Supermarket Sweeps - Six for £60 - Sainsbury's - Part 2

Hello all!

Following on from last week's return to frugality after the festive indulgences, this week we conclude the look at Sainsbury's with the red wines we had. As I said last week, there was little of interest in the standard supermarket reds that dominated the shelves but some interesting wines presented themselves from the "Taste the Difference" range. The whites fared pretty damn well, so let's see if the reds kept up...

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Taste the Difference, Priorat, 2008

£7.49 Priorat is a Catalan wine growing area (Priorato in Spanish) where the reds are usually Grenache dominated blends, if not 100% Grenache (or Garnacha in Spanish). This one is mainly Grenache with a bit of Mazuela thrown in, and weighing in pretty heavy at 14.5%

The Look: Dark purple core to a dark cherry/violet rim.

The Smell: Great nose of black cherry, lots of spice, some raspberry and some sweet oakiness, reminiscent of a Bordeaux!

The Taste: This took me by surprise - very good indeed; velvety tannin, plenty of fresh acidity, the high alcohol was almost non-existent on the palate (served on the cool side of room temp.) The fruit profile was black cherry and something sharper - maybe raspberry, punctuated by a highly oaked vanilla and cedar note, but well-handled. Slightly bitter but not too detracting. This was superb after being open for two days - transformed to blackcurrant fruit and sweet caramel, suggesting that this will keep very well and get better with time. 7.5/10.  Recommended

VFM: Very nice for an "own label" wine and bang on the money with a VFM of 1.0!

Taste the Difference, Penguin Sands, Pinot Noir, Central Otago, 2010

£9.99. This pinot is from the much hailed Central Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. A great price point to get people to sample NZ pinot, but a much-contested market. Can it hold up? 13.5%

The Look: Dark purple core to a cherry rim.

The Smell: Very familiar - I swear we've had this before, but from the Producer (Sacred Hill I beleive?) I don't think we have. Anyway, strawberry, blueberry and oak with a floral character too.

The Taste: Fresh, vibrant acidity, tangy, plenty of cherry, raspberry and bright red fruits, quite sharp. Slight hotness and bitter tannin - feels a little over extracted.

The Score: Not the best in this price point. Better than Oyster Bay (not much praise) but search for something else (Villa Maria, Spy Valley, et al - there's plenty more to choose from) 6/10

VFM: Not horrendous, but not the best either; VFM = 0.6

Taste the Difference, Malbec, Mendoza, 2010

£7.99. Mendoza Malbec is a staple for any wine drinker on a budget. It packs a brambly, powerful, tannic and often teeth-staining punch in its inky blackness, begging for a steak. £8 is at the lower end but there's still great stuff to be had here. Is this worthy of the name...? 14.5%

The Look: The de-facto inky black-purple.

The Smell: Initially very acidic, almost vinegary but with a violet, floral backbone so I gave it some time. Not faulty, developing a nice nose of blackberry crumble, spice and a wet-stone minerality. All good so far after a shaky start.

The Taste: Again, very acidic and floral off the bat so gave it two hours in the bottle with the cork off; it remained hot, some pleasing black fruits and crushed-rocks minerality but unfortunately retained a horrible bitterness on the finish and a mouth burning hotness. Unfortunately, badly made wine, overcooked the extraction trying to get deep colour which was achieved at the cost of balance and fruit. Poured the second half down the drain...

The Score: Food did calm it down but I would avoid. There's plenty more from Mendoza and cheaper too, that gladly, aren't like this, which is frankly, pretty shit. 4.5/10

VFM: Even at £7.99, you can beat this hands down at pretty much any wine merchant. VFM = 0.56

So after a great start, and apart from the 2008 Priorat, the reds "pissed on Sainsbury's chips" to coin a phrase. So, only a few supermarkets remain; Morrisons, Asda and if I can pluck up the courage, Aldi and Liddle. Who knows, maybe a £3 Cotes du Rhone will knock my socks off! By my reckoning, Co-Op still leads, but we'll have a full summary when all is complete.

Our birthdays are fast approaching so we may afford ourselves a couple of indulgences before getting back to the nitty gritty of frugal drinking. Until next time...

As always, speak to you soon!

Cheers

WBFTF

The Wine Society - Exhibition New World Classics - Reds

Hello all,

Regular readers might recall I did a feature on the Wine Society's own wines not so long back (here:) and found them to be of superb quality and value. In addition to the basic "own label" range (although basic is the wrong descriptor) they offer some other wines that are bottled under the Society's name but known as the exhibition range. Described on the website thus; "Exhibition wines are selected to be flagship examples of their regions and styles and are frequently exclusively made for, or offered to, The Society by some of the world's top winemakers". Obviously these come at a slight premium when compared the standard own-range wines, but judging by what we tasted last time around, I thought they might be worth a look. Top winemakers' wines, re-badged and sold cheaper than their usual offerings? Sounds like a frugal opportunity...

The case that caught my eye was a 6-pack of the Society's Exhibition New World Classics, although a more accurate description would be something like "Australasian Classics" as the case is comprised entirely of wines from New Zealand and Australia! I can't for the life of me remember how much the case was (not very frugal I know, but "Do as I say, not do as I do" is what my mothers' overweight doctor would say...) but I will base it on individual bottle prices. If memory serves, they were about £11 or £12 each as a case-average, so yes, they are a bit more "upmarket".

Anyway, to the wines...Reds this week, Whites to follow next week:

The Society's Exhibition Victoria Shiraz, 2009

This is made by Mount Langi Ghiran in the Grampians who produce some serious high-end wines, notably Shiraz. They've been there since the 1870's! Langi's vineyards are high and cool which should lend some Rhone-style spice to this and also a nice bit of bottle age being an '05! Looking forward to this...but a massive 15% could be hot...

The Look: Super-dark, black plum skin coloured, almost opaque and showing some lovely age with a red/brown rim.

The Smell: Lots of blackberry, smoky, pencil-graphite. Some more "reduced" raisiny hints and some complexity/secondary aromas from the age.

The Taste: Smoothly textured. It is hot but not obtrusively so (this is a big Aussie Shiraz after all!). Lots of concentrated blackberry, violets, raisins,  and lots of oak. Nice acidity, bright red fruits appear also. A leathery complexity turns to delicious chocolate after a while.

The Score: Very good. Nice to see a bit of age showing through. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: This is £14.95 normally, so not on the cheap-side. VFM is mediocre at 0.50 but I would recommend this over a similar-scoring similarly-priced wine from a more recent vintage to taste the complexity.

The Society's Exhibition Martinborough Pinot Noir, 2009

This is made by Craggy Range. I must admit, I love the Syrah from Gimblett Gravels (one of the few wines to score 9/10) so I await this with baited breath. This is from the Southern tip of the North Island and  very big for a Pinot at 14.5%!

The Look: A lovely translucent ruby red with plum-purple at its core and strawberry red at the rim.

The Smell: Smoky. Initially violets and blackberry. Alcohol is apparent. Blueberry. Meaty, peppery notes. Developed a smoky cherry niff too. Deceptive - smelling blind I would have said Shiraz!

The Taste: Smooth, silky texture. Too hot initially but did fade slightly. Opulent fruit, cherry, blackcurrant, peppery. Acidity is bright but balanced, not overpowering. Old, over-ripe, soft plum. Shiraz-like! Long finish.

The Score: It's nice, but confused? I really did question whether they'd put the Syrah in the bottle and mis-labelled it! Good if you fancy a BIG Pinot with a little difference? 7/10.

VFM: This is  £12.95 normally, so again, not cheap. VFM is mediocre at 0.54.

The Society's Exhibition Central Otago Pinot Noir, 2009

This is made by the same crew at Craggy Range but from Central Otago vineyards - probably the most revered of all NZ Pinot regions? Slightly more modest, but by no means shy at 14%!

The Look: D.A.R.K. Dark! Plummy, black-purple, not quite opaque, much darker than the Martinborough one.

The Smell: Oaky, smoky, blackberry, slight violet, alcohol, very similar but without the meaty-pepperiness.

The Taste: Lovely but again not typical Pinot finesse. Spicy cherry, black cherry and raspberry. Warming, not quite as hot as the Martinborough effort.

The Score: Again, very good but confused. Where is the finesse and silkiness? It doesn't detract from its delicious flavour but this could have been immense! If only... 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: This is  £12.95 also, giving a slightly better VFM of 0.58. 

So there we have the Reds. All very good wines, the Shiraz I could drink again anytime. The Pinots I had trouble picking between them. Both shocked me in a way by being too big and hot. Maybe that's the way NZ Pinot is going, but I remember far more finesse and silkiness. Maybe it's just Craggy...? No way, that's sacrilege! Mental note: Try more NZ Pinot.

Anyway, next week: The Whites. Two from NZ (again!) - a Chardonnay from Kumeu River no less, and a Sauv Blanc from Hunters! Plus a Tasmanian Chardonnay who's producer escapes me but will be revealed next week...

As always,

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF