One hundred and seventeen wines. Sixteen supplier tables. Two masterclass talks. And 160 guests who had three hours to make up their minds.
The Somerset Wine Fair is a useful corrective to the idea that wine tasting is a spectator sport. Guests taste, they make notes, they deliberate. And then, at the end of the evening, they order. That last step, the one that costs real money, is what makes these events interesting for us: the till data adds a dimension that notes alone cannot. It tells you what the room actually chose, not just what it said it liked.
This review is built from those orders, placed over the course of the evening across all 117 wines on the list. The ranking below reflects popularity at the till, not critical opinion. The wines at the top are the ones that the room, having tasted everything available, chose to take home. We think that matters more than a tasting panel verdict.
Full wine list: download all 117 wines from the Somerset Wine Fair, Autumn 2026 →
The evening's masterclasses
Two structured talks ran in the auditorium alongside the open tasting. Both filled quickly, and both left their mark on what the room ordered afterwards.
7:00pm, Jon Sabido, French wine importer
Jon Sabido took a question that most people assume they know the answer to, what does Bordeaux taste like?, and dismantled it. Same region. The same appellation names on the label. Wines in the glass that had almost nothing in common with each other. It was a well-made case that Bordeaux is not a flavour; it is a geography, and a large and varied one. For anyone who has found Bordeaux intimidating or samey, this was the talk to catch.
8:00pm, Samuele Botter, Botter
Samuele Botter is the fourth generation of the family behind one of Italy's leading wine producers. He poured the wines that built the family name, and the room listened. We noticed something in the orders afterwards: four of the eight most popular wines of the evening, including the two that came out on top, were from the Botter portfolio. Correlation is not causation. But it is also not nothing.
The format, 20 minutes, a handful of wines, one clear theme, gives the evening a different gear: a moment to sit, focus, and hear a producer think out loud about what they make and why. Both talks were, by the end of the night, reflected in the orders.
How we ranked the wines
The order data is honest in a way that tasting notes rarely are. When you are spending your own money at the end of an evening with 117 wines in front of you, you vote for the wines you actually want to drink.
We counted orders for each wine across the evening and ranked them accordingly. A few editorial notes: the Les Remparts Bastor-Lamontagne Sauternes (number 6) is a 37.5cl half-bottle, so it is not directly comparable to the full-bottle entries elsewhere, we have included it because the demand still speaks for itself. The Botter Brilla Prosecco at number 13 had an unusual result: all bottles went home with a single buyer, which says something about that guest's enthusiasm but rather less about broader crowd preference. We have included it with that note.
The top 20 wines of the evening
20. Oatley Jane's 🏴, Oatley Vineyard, £16.62
11.5% ABV. Oatley Vineyard sits in the Somerset hills, and this was one of two Oatley wines in the top 20. Jane's is the lighter, more delicate of the pair, showing bright citrus, pear and a subtle oakiness that comes from careful winemaking rather than heavy-handed ageing. The fact that two wines from the same local producer appear in the same ranking is a result worth noting.
19. Swift Albariño 🇳🇿, Antipodean Sommelier, £18.99
13.0% ABV. Albariño tends to be the white people reach for when they want freshness and texture alongside their food, and this one earned its place in the top 20. Swift is a New Zealand producer from Hawke's Bay working with a grape more commonly associated with northern Spain, citrus blossom, stone fruit and a bright, refreshing finish. The combination holds up well in a room where guests are moving between styles all evening.
18. Aldwick Estate Flying Pig 🏴, Aldwick Estate, £19.94
Made from Rondo, one of the few red varieties that genuinely thrives in the English climate. The Flying Pig is the wine that tends to stop guests who assume English wine means thin, sharp whites. At £19.94 on the fair night, this was among the more premium English wines on the list, and it found its buyers. Aldwick Estate is a Somerset producer, which gave this particular wine a home-county appeal that was not lost on the room.
17. Pedestal Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 🇦🇺, Hatch Mansfield, £17.57
Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon has a reputation that has taken decades to build, and it keeps earning it. Larry Cherubino is one of the region's most recognised names, and the Pedestal is the wine that brings his Margaret River approach to an accessible price point. Cool ocean breezes off the Indian Ocean give Margaret River Cabernet a precision that warmer Australian regions do not always offer.
16. Brothers at War Pendee Farm Shiraz 🇦🇺, Antipodean Sommelier, £15.19
14.0% ABV. Pendee Farm is a single vineyard in the Barossa, and Brothers at War is building a following in this country for good reason. Shiraz from a single site rather than a broad regional blend tends to carry more definition in the glass, here, an elegance and depth of finesse that marks out well-chosen Barossa fruit. At £15.19 this made a compelling case for itself.
15. Château des Laurets Puisseguin St-Émilion 🇫🇷, Waddesdon Wine, £24.22
14.5% ABV. Puisseguin St-Émilion sits on the eastern edge of the Saint-Émilion plateau, a satellite appellation that offers some of the structure and weight of its more famous neighbour at a price that leaves room for a second bottle. At £24.22, it was among the higher-priced wines in the top 20, which makes its placing a firmer signal. Guests chose this over considerably cheaper options and they would have known what they were spending.
14. Tor del Colle Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 🇮🇹, SOV, £11.39
Montepulciano D'Abruzzo is one of Italy's most reliably rewarding everyday reds, Abruzzo's signature grape, grown on the slopes between the Apennines and the Adriatic. Dark cherry, plum and earthy spice is what you get in the glass: a red that does not require any ceremony to enjoy. At £11.39, this is the kind of wine that earns a place on a weeknight table rather than waiting for a special occasion.
13. Botter Brilla Prosecco DOC 🇮🇹, SOV, £11.87
We include this one for completeness, with the note that all bottles went home with a single buyer, which reflects one guest's excellent judgement more than a crowd consensus. For the record: peach, green apple and citrus on fine persistent bubbles. The Brilla Prosecco is a very good Prosecco.
12. Odessos Urban Winery Kavarna Cabernet Franc 🇧🇬, The Jolly Merchant, £23.27
13.0% ABV. A Cabernet Franc from Bulgaria is not the expected headline from an autumn wine fair in Somerset, and it is better for that. The Kavarna appellation sits on the Black Sea coast. Cabernet Franc this far east tends to hold its structure while developing something more aromatic than you would find in, say, the Loire, here, cherry, pepper and redcurrant with a savoury freshness that made guests come back for a second look at the label. At £23.27, the room decided it was worth finding out.
11. Château Pont de Pierre, Lussac Saint-Émilion 🇫🇷, SOV, £14.24
14.0% ABV. Lussac Saint-Émilion is one of the satellite appellations on Bordeaux's right bank, and this Merlot and Cabernet Franc blend earned a consistent run of orders over the course of the evening. Plum and blackcurrant with soft, polished tannins, a Right Bank Bordeaux that delivers the classic character of the appellation at a price well below what the main Saint-Émilion plateau asks. At £14.24, it sat in a cluster of SOV wines where the French range proved particularly popular: three SOV Bordeaux and Languedoc wines appeared between positions 6 and 11.
10. Domaine de la Baume Viognier 🇫🇷, SOV, £12.82
13.5% ABV. Viognier is a grape that either works or it does not, and when it is right, it is the kind of white that makes a room stop talking. Domaine de la Baume is a Languedoc producer with a long track record with this variety. The 2024 vintage delivers peach, apricot and white flowers with a rich, full-bodied texture, weight and perfume in the same glass. At £12.82 on the fair night, it was a popular choice among guests looking for something with texture and presence.
9. Salasar Crémant de Limoux 🇫🇷, SOV, £13.29
12.0% ABV. Crémant de Limoux is the sparkling wine of the Languedoc, made by the traditional method, and Limoux's claim to be one of the earliest sparkling wine regions in France is one of those wine facts that sounds like a marketing line until you look it up. It predates Champagne by a considerable margin. At £13.29, this was the most ordered wine in the sparkling category on the evening. For anyone looking for an alternative to Champagne at a fraction of the price, Crémant de Limoux is where to start.
8. Lupo Meraviglia Tre di Tre Puglia Rosso 🇮🇹, SOV, £12.34
14.5% ABV. A Puglian red, the fourth wine in the top 20 to come from the SOV portfolio, and the third from the south of Italy. Tre di Tre indicates a blend across three varieties, and Puglia has moved well past its bulk-wine origins to produce reds that stand entirely on their own terms. At £12.34, a strong result in a ranking that included considerably more expensive bottles above and below it.
7. Doppio Passo Grillo 🇮🇹, SOV, £10.44
12.5% ABV. The third Doppio Passo wine in the top 8, and the only white in the range to make the list. Grillo is a Sicilian grape with enough body and texture to hold alongside food rather than disappearing under it, fresh citrus, white peach and a clean, aromatic finish that makes a strong case for Sicilian whites. At £10.44, the second-lowest fair-night price in the top 20, this confirms what anyone who works with the Doppio Passo range already knows: the whites earn their place alongside the reds.
6. Les Remparts Bastor-Lamontagne Sauternes 37.5cl 🇫🇷, SOV, £12.34
Sauternes is the kind of wine that sounds like a treat for a special occasion, and what the orders from this evening showed is that a striking number of guests at a Somerset wine fair were more than ready for it. Bastor-Lamontagne is one of the appellation's established names: honeyed apricot, peach and botrytised richness in the glass. The 37.5cl format meant this was priced at £12.34, accessible in a way that a full-bottle Sauternes rarely is, and the room noticed.
The top five: a closer look
These are the five wines we keep returning to. For each one, there is a reason beyond the glass, something about who makes it, where it comes from, or what the orders told us about how the room responded to it.
5. Sutton Ridge Bacchus 2023 🏴, Sutton Ridge, £15.67
11.5% ABV. Bacchus was the best-selling English white of the evening, and it placed fifth overall across all 117 wines on the list. In a room with Burgundy, Viognier, Albariño and Crémant on the tables alongside it, guests tasted the full range and chose this one to take home. That is a result worth naming.
Bacchus is the grape that English viticulture has leaned into most successfully over the past decade. It is aromatic in a way that reads as definitively English without reaching for comparisons to other countries' varieties: something herbal and citrus-edged, with a freshness that holds through a long evening of food and conversation. At its best, it makes a case for English white wine on its own terms rather than as a substitute for something else.
Our buyer Kelli knows this wine well. "Somerset English wine at its most expressive," she says. "Elderflower, peach, nettle. This is the grape that defines English still whites, and the local vineyard does it beautifully." At £15.67 on the fair night, this sits at a price point that rewards the decision to try something new.
If you came away from Friday evening with a bottle of the Sutton Ridge Bacchus, you will know what we mean. If you did not, it is available to order now.
4. Vintruvian Estate Crama de Matei Rosturi Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon 🇷🇴, The Jolly Merchant, £18.99
Romania has been producing wine for longer than most of the regions that appear on British wine lists, and the Transylvanian plateau is increasingly the source of wines that make people put down the glass and ask a question. The Vintruvian Estate Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 was among the most ordered reds on the night. At £18.99, it was not the cheapest red in the room. It was the one that made an impression.
Crama de Matei sits in the foothills of the Carpathians. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grown at altitude in this part of Romania tends to hold its freshness in a way the same varieties further south do not always manage, dark berry, depth and spice, with a boldness that does not come at the expense of balance. The Vintruvian Estate wines from The Jolly Merchant have a track record of performing well at events like this, where wines need to stand up to repeated sipping across a long evening rather than a single careful pour.
For anyone who wrote off Eastern Europe as a wine region a decade ago, it is worth a second look. The Vintruvian Estate is a reasonable place to start that conversation.
3. Oatley Leonora's 🏴, Oatley Vineyard, £18.04
11.0% ABV. Oatley Vineyard produces wine in Somerset, which meant that roughly half the room at Sidcot Arts Centre had an additional reason to be interested. Leonora's was the most ordered English wine of the evening and placed third overall, across all 117 wines, from 13 countries, at every price point. In a room where guests had Burgundy, Bordeaux and Barossa on the tables alongside it, that is an outcome worth noting.
Leonora's is made from Kernling, a cross between Riesling and Madeleine Royale that has proved remarkably well suited to the English climate. Delicate floral aromas, crisp citrus and a bone-dry, refreshing finish: it is a white that earns its precision from the vineyard rather than from intervention in the winery. At £18.04 on the fair night, guests were making a considered choice rather than a casual one.
Two Oatley wines appeared in the top 20, Jane's at number 20 was the other, and taken together they represent the strongest showing by any English producer on the evening, from a local vineyard that knows its terroir.
For guests who tried Oatley's wines for the first time on Friday, Leonora's is where to come back to.
2. Doppio Passo Primitivo Puglia 🇮🇹, SOV, £10.92
13.0% ABV. In a room with wines reaching considerably higher in price, one of the two most ordered bottles of the evening was also one of the most affordable. At £10.92, the Doppio Passo Primitivo Puglia placed second overall. That is the Doppio Passo effect, and it is difficult to argue with.
Primitivo is Puglia's red grape: a variety that opens up warm and dark-fruited, with a richness that does not require long ageing to make itself felt. The Doppio Passo range from Botter has been built on Primitivo for good reason, it is the right variety for what this wine is trying to do, and it does it consistently at a price that makes it difficult to pass over. With the room still buzzing from Samuele Botter's masterclass a few hours earlier, a significant share of guests decided they were taking a bottle home.
This is the kind of wine that earns its place not through novelty or price point alone, but by being exactly what it says it is every time you open it. If the evening had a wine that defined value, this was it.
1. Doppio Passo Primitivo di Manduria Riserva 🇮🇹, SOV, £14.24
The most popular wine of the evening
The most ordered wine at the Somerset Wine Fair, Autumn 2026 left Sidcot Arts Centre at £14.24 per bottle, and it was the wine that Samuele Botter's family makes.
Primitivo di Manduria is one of Italy's richest wine DOCs. Manduria is a town in the deep south of Puglia, and the wines it produces from Primitivo are given the conditions to develop a depth and concentration that the broader Puglia designation does not always ask for. In the glass: dark berry, spiced chocolate and a southern Italian depth that rewards a little time in the glass. The Riserva designation indicates extended ageing, longer in oak, longer in bottle before release, and a profile that has had time to settle into something more complete. The Botter family, who built the Doppio Passo range from these vineyards, have been doing this for four generations. The fourth generation was in the room on Friday evening.
That connection is worth making explicit. Samuele Botter gave the 8pm masterclass on the family's wines and the story behind them. A few hours later, the room made its choice: the Primitivo di Manduria Riserva came out on top, with the Doppio Passo Primitivo Puglia in second place, and the Grillo and the Tre di Tre Rosso also in the top 8. If you want an argument for why a producer standing in front of a room and talking honestly about their wines changes what people buy, this is it. And if you want a Puglian red that earns its number one ranking, this is where to start.
What the evening told us
A hundred and seventeen wines in one room always produces patterns, and this one was no exception.
The Italian story was hard to miss: four wines from the Botter portfolio placed in the top 8, including the top two, and six Italian wines featured across the top 20 in total. Samuele Botter's masterclass clearly moved bottles, but the quality was there to back it up, guests who might otherwise have passed over a Puglian label took the talk as a reason to look twice, tasted, and then ordered.
The English wine story was the other standout. Four English wines placed in the top 20. Oatley Leonora's reached third overall. Sutton Ridge Bacchus came fifth. Aldwick Estate's Flying Pig and Oatley Jane's completed the English quartet in positions 18 and 20. Across 117 wines, from thirteen countries, with producers from Bordeaux and Barossa on the same evening's tables, that is a result that reflects where English viticulture is now: not a curiosity for patriotic guests, but a category that stands comparison with the best of what was on offer.
The room was also willing to explore. A Bulgarian Cabernet Franc from the Black Sea coast, a Romanian Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon blend from the Carpathian foothills, and a run of Sauternes half-bottles all made the list on the strength of how they tasted, not how familiar they looked.
What the orders data does not capture is the conversation around the tables. It does not record the moment someone tried something unexpected and went back for a second pour, or the reason a guest who had been heading for the Italian table ended up at the French one. It shows you the end of the story, not the middle. That middle part is the Somerset Wine Fair, and it is why we run it.
The Somerset Wine Fair returns
The next Somerset Wine Fair will be the Summer Wine Fair, held at Barley Wood in Wrington on 4 June 2027. If you would like to be among the first to hear about tickets and availability, sign up to our mailing list.
In the meantime, every wine on this list is available to order from vinoshop.co.uk, with free UK delivery on orders over £125.
