From retro classics making a comeback, to the wines at the top of our customers’ wish lists, we’vetaken a look at what people are buying, crunched the numbers and predicted the biggest wine trends for 2023. 

So whether you’re a wine connoisseur looking to discover something new before all of your friends catch on, or a total newbie taking your first tentative footsteps into the wonderful world of wine, read on to make sure you stay ahead of the curve this year. 

Sales of the classic light red from eastern France went up by 80% last year and the gems we love today are a far cry from the bubble-gum flavours of yesteryear. Its lighter style also makes it ideal for chilling. 

Whether you’re looking for a fun fruity red to pair with chicken and fish dishes, or want something to cool off with when the weather turns warmer this summer, Beaujolais is a great option.  

Our top pick is the Dominique Piron Beaujolais Nouveau 2022. It’s a bright and fruity red which is what proper Beaujolais is all about. With 14 generations behind him, Dominique Piron has heritage aplenty, and his family’s winery is one of the reasons this style is making such a big comeback. 

If fine wine is more your bag, the Fleurie Réserve Domaine De Leyre-Loup 2015 is an exceptional example of what Beaujolais Crus has to offer. 50-year-old vines, fine granite soils, a 5-star vintage and a superb quality, sustainable estate are the credentials for this mature Fleurie. It's rare to find one with seven years' age, which adds to the silky, dark cherry fruit flavours and mellow earthy complexity. 

A mix of exceptional, well-priced wines has seen sales steadily grow for five years. From big reds to lighter Vinho Verde, producers are appealing to all tastes and doing so consistently well.

The country has been hailed, by the wine buffs at Wine Spectator magazine, as “the most exciting wine place on the planet”. And rightly so. And for those in the know, Portugal is the wine country to look to for incredible value and excellent quality wines. Its deliciously crisp, refreshingly original white wines and rich, robust reds stem from a heritage of winemaking excellence that goes back centuries.

More sustainable than glass, wine box sales are up by 427% compared to the previous year! Filling a 3-litre wine box with some of our bestsellers (such as Cabalie) also puts paid to the myth that boxed wines are somehow inferior. They’reanything but! And once word got out that the wine lasts longer once opened (by several weeks), popularity for them sky rocketed!

But it’s not just large wine boxes … we’ve started packaging some of our customer-favourites in tetra pak. Great value, easy to use, AND better for the environment … plus, they taste just as good as the bottled wines!

Customers are looking beyond classic regions – Marlborough, Rhône - and exploring the less traditional. Moldova is the 10th most popular wine country with customers, while Greece, Peru and Lebanon are gaining fans too.

For more than 50 years, we’ve been going off the beaten track to find great wines, so it should come as no surprise that we’re champions of the next-door, lesser-known countries and regions that make great quality wine.

Take Georgia, for instance. Thanks to its neighbours the country has never had it easy. In fact, the Saperavi grape was pushed close to extinction during the period of Soviet control, when centuries old family-owned vineyards became state run and forced to grow varieties that yielded more grapes (and alcohol). But we’ve found one family which resisted and in the last 30 years the hero grape of Georgia has made a come back.

Our customers bought more than 1 million bottles of still rosé last year - 40% of those outside the warmer months.

Drink pink has become something of a mantra for UK wine lovers, with sales soaring over recent years. From the prettiest pinks of Provence to richer, brighter fruitier ones from Argentina, Chile and beyond, rosé wine can be as varied and complex as any other style.

Pink fizz is also up by 7%, with Laurent-Perrier Rosé topping our chart as the most popular gift idea. But if you’re looking to treat someone to a special sparkling rosé, look a little closer to home. English Sparkling Wine is giving Champagne a real run for its money, and the pink versions offer the same delicate summer berry fruit flavours and indulgent brioche notes you’d expect from their French counterparts.