparkling Rosé (Picture: Supplied)
Give me a category disruptor any day, especially a liquid one. All those rules and regulations, yawn. Gentle Riot is a Bordeaux-based, sustainable wine movement with an admirable commitment to ‘being better’.
Nature-obsessed founders, Marie and Sylvie won’t kick off about it, mind – they’re as gentle as their bubbles.
I think we could all take a pesticide-free leaf out of their book, especially with a semi-sparkling Merlot that smacks of rosewater and raspberries.
Buy it for £14.99 from Laithwaites.
L’Occhiolino Sparkling Red (Picture: Supplied)
Anyone planning to nosedive into a bowl of Eton Mess needs a wine to go with it. If a lower-alcohol, off-dry sparkling red doesn’t sound like the obvious choice, then I’d beg to differ.
This is the closest thing to liquid summer pudding, with pin-prick bubbles that bring in a lightly saline note. It’s gorgeous stuff, whimsical and unique, made for sipping on a picnic blanket while watching the tennis on a giant screen.
Buy it for £12 from Laithwaites.
Lanson Le Black Label Brut Wimbledon Champagne (Picture: Supplied)
I still find it bizarre that an English sparkling isn’t sponsoring the most English sporting event in the calendar, but Lanson have been associated closely with the championship since 1977, and became the official Champagne sponsor in 2001.
Its style is summer-friendly, fresh and zesty, plus it has fashioned a limited-edition gift box if you’re a collector. Blended from grapes across 60 villages, the result is a dry and lively flute full of fizz.
Buy it for £28 from Selfridges.
Chandon Garden Spritz (Picture: Supplied)
What if you could beat them and join them? That’s what Moët Hennessy has done with its top-notch, less sugary version of an aperitivo spritz.
The sparkling wine is made in Chandon’s Argentinian winery, with a liqueur added using oranges and herbs. Pour over ice and garnish with orange and a rosemary sprig.
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