As the last wine specialist chain of any scale left on the UK high street (or edge-of-town retail park), Majestic has a distinctive niche in UK wine retail.
We may not go there for the very finest wines in the world – although from time to time we may encounter one or two at often very reasonable prices – but we do expect Majestic to offer a step up on the supermarkets in quality and diversity of range, while still providing plenty in the way of good value.
Maintaining form and tradition
On the strength of this tasting of around 100 wines, the current iteration of this 44-year-old business is doing just fine, with plenty of very good to excellent buys ranging from competitively priced everyday bottles to candidates for special occasions and the cellar.
As ever, in the run-up to Christmas, one of the retailer’s strengths is ready-to-drink Bordeaux, with a trio of cleverly sourced wines –an outstanding white and two delightful clarets – from the very good 2018 vintage among our favourite and highest-scoring bottles featured here.
Another traditional festive favourite, Rioja, was also well served, with a pair of contrasting reds – one a quintessential traditional style, the other very much in a modern idiom – from what was an excellent vintage in Spain’s leading region, 2021.
South Africa had a strong showing with a trio of very different white wines showing off the country’s range and its often astonishing quality-to-price ratio.
Other highlights included a couple of exciting new wines from two of Majestic’s most trusted and long-serving suppliers, Alain Grignon in the Languedoc, and Galicia’s Martín Códax, while other reliable names such as Trimbach, Devaux, Pasqua, Taylor’s and Henriques & Henriques all help ensure that Majestic’s portfolio remains true to its mission.
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