Supermarket shelves have become a far more credible place to shop for wine than they once were. What used to be a last-minute convenience buy is now, according to retailers and wine specialists, a serious hunting ground for bottles that can stand up to anything in a specialist merchant’s range without demanding specialist prices.

Part of that shift has been driven by social media, where affordable bottles can move from obscurity to sell-out status in days. The Independent noted the rise of viral supermarket favourites such as La Vieille Ferme rosé, Aldi’s widely praised Sauvignon Blanc and Asda’s tongue-in-cheek Screaming Devil, a play on Whispering Angel that gained traction online. Wine personalities including Lucy Hitchcock, better known as @Partnerinwineuk, have also helped popularise supermarket buying by sending shoppers in search of bottles that might previously have been overlooked.

Experts say the underlying change is structural as much as cultural. Libby Brodie, a wine consultant and columnist, told The Independent that supermarkets now treat wine as a core destination category rather than an afterthought, investing in specialist buyers and closer producer relationships. Sinead Murdoch, sommelier and co-founder of the restaurant Tasca, said the result is a higher standard on the shelves, with trained buyers now working across major chains and pushing the quality bar upwards.

That has broadened the range on offer as well as the value. Recent supermarket round-ups by Decanter show how much the category has matured, from Co-op’s pre-chilled whites and rosés to Sainsbury’s refreshed summer line-up, which includes its first own-label pét-nat and orange wine, alongside sharply priced bottles from Greece, South Africa, Italy and Portugal. Decanter also highlighted how supermarkets are becoming better at balancing low-cost everyday drinking with more ambitious wines, including Champagne, sherry and rosé with celebrity tie-ins.

The overall picture is one of a market where bargain hunting no longer means settling for second best. Social buzz may still create the initial rush, but the bottles staying in baskets are increasingly there because they taste good, offer genuine value and suit the way people now shop: quickly, casually and with far less wine snobbery than before.

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