Supermarket Sweeps - Six for £60 - Waitrose Part 2

Hello All,

Welcome to the 2nd part of the third installment of my look at the supermarket shelves for value wines, this time finishing off the Waitrose wines with the whites. As I said last time, we were lucky enough to catch the 25% off sale which meant we could spend a little more and grab bargains.

So, on to the wines...

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Domane Wachau, Terraces, Gruner Veltliner, 2009

£8.49 before discount (£6.37 after!). Probably the best known region for Gruner is Wachau, on the banks of the Danube. We've not had Gruner for a while so this caught my eye. 12.5%

The Look: Shiny, crystal-clear pale lemon.

The Smell: Like pear-drop sweets, slight marzipan, tropical fruits.

The Taste: Voluptuous texture, very creamy. Nicely balanced; lots of fruity apples and pears, tropical fruits, pineapple, pina colada, refreshing acidity but just off-dry. Was great with garlic & thyme chicken, dauphinoise potatoes and sprouts! Slight minerality too, heightening the interest at the end.

The Score: Very nice and a good food wine. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £6.37 after discount, this is great value; VFM = 1.16

Villa Maria, Private Bin Gewurztraminer, East Coast, 2010

£9.99 before discount (£7.49 after!). A favourite brand of ours, Villa Maria have a cracking range of wines. The Private Bin label, albeit the entry-level, provides wine of  great flavour for the price. We'd not had the Gewurz before so fancied giving it a go. 13%

The Look: Pale lemon with greeny hints.

The Smell: Lychee, "Turkish Delight", quite floral with slight tropical and coconut whiffs, again, pina colada!

The Taste: Very similar to the nose; quite full bodied but lacking a bit of acidity. Went well with a stir fry but had an annoying bitter finish and certainly wasn't gluggable; a bit heavy.

The Score: A "Marmite" wine I think, love it or hate it although we fell slightly in the middle. Disappointing given their other wines in the range. 6/10.

VFM: At £7.49 after discount, this is still reasonable value; VFM = 0.80

Cave de Lugny, Macon -Lugny, Les Charmes, 2009

£8.99 before discount (£6.74 after!). From the large co-operative Cave de Lugny, this is their top plot; "Les Charmes", in the Maconnais region of burgundy. 100% Chardonnay and unoaked. The village level wine "Macon-Villages" recently won a Decanter award for best white Burgundy under a tenner so I thought this might be worth a look. 13%

The Look: Pale lemonny yellow with a water-white rim.

The Smell: Very reticent; not giving much away. Slight whiff of peachy/apricotty fruit and some toast and nuts on a big sniff.

The Taste: Pleasing, creamy texture, enough acidity, bone-dry finish. Very restrained and mellow with some melon, peach and a citrussy finish. Lacking a bit of flavour and there was some citrus peel bitterness at the end.

The Score: It won't overpower your food but sadly lacking some depth of flavour. 6.5/10.

VFM: At £6.74 after discount, this is numerically good value but I probably wouldn't buy again, maybe plump for the award winner (and the cheaper one of the two!); VFM = 0.96

Well, after a mind-blowing start with the reds, the white choices left Waitrose down slightly. Co-op is still the one to beat in our eyes!

We'll be taking a break from the Supermarket Sweeps now until after Christmas when the bargains will be much needed due to the drained bank account and feather-light wallet. Still to come will be Morrisons, Sainsburys, Asda (if I can find one near here) and quite possibly Lidl and Aldi! So keep an eye out in January.

We'll be starting to ramp up our bottle price over Christmas and should hopefully have some luxurious treats to review soon.

As always, speak to you soon!

Cheers

WBFTF

Oddbins Part 2.0

Welcome to the second part of the Oddbins case, handpicked mixed-12 according to my rules. Just a quickie this week, we've only had two bottles as we haven't had much time to relax! Two whites were sunk...

By the way, for any new readers unfamiliar with my blog, please see my other posts over to the right and down a bit or read my introduction here:

Huber Riesling, Traisental, Austria 2009

This Riesling is from the Traisental region of Austria, normally associated with the Gruner Veltliner grape. The grapes are sourced from "upper slopes". 12%

The Look: A pale lemony yellow, typical Riesling.

The Smell: Slightly reticent, not giving away much but nice hints of grapefruit, citrus and some spices. D could smell "honeydew mellon".

The Taste: Lemon and lime followed by a huge fruit explosion after a few seconds. Very fresh zingy acidity. Palate cleansing. This then leads onto a lovely pink grapefruit and mineral finish. We had it with a beef stir fry (of all things) and it stood up well!

The Score: Very good Riesling. Enough said 7.5/10. Recommended.

VFM: This normally goes for £11.99, making it a bit pricey, giving a VFM = 0.63. However, I only paid £8.14 a bottle on-average after discount so the VFM increases to 0.92. Good value at £8.14. Is it worth £11.99? Hmmm, I think I'd plump for the excellent Vina Leyda Reserve Riesling from Virgin @ £9.99 if I was getting just the one, but in a mixed case at 20% off then it's worth a try.

 

Villa Maria, Reserve Clifford Bay, Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, 2009


Award-winning stuff here being a recent Decanter World Wine Awards Gold medal winner. Let's see if it deserves that medal... 13.5% alcohol.

The Look: Very pale, almost water-white but with a lemony tinge.

The Smell: Very fruity smell, citrus, tropical fruits, gooseberry and slight grassy hints.

The Taste: First up - a lovely burst of acidity, perfectly balanced, not the slightest bit harsh. Lemon, lime and tropical fruit bursts over the tongue. Long mineral finish. Top class.

The Score: Superb.  8.5/10. Highly Recommended .

VFM: The normal price is £14.99 making it more of a treat than value-drinking. This gives a VFM = 0.57. However, at 20% off it's £11.99 which is more palatable (VFM = 0.71) but at the case-average, even better at VFM = 1.04. So is it £6 better than the Esk Valley Sauvignon Blanc at £8.99? Same score, so probably not. I think I'll have to get them both side-by-side and get D to serve them to me "blind".

 

Ok, so that's part 2.0 of the Oddbins case, part 2.5 should follow soon. Two great whites and so far, the Oddbins case has been great. I hope the rest are as good. We'll see shortly...


Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF