Supermarket Sweeps - Six for £60 - Tesco Part 2

Hello All,

 

 

Welcome to the second installment of my look at the supermarket shelves for value wines, this time Tesco Part 2. Last time we looked at two whites and a Rosé, this time, three Reds and a lovely Port! Total spend was only about £55 for seven bottles. So, let's see if the reds can do a bit better...

Oh and don't forget to follow me on Twitter for further little nuggets of wine-related stuff.

Kleine Zalze, Shiraz-Mourvedre-Viognier, 2010

£6.99. I remember seeing this a while back in Decanter, and as far as I can remember it had a good review so caught my eye. Made in a cool climate region a few miles from Stellenbosch it was keenly priced too! 14.5%

The Look: Intensely dark, opaque black-plum, almost no rim just a slight fade to violet.

The Smell: Awesome smells of blackberries, sweetness, think dark berry cheesecake or a blackberry and apple Nutrigrain bar!

The Taste: Pow! Intense blackberry hit, violets, good fresh acidity, slightly chewy tannins and a great long finish. Some peppery spice and warming but not overly alcoholic - handled well.

The Score: Delicious, punching well above its weight. 8/10. Highly Recommended

VFM: At £6.99 this is a serious bargain. Great flavour intensity for the price. VFM = 1.14

Tesco Finest Crozes Hermitage, 2008

£8.29. Crozes Hermitage is a region in the Northern Rhone in France famous for Syrah (Shiraz) based wines. Normally up to 15% of the white grapes Roussanne or Marsanne can be added but this didn't specify so I'm assuming 100% Syrah. Normally dark fruits and a peppery spice are evident. High hopes for this... 12.5%

The Look: Purple core with a ruby rim and completely translucent.

The Smell: Nose is reticent, faint whiff of berries and slight oak but not much else.

The Taste: Disappointing. Light bodied, limp, insipid and tasteless. Slight spice but mainly very mild hints of red fruit, none of the dark fruit and black pepper I was expecting. Smooth tannins but bitter.

The Score: Not worth the IWSC Bronze sticker on the bottle in my opinion. 5.5/10.

VFM: At £8.29 this is overpriced in my opinion. VFM = 0.66

Tesco Finest Valpolicella Ripasso, 2009

£6.99. Valpolicella Ripasso is Valpolicella passed over the leftover lees from making Amarone (strong flavoured wine made from dried grapes) to give it extra flavour and colour. Interesting and it caught my eye at this price. 13.5%

The Look: Dark purple/ruby.

The Smell: Sweet cherries, oaky and leesy with some mild spice too.

The Taste: Very bright cherryade taste, plenty of acidity, refreshing for a red, some vanilla hints. Good accompaniment to a tomato based pasta sauce, but thin tannins and sadly became a bit of a chore to drink. After the second glass it was all acidity and no fruit.

The Score: Started well but soon became undrinkable.  5.5/10.

VFM:   Better value than the Syrah at  VFM = 0.66 but one I would not purchase again.

 

Tesco Special Reserve Port, NV

£7.82. I hadn't spent my total of £60 and was looking for something else when this caught my eye. A great price even if it turned out a bit nasty, but I doubted that with this being made by the famous Port conglomerate; Symington Family Estates. 20%

The Look: Deep dark opaque purple, slight violet rim. Much like Port surprisingly!

The Smell: Sweet, raisiny/curranty berries with mild woody spice. Lovely smell.

The Taste: Deliciously full of sweet, raisiny, warm fruit. Very nicely integrated, not overly sweet or alcoholic. Dangerously drinkable - we had sore heads to prove it the next day! 

The Score: Cracking NV Port and a bargain to boot! 8/10. Highly Recommended

VFM:   Superb value Port. VFM = 1.10

So, in summary, Tesco didn't quite do as well as Co-Op, but then again the majority were own-brand wines and on the whole a fair bit cheaper. Still, the Riesling was great, as was the South African blend and the port. Not too bad.

Next time, the fantastic wine section of Waitrose!

As always, speak to you soon!

Cheers

WBFTF

Wine Society Recommendations - Part 2

Hello All,

Welcome to Part 2 of some recommendations from the Wine Society. You can find Part 1 here:

Three whites and only one red this time, as it turned out we'd had some faulty red bottles, but duly refunded, so top marks there.

Some time soon I'll be starting the Supermarket Sweep Six for Sixty series so keep posted for that, despite a slight fly in the ointment: The Decanter World Wine Awards Issue! If you want to know what's good in the Supermarkets, in all likelihood, it'll be described therein. It had slipped my mind that the issue would coincide with my planned start date.  I don't really want to just re-iterate what they have recommended as good, so I will try to remain as impartial as I can. One or two overlaps might occur if I really fancy something, but I'll try to avoid simply plumping for what they rate and hopefully cover different ground. But hey-ho.

Anyway, without further ado, the Wine Society whites...

Clos La Coutale, Cahors, 2009 

Cahors, the famous "Black Wine" from south-west France, the spiritual home of Malbec, renowned for its deep, dark colour and teeth-staining quality! Predominantly Malbec, although this one has some Merlot blended in. ...13.5%

The Look: Well, not quite black, but a deep plummy purple core leading to a pinky/purple rim.

The Smell: Super fruity, jammy smell.

The Taste: Great fruit, blueberry, black cherry yoghurt, violets and oak. Very tannic so needs a while to soften but delicious.  

The Score: Great stuff. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £7.95 this is very good value VFM = 0.94

Les Chailloux, Sancerre, 2009 

Probably the most well-known area of the Loire valley for growing Sauvignon Blanc. More expensive and exclusive than Touraine and arguably Pouilly-Fumé, it normally shows in the price, although I'm inclined to challenge that...13.5%

The Look: Very bright, sprightly yellow-green.

The Smell: Herby, grassy, minerally, citrus fruits and slight grapefruit zest.

The Taste: Fresh acidity, zingy citrus fruit with a mineral edge and some bitter grapefruit on the finish. A hint of tropical fruit creeps through. Good body, length and smooth texture.

The Score: Restrained and classy. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £12.50 this isn't cheap, but it is Sancerre, and it's good. VFM = 0.60

Plantagenet, Riesling, 2009 

 

From the Great Southern area of Western Australia. Owned by an Englishman, Plantagenet have a great reputation and make some premium wines. Cool fermentation in stainless steel tanks keeps this fresh. Fairly light at 11.5%

 

The Look: Bright! Pale lemony yellow. 

The Smell: Bright! Very citrussy nose.

The Taste: There's a theme here...Bright! Very bright, fresh, zingy acidity, lime and grapefruit. We had it with spicy enchiladas and it cut through perfectly.

The Score: Delicious, fresh and zingy 8/10. Highly Recommended

VFM: At £12.95 this is fairly steep, but a cut above your average £7 supermarket Riesling. Still, not bad value at VFM = 0.62.

Gavi La Battistina, 2010 

Named after the town of Gavi in Piedmont, this region is often dubbed "Italy's answer to White Burgundy" and also, embarrassingly, my mother's pet name for me! Made with the Cortese grape. 13.5%

The Look: A medium lemon yellow.

The Smell: Lovely smells of honey, peach, slight citrus zing and a floral hint too.

The Taste: Really zesty on the palate with very fresh, zingy acidity, hints of grapefruit, lime, spice and a green apple hint too.

The Score: Great, although not very Burgundian this one! 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £7.95 this is cracking value VFM = 0.94

So there we have it, an end to the Wine Society wines for now, no doubt returning in the future, but as I alluded to earlier, I'll be concentrating on the Supermarket Sweep series next. That will probably take us up to the run-up to Christmas, and then it'll be balls-to-the-wall with wine treats!

As always, speak to you soon,

Cheers

WBFTF

Majestic Wine - Recommended Whites

Hello all,

Welcome to the second part of the Majestic recommendations, if you missed last week's Recommended Reds then you can find it here:

We've had some superb whites lately from Majestic and it's worth keeping your eye on them for 20%-off offers that they regularly do. What made these stand out was the added dimension of complexity, either from lees-aging, barrel fermenting or just plain old good winemaking! There's so much more than just fruity plonk from a damn-good white wine, and I think Majestic carry a good range for very little money, in the grand scheme of things. If you're not keen on whites then I suggest you give some of these a try; hopefully they'll change your mind...

Anyway, without further ado, here are the best we've had in the past few weeks...

First up, three great Chardonnays from around the globe:

From South Africa was the stunning Vergelegen Chardonnay 2010 (13.5% and I can't remember how much, but about £11 I think). Awesome smells of honeyed fruit, mint leaves, nutty and creamy, stony fruit and D could smell mown-grass. On the palate it displayed that smoked ham and cheese characteristic of a good barrel-aged Chardonnay (like Applewood smoked cheese!), the sweetness of ripe peach and a slight lemon zing. It developed more fruit, apricot, honey, vanilla and almond with time. Purity, balance, restraint and elegance are all fluffy wine "buzzwords" but, thinking about it, they really do make sense with this wine. Effortless drinking and great complexity 8.5/10. Very much in the same vein was the Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2009 (13.5%). Yeasty, bready smells coupled with honey, woodsmoke, vanilla and tropical fruit. The taste was immense, again smoked ham and cheese evident, "flinty" minerality, tropical fruit and some zingy citrus. Alcohol was apparent but not too overpowering and a slight bitter edge dropped it half a mark on the Vergelegen; giving 8/10. Finally for the Chardies, the Villa Maria Cellar Selection Chardonnay 2010 was another beaut; on the nose, citrussy sharpness mingled with wet-stone minerality, nuttiness and a herby whiff of asparagus/nettles/grass. Great complexity of taste too with plenty of acidity, a lemon/lime zing tempered by a sort of meringue-like sweetness/creaminess. Tropical fruits mixed with peach along with a woody, vanilla, oaky character with an underlying minerality. Lovely 8/10.

I'm a big fan of Italy's Alto Adige region, where the whites always exude a freshness that makes  me think of the snow-covered Alps nearby. Not letting the side down was the Stella Alpina Pinot Grigio 2009 (13.5%). Lots of lemon/lime citrus zing, searing acidity (but not in the slightest bit harsh) and superb fruit purity. Great value too (this was £7.99 on offer) 7.5/10. We've not often had many wines from the US on here (which is bordering on criminal) so I thought we'd give this a shot, from the organic Bonterra Vineyards Viognier 2008 from grapes grown in the Mendocino and Lake Counties and about £9.99. It might have been the several glasses of other wines we'd had before this talking but, this was good! Deep, bright gold in colour it smelled of lemonade, vanilla and peach. Awesome complexity on the palate with toasty, yeasty bread and pure peach nectar. I'd like to re-confirm this at some point but my pissed score is...I'm fairly sure... 9/10! (The handwriting was starting to waiver around this point). Hmmm, one to come back to I think. Lastly, the Torres Vina Esmerelda 2010 was again a pleasure. This was covered more in-depth in my Torres feature but still deserves a mention here. For about £8, this is superb. A blend of Moscatel and Gewurz it is really peachy and smooth, very drinkable with a long refreshing lemon/lime finish. Great stuff and great value 8/10.

So there you have it, some great whites from Majestic and for the most part, great value too.

As always,

Speak to you soon,

Cheers

WBFTF

Majestic Wine - recommended reds

Hello all!

Majestic Wine have currently got a cracking little deal on, 20% off any two bottles from Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Italy (Oh and Beaujolais but I didn't get any of those!) so I thought I'd give some recommendations for the ones we've liked over the past few weeks. Reds this week, whites next week. Obviously this is just a small selection (we'd loved to have bought the whole lot, but funds and sense prevailed) so there's plenty more on offer, I suggest you take a look. Enjoy!

From Spain we have...

...the excellent and great value (£6.99) Sangre de Toro 2008 from Torres.  Superbly fruity with plum, blackberry and violets with some spice (8/10). Two decent Riojas in the form of the CVNE (pronounced "Coonay") Crianza 2007; (£9.99) very light weight with bright, spicy raspberry, cherry, vanilla and oak (7.5/10) and a Gran Reserva 2003 from Berberana Vina Alarde (£10.99). Delicious with that lovely mellow, smooth, strawberry flavour of aged Rioja and a creamy vanilla woodiness from the oak. (7.5/10). Last up a lovely Ribera del Duero 2006 from Emilio Morro; (£13.99) caramel, chocolate, vanilla and red berries on the nose followed up by bright red fruit, "grippy" tannins and lots of creamy blackberry - superb 8.5/10.

From New Zealand we had some beauts...

The Martinborough Vineyard Te Tera Pinot Noir 2009 (£12.79) was mind-blowing! Bright, clear ruby red smelling of sweet caramel and vanilla, cherry and raspberry - like a berry cheesecake, amazing. The texture was pure silk and abundant fruit on the palate; raspberry, strawberry, redcurrant, blackberry, black cherry, the whole gamut followed by a long, dry and herby finish. First class 9/10! Another Pinot was the Villa Maria Cellar Selection 2008 (£10.79) which had a blueberry, violet and cinnamon whiff about it with plenty of bite and grip in the mouth. Blackberry and dark cherries flowed and although great at 7.5/10, paled in comparison to the Te Tera. The Craggy Range Te Kahu 2008 (£12.99) Bordeaux blend had the typical smoky plum, cherry and blackcurrant of its Cab, Merlot, Malbec and Cab Franc grapes. Smooth tannins and lots of black fruit, powerful and long, but ever so slightly hot  7.5/10.

From Italy we had...

Yes! A Pinot from Italy! And it was great! The Bacaro 2009 was £4.99!!! It smelled of blackberries and oaky spice and delivered with silky tannins, lots of dark fruit, cherry, blackberry and a long finish. With fresh acidity this could age well for a few years too (7.5/10). AMAZING VALUE!

From Chile we had...

A very good 2008 Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon. (£9.99) Intense, smoky, oaky blackcurrant and cedar and in the mouth it was warming, tannic (a good food wine) and had lots of dark fruit; blackcurrant, blackberry and plums but a little hot. 7.5/10. 

And last-up, from Oz, we had...

a respectable Jim Barry Lodge Hill Shiraz 2009. Classic nose of blackberry, blueberry, dark chocolate and oak. In the mouth it was smooth and bright with a crunchy texture. Plenty if plum and bramble fruit with hints of coffee and mocha. Tasty 7.5/10.

So, there we have some great reds from Majestic from their current offers. Next week, we'll be polishing off the whites so stay tuned.

As always, speak to you soon!

Cheers

WBFTF

Naked Again!

Hello all,

We return to Naked Wines this week, with the recent news that they are bringing the winemakers to meet the customers in a series of UK tasting tours.  They're coming to London, Brighton, Norwich, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh so if you're nearby, pop along to sample the wines for yourselves. You'll get to meet the winemakers themselves and sample their latest offerings.

Naked kindly provided some wines as a preview (remembering that "Angels" get 33% cashback off the marked price in return for £20 a month regular payment into your Angels account). We had the first three this week and the next three will follow next week. Enjoy!

Castillo de Tafalla Angels Selection Rosé, Navarra, 2010

Winemaker Benoit Dreyer returns with his "pick of the crop" rosé made from Garnacha (Grenache) grapes grown in Navarra. We've had the standard 2009 rosé before and found it to be very good. 14%

The Look: As you can hopefully tell from the photo, this is probably the most striking-coloured wine; bright lipstick-red with orange and cerise hues. Almost fluorescent in its brightness!

The Smell: Apples, some caramel, strawberry, hints of tropical fruit and some cedary/oaky wood.

The Taste: Again, very apply, like a sweet gala apple, some caramel sweetness but balanced by nice crisp acidity, some tropical hints and decent length. Certainly better on the second glass but a bitterness on the finish let it down slightly.

The Score: A decent rosé but didn't wow as much as the 2009 7/10.

VFM: At £7.99 this is pretty good value, giving VFM = 0.88, but I'm not sure the cream of the crop is worth the extra £1 over the standard Rosé at £6.99?

Borgo dei Sassi, Prosecco DOC, NV

Winemaker Alessandro Botter crafts this fizz in the winery his grandfather set up. Extra dry in style, from about 40 miles North of Venice in the Veneto region. Non-vintage and 11%.

The Look: Pale watery-white with a slight lemon tinge.

The Smell: Very aromatic, grape-juice and peaches are evident.

The Taste: Fine bubbles and lots of them! Very fresh acidity, white fruit like grapes, peaches and apricots. Lots of fruit. Slight hint of biscuit but not a great deal of complexity.

The Score: A fresh, fruity, fragrant and accessible Prosecco. Not bad at all 7/10.

VFM: At £10.49 I would suggest that this is about 20% overpriced, it lacks the minerality and elegance that you start can find in £10+ Proseccos. VFM@ 0.67 isn't terrible and with the Angel's 33% cashback it's more in line with what you'd expect to pay.

Montaria, Vinho Regional Alentejano, 2010

From the hot region of Alentejano in the south of Portugal by winemaker Antonio Ventura. This is a blend of indigenous varieties; Trincadeira, Aragonez and Alicante Bouschet. And no, I've never heard of them either! 13%.

The Look: Dark red with purple and violet hues running through. Not quite opaque but nearly.

The Smell: Really great smells, especially after an hour open. Redcurrants, blackcurrants, blackberries and oaky spice.

The Taste: Lots of fruit, a hit of dark cherry, blackberry and brighter more acidic red fruit like redcurrants. Cedary notes as well. Good balance between fruit, acidity and tannin. Not infinitely long but a decent length. Ever-so-slight hotness on the finish. Good, solid, but generic fruity red.

The Score:  At £7.99 it places itself in a tough competitive environment. There's gallons of good wines to be had and this doesn't really stand out. It is, however, an unusual blend and it's worth a try. 7/10.

VFM: The VFM pops out at a pretty respectable 0.88. Portuguese wines are neglected by the majority of the wine-drinking public (I'm guilty) but not deservedly so. Next time I'll probably go for the Reserva 2009 @ £9.99 as I'm sure that would offer a step-up in taste.

So there we have it. Three solid performers this time around. All good value and even more so if you're prepared to stump-up the £20 a month Angels fee. I'll review the remaining three next week, maybe there'll be a breath-taker amongst those...?

As always, speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

A Week's Respite

Hello All!

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I did not post last week due to a week's respite. Thanks to the bank holidays and Royal Wedding we made the most of the time off, making a grand journey of 15 miles to the local Hilton, which would be our base for a few days of wine-addled relaxation.

House Champagne

We kicked the week off in style with some Champagne. D and I are trying to work out what our favourite is. We think it's Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV but we need to properly compare that to as many others as we can, just to be sure! It's an expensive search, so we don't tend to do it that often. However, being holiday-week; "When in Rome...".

We saw Piper on sale in the local Co-Operative supermarket for £17 so naturally had to grab one or two. For comparison we bought a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV (the brand behind the £150-a-bottle Cristal) from Majestic Wine for £28 (on offer from £33).

Both were pale gold with watery-white rims. The Piper was a bit reticent, smell-wise but did display some fruit and biscuity aromas while the Loius Roederer had more honeyed fruit, Chardonnay dominated but again with a biscuity sweetness. Taste is where the Piper comes into its own; Lots of bready/biscuity tastes but absolutely stuffed with fruitiness, from citrus zing to Cidery orchard fruit. A long, delicious finish leaves a great taste in the mouth and a tingle from the popping and fizzing bubbles. Superb 8.5/10. The Louis Roederer had a less aggressive mousse but very fine. The taste was equally toasty/biscuity sweet and again had superb fruit but more citrussy and tropical from the Chardonnay (Piper has more Pinot Noir content). Mouthwatering zing and a long finish similar to a sweet Gala apple. The Louis Roederer exudes class (it even comes in a very smart box) but, finished a close second to the Piper in our books at 8/10. 

So, Piper still remains champion but there are a lot of Champagnes we haven't compared it to yet!

Eat until we burst!

On the way to the Hilton we stopped off in the Yorkshire Grey for a leisurely 3-course lunch. This is a great little place if you're in the Worcestershire area; great food, nicely presented but not pretentious or poncey in any way. They do a 2-Course lunch for £10 but we decided to go for pudding as well. I had great garlic mushrooms in creme fraiche on a crostini, beer battered fish and chips and a superbly presented cheesecake to finish. D had stuffed potato skins, a lovely lasagne and the same cheesecake. Highly recommended! I had a lovely grassy Chilean Sauv Blanc (about £4 a glass) and D had a nice oaky Aussie Shiraz (about £5). My belt was complaining about the size of my gut after this, which would unfortunately be something of a recurring theme for the rest of the week!

Settled-in at the Hilton we headed to the pool for a dip before dinner. Having worked off a small fraction of the lunch calories we sat down to dinner with a glass of...have a guess...Yes, Piper Heidsieck Brut NV (a slightly painful £8.05 a glass), delicious as ever. We both started with a very nice tomato and basil soup. D had a honey and mustard glazed gammon steak which was superb and I had a coffee-rubbed Bavette steak (I had to ask what Bavette was...turned out to be a type of cut, popular in France but more commonly known as flank or skirt steak over here!). Anyway, having fresh finely-ground coffee granules in the same mouthful as steak surprisingly worked really well together. We washed these down with a light bodied Emporium Shiraz 2009 from Sicily (13%). At £22 a bottle I fear it was priced at a 300 to 400% markup, but nevertheless enjoyable and easy-drinking. Puddings followed; a superb (and huge) chocolate macaroon for D and a summer fruit roulade for me. We swapped half way through. Again, with belt straining we retired.

A trip into Tewkesbury the following morning resulted in the discovery of a cracking little independent wine shop; "That Wine Place" on the High Street. Having re-learned that Hilton wine prices are obscene, we bought a bottle of Greyrock Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir 2008 (Marked down to £8.99 from £13.99) to consume in our room later that evening (Sshh - I don't think you're allowed to do that...?). The proprietor was even kind enough to give me a free cigar cutter when I bought a cheap cigar. This was a lively, red-fruited wine with silky texture. Decent value and very drinkable 7/10. I'll definitely return to get a bottle of Esk Valley Merlot/Cab/Malbec 2007 that was stocked there. 

The Three Choirs Vineyard

Having finally dragged D out of a second hand book shop that had, what seemed like, a million books inside we headed back to change before heading to the Three Choirs Vineyard in Newent (see D's pic below).

You can get a tour of the vineyard and a tasting of 5 (out of a selection of many) wines and also three beers and two ciders for £8. There's also a restaurant and accommodation although we opted for a simple (and free) walk around followed by the tasting (£3.50 each). As I'm not a fan of sweet wines apart from when accompanying a teeth-destroyingly sweet dessert, we opted to sample all of the dry whites, the Rosé, sparkler and of course a beer and still cider. I wasn't expecting a great deal from £8 English wine but was pleasantly surprised by a few; the 2009 Bacchus (£13.10) was bone-dry, herby and had plentiful fruit with whiffs nettles and asparagus. 7/10 We bought some. The Classic Cuveé NV Brut sparkling wine (£11) was pleasant with rich apples, pears and a sweet bread pudding finish. Nice fresh acidity. 7/10 We bought some. The winner for us however, was the 2009 Rosé; which smelled of caramel and rose petals. The taste was generous amounts of sweetish strawberries balanced by a fresh acidity. 7.5/10 and we bought some. I can also recommend the hoppy Cats Whiskers dark beer and the Medium Still Cider was great.

More Eating...

Soaking up the sun on our balcony, we decided on a pub-dinner. We found an awesome riverside pub; the Fleet Inn at Twynning, recently refurbished. Just the two courses tonight and no wine (yet) as I was driving. D had a delicious chicken/bacon salad with balsamic reduction and I had a roasted pepper and tomato soup. Both delicious. As mains, we both chose lamb. Perfectly cooked and with amazing  mash and a red wine jus. Great food, well presented and again, not poncey! With dinner polished, we returned to the hotel to drink the Pinot and crash out after a tough few days of eating, drinking and putting our feet up.

More Pinot...

Returning home we decided to finish off the week with some more Pinots stocked up from recent purchases. The first was the Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Pinot Noir 2008 (£15 Majestic Wine). I was afraid that this might have been tainted with smoke from the much-reported forest fires at the time but was happy to note that it was clean. It did however, have the most bonkers alcohol level for a Pinot that I have ever seen. 15.5%! Clearly not one for the faint hearted. Dark purple with a silky sheen this had aromas of dark cherries, raspberries, some Dr. Pepper (or root beer) type spice and alcohol. Way too apparent. The taste was initially tongue-stingingly hot, like a mouth-burning whisky, again, due to the alcohol level, but it was redeemed somewhat by the plentiful raspberry and cherry fruits. Not bad, even perhaps enjoyable overall 7/10 but someone needs to have a word with Bob! Cool it down fella!

 

A bit more sensible was the ARA Composite Pinot Noir 2008 from Marlborough. £9 from the Co-Op and 13.5%. A translucent ruby red with crimson highlights, this smelled of red berries and cherries with a hint of meatiness and leather. Truly an amazing smelling wine! The texture was silky with very fine tannins and plenty of bright red fruit. The acidity was sharp and it had a complex oaky bitterness on the finish. Not quite as good as it smelled but pretty good 7.5/10.

So that ended our week of enjoyment. Staring down the barrel of impending work now, the only salvation being that we're off to a tasting on Friday at The Oxford Wine Company.

I'll write up my findings next week.

As always,

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

Laithwaites - Mystery Case

Hello All.

I've always been a fan of these. Don't ask me why, because I don't really know. Logic tells me that I should avoid paying for wine when I haven't got a clue what it is. However, whether cleverly marketed by means of words like "Surprise", "Mystery" and "Discovery", or whether the bargain-hunter in me is hoping to scoop the ever-elusive £600 case,  I still seem to buy them fairly regularly.

So what the hell is a Mystery Case I hear you ask? Basically, it's a collection of random bottles put into a case for £69.99 (or £59.99 if you're buying any other 12 bottles with it). Often made up of Bin Ends (when they tidy up the leftover bottles in cellars) but you can find some of their regular range plonked in as well. You can get mixed (6 white, 6 red), all whites or all reds. See the Website for more details here:  Each case promises a "Bargain" with savings of £17 guaranteed, although I've always been a bit suspicious of those figures (we'll examine it at the end of the case). Including delivery, and assuming you're not buying 12 other bottles it works out at £6.42 a bottle. Not bad at all. 

You can get some lovely bottles. You can get some not-so-lovely bottles. It really is a gamble, but we've been fairly lucky so far and had some nice ones. Anyway, you're always covered by the 100% guarantee from Laithwaites - if you don't like it or it's off, email them and they'll send you a voucher, usually for more than the wine was worth in the first place. Cool beans.

Anyway, what were the first four like...

A.R.H. Family Vineyard, Shiraz-Cabernet, South Australia, 2009

Made by the Hickinbotham Family and named after Prof. Alan Robb Hickinbotham, apparently one of the founding fathers of Australian wine. Matured in a mix of French and American Oak. A big one at 14.5%.

The Look: Unsurprisingly; a deep, dark, nearly opaque, plummy-purple with a violet rim.
The Smell: A lovely mix of blackberry, blueberry, violets, spice and chocolate.
The Taste: Loads of blackberry fruit.  Chocolate and spice. Smooth mouthfeel from the integrated tannins. Delicious. It doesn't say what the blend ratio is but I'd guess it's the majority being Shiraz and a small amount of Cab, say 85/15 at a guess?
The Score: Very fruity, but at the same time refined, complex and classy. 8/10.  Recommended!

VFM: This is normally £7.99 so the £6.42 case-average works well in our favour. At this price VFM is exceptional at 1.25

Solar de Coteba, Cabernet Sauvignon, La Mancha, 2008 

Made in Castilla-La Mancha in Spain from 40 year old low-yielding vines. Reasonably high altitudes (600m) allow cool nights to counterbalance the blazing sun and produce concentrated flavours and aromas in the grapes. There is a small percentage of Tempranillo in the blend, apparently, but labelled as varietal Cab Sauv.13.5%.

The Look: A dark, inky-black/purple, not fully opaque and with a ruby-red rim.

The Smell: Very nice - Oaky, spicy blackcurrant and blackberry. Some vanilla.

The Taste: Warm and spicy with lots of fruit and creamy Cassis. A "mouthful" feel to it. Bright acidity.  On the verge of being too "hot" - needed a bit more restraint.

The Score: Very nice, but just too big for its structure to handle, too much alcohol apparent. Just misses a recommendation at 7/10. 

VFM: This is normally £6.99 so the £6.42 case-average gives us a small saving. At this price VFM is albeit very good at 1.09

 And on to the whites...

Les Vertus d'Antan, Colombard-Gros Manseng, Cotes de Gascogne, 2008 

Made in Gascony, south of Toulouse. Here Colombard grapes are often made into wine to be distilled into Armagnac. However, this one has been blended with the little-known Gros-Manseng which should add freshness, spice and florality at the fairly low alcohol level of 11.5%.

The Look: A deep gold colour.

The Smell: Citrus, grapefruit and spice on the nose. Very aromatic!

The Taste: Very bright lemon/lime zing to start, followed by a grapefruit-like bitterness. The acidity is very strong, leading to a "spritzy" mouthfeel but there are no bubbles in this! Mouth-puckering, but refreshing.

The Score: Nice, but a little overdone on the acidity. 7/10. 

VFM: This is normally £7.49 so the £6.42 case-average gives us a reasonable saving. At this price VFM is again very good at 1.09

Visionario, Bianco delle Venezie, 2009

Made in the delle Venezie IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) which signifies quality but is less strict than the DOC/G rules. Venezie encompasses many regions in Northern Italy including Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige. An undisclosed white blend here at 13%.

The Look: A pale, medium yellow.

The Smell: Sweet toffee-apple, floral, hints of grass and tropical fruit.

The Taste: Slightly off-dry with lots of fruit-character, peach, apple, toffee. A bit sweet but balanced by the acidity. Very gluggable but a bitterness on the finish let it down.

The Score: Chill it fiercely and swig it back. Not bad at all 6.5/10. 

VFM: This is normally only £5.99 so we've paid a little more for it this time around. However, still very good value at VFM =  1.08. saving.

So, there's the first four. Not bad at all. Nothing mind-blowing, but a very good Shiraz and some perfectly good wines for the price.

Part 2 next week. Bring it on...

As always, speak to you soon!

Cheers!

WBFTF

Supermarket Sweep: Reds from the Co-Operative

Hello All!

Bit of a change of plan this week; I was due to review the Mystery Case from Laithwaites but our timetable has been a bit disjointed over the last week or two so we haven't got round to glugging them yet. However, a few friends have been recommending wines from the Co-Op recently so I decided to pop in and have look. Well, pop in and loiter in the wine section for an hour and a half... Twice.

Going back what feels like a few years ago, I used to regularly get wines form the Co-Op. That's when I was into the big brands. It's probably more than a few years by now; time goes so quick when you get older... Anyway, once I'd passed through my Blass, Hardys, Gallo et al phase, there really wasn't much else for them to offer (or so I may have thought back then) and didn't give them a second look until recently. Bloody hell, things have CHANGED! Oh, but they don't do online sales (yet?) so you'll have to do it "old-school" and get yourself down there.

Ok, so they still do the big brands; obviously, being the massive sellers they are, but there's so much more! And offers! Lots of them. At the front door I was greeted by a rack of £4 wines. I almost dismissed them in a "Pfft...four quid? Yeah right, what a load of boll...." but "Oh wait...St. Hallett Riesling? Hmmm...  2005 Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux, £7?  Prosecco, £4?  Cava Rosé, £4. I best get myself to the proper wine section, quick!". I basketted the Riesling and Bordeaux and moved swiftly on. And there I spent the next hour and a half, mesmerised.  So much so, that I had to return the following week to pick up more.

We did drink the Riesling (and it was great, 7/10, amazing for £4) but as this is a reds review, I'll keep that one for next time. Anyway, to the wines...No pictures this week I'm afraid, due to "logistics" shall we say. Some might say forgetfulness, like binning the bottles before taking pictures?

For those who like to drink with a clear conscience, the Fairtrade wines aren't too bad. The 2009 Malbec Reserva from Argentina was a decent fruity bottle with smoke, vanilla and dark berries (6.5/10). The 2009 Shiraz, also from Argentina just pipped it at 7/10 - a good value example of the grape with warming spicy berries. Both opened up with more fruitiness after an hour so give them time. Both also under £7.

The Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Noir 2008 (£8.99) I was surprised to see. I love VM wines and don't really see them as a "Mega-Brand" although I'm probably looking through rose-tinted specs when it comes to their wines. It was however, initially a slight let-down, not in the league of their Whites but was good nonetheless with summer berries and some black cherry. Very bright, almost harsh acidity straight from the bottle but did mellow to acceptable levels after a few hours and food. It developed into a lovely wine but remained sprightly acidic. (7/10). 

If bright acidity is your bag then the Piccini Sigillo Rosso Chianti Riserva 2006 (normally £8.99 but only £5.29 on the day - bargain). This was recommended by a good friend (Cheers Willmot!) and although mouth-puckeringly acidic to start, was delicious. Showing signs of bottle age with tawny and brick red tinges to the dark ruby core, it exuded cherry and oaky spice on the nose. Again, cherry flavours dominated the palate but with raspberry, vanilla and peppery spice. A bit too acidic for my palate, but good nonetheless and a good candidate for putting away for a few years for it to mellow. Have it with food. 7/10. 

After enjoying an immense Cab Sauv from Trio (D's favourite wine!)  I spotted the Concha Y Toro Trio Merlot/Shiraz/Cab 2009 (no price for this I'm afraid but it was sub-£8). This was almost black! Very intense for a Merlot blend. Ripe, sweetish red berries in abundance and enhanced by chocolate/toffee hints. Fresh acidity and a long finish which brought out the Cab Sauv. Lovely 7.5/10. Another Merlot was recommended by a friend (thanks Ailsa!) from Chile's Rapel Valley, the Anakena Merlot 2009 (£5.99). Very light, I literally thought it was a Rosé on pouring, it looked like a fairly robust Garnacha Rosé. Plenty of strawberry and caramel on the nose and followed up by bright red fruit, sweetness but with a fresh, balancing acidity. A slight bitterness on the finish let it down, but at this price...you can't really complain? 6.5/10

The Cru Bourgeois was the Chateau Dasvin-Bel-Air 2005 (£7 on offer) and was a plummy-purple, showing some age with a brick-red rim. Blackcurrant, cherry, cedar, blackberry, graphite and oak on the complex nose and tasted very similar. Very bright acidity, plenty of tannin yet to shed and abundant fruit. I wish I'd picked up a few of these to put away for a year or two. A medicinal/menthol finish added to the complexity - delicious 7.5/10.

The Cline Californian Syrah 2005 was immense, a deep opaque purple and a lipstick rim. Immediately meaty, with loads of blackberry and pepper. Great taste, akin to a NZ Syrah, or even the Northern Rhone with pepper, spice, dark berries, full and lush. 8/10.

The Yering Station Little Yering Pinot Noir 2006 comes from a famous stable. The oldest winery in Victoria, Yering Station's top Pinots and Shiraz-Viogniers go for upwards of £50 a bottle. This "little brother" was £9.99. A nice bit of age showing although this was a young-pup. Initially, meaty forest floor odours gave way to red berries and caramel. Cherry and a cinnamon-like spice were evident. Similarly on the palate, lots of strawberry, cherry and cinnamon lead to a long finish of bright red fruit. Very bright and acidic although not in the least bit overpowering. This will last for a good few years yet and will improve well-past its 7.5/10 mark, tasting better the second day (screwcap put back on for 24hrs).

Finally, the St. Hallett Faith Shiraz 2008 from the revered Barossa Valley was a gem. £9.99 and well worth it. An intense inky-black-purple, was a bit shy at first but then fumed with blackberry, violet, caramel, toasty oak and pepper smells. On the palate it was super-concentrated; a small sip explodes in the mouth. Intense, very ripe black fruit combined with plenty of fresh acidity, some tannin and a long, warming, fruit-driven finish. Chocolate and smoothness developed after a while and was even fresh the following day (again with the cap on for 24hrs). Maybe not everybody's cup of tea; it's big, bold, powerful, intensely fruity, maybe even a much-maligned "fruit bomb" but has the complexity and quality to shed that moniker, in my humble opinion of course. 8/10.

So, there you have a small summary of some of the Reds available from Co-Op. I will return. I need to try the Whites, Rosés and Sparklers and there were still a few Reds I wanted to get but my wallet disagreed, groaning already under the strain of the bulk-buy. Of the remaining reds that showed promise were the Steakhouse Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from Oregon USA,  EOS Petit Sirah 2006 from Paso Robles I believe, Chateauneuf du Papes 2007, 2003 Bordeaux, Montes Alpha Malbec, Barbera di Asti, more Chilean stuff; Carmen, Santa Rita 120 etc. Loads more, and that's only the reds.

I highly recommend you take a look. But don't spend an hour and a half there (twice) unless you can put up with whispers from other customers (and staff) along the lines of "Wino!", "Alky!" and "Is he nuts?". LOL.

As always,

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF

The Wine Society - Final Part

Hello All!

Welcome to the final part of the "Top Society Sellers" case from the Wine Society.  You can find Part 1 here; and Part 2 here; which had some great wines, both in terms of quality and value. Can the case finish on a high note?

The two reds were:

The Society's Rioja Crianza, 2007

Made by Bodegas Palacio in the heart of Rioja Alavesa. This has been aged for at least a year in big oak barrels (or Barricas) to deserve the "Crianza" term. Apologies for the horrendous photo - black labels seem to confuse a novice photographer! 13%.

The Look: A mix of strawberry-red highlights and plummy-purple lowlights. Signs of a little bottle age with some brick red and tawny brown tinges.

The Smell: Red berries, vanilla, a bit of cedar wood and leather. Smoky. Some sweet Oak; basically like a woody summer berry cheesecake!

The Taste: Plenty of fruit, lots of nice red berries. Firm, fresh acidity with some tannin evident but mainly smoothly integrated. Some spice. Lovely long finish of vibrant but sweetish fruit (like stewed strawberries).

The Score: Very good. Has the structure for another year or two at least... 7.5/10.  Recommended!

VFM: At £6.95 a bottle this is again, very good value at VFM = 1.08.

The Society's Australian Shiraz-Cabernet, 2009

Made by 4th and 5th generation English Ex-Pats the Potts family at the Bleasdale vineyards in Langhorne Creek, South Australia. A big one at 14.5%.

The Look: Dark plummy purple, violet rim with ruby highlights.

The Smell: Lots of berries, blackberry, blackcurrant and redcurrant, woody, spicy and meaty.

The Taste: Jammy, spicy/peppery fruit with some bitter blackberry. Shiraz dominant, the Cab is more for structure than blatant flavour. Very slightly hot and a nagging bitterness. Well integrated though.

The Score: Needs an hour to breathe. Not too bad at all 6.5/10.

VFM: At £6.95 a bottle this is very good value at VFM = 0.94.

And the whites were...

The Society's Pinot Grigio, Venezia Guilia, 2009

Classic Pinot Grigio from Friuli in North-East Italy. Matt Thompson the Kiwi Ex-Pat consulted on this...13%.

The Look: A medium pale gold.

The Smell: Honey, flowers, spice, apricot, peach, sweet and very ripe melon and some pear maybe? Quite a bit! Very aromatic!

The Taste: Unobtrusive. Very balanced, a long finish, slight minerality. Apple and pear but not a great deal of fruit. Pleasing acidity. Refreshing.

The Score: Good. Plain and simple, but good.  7/10.  

VFM: At £7.95 a bottle this is good value at VFM = 0.88.

The Society's French Dry White, 2009

A Vin Pays d'Oc from the Languedoc here and a Sauvignon Blanc dominated blend. Similarly to their other regional French wines, the blend changes from year to year.12%.

The Look: A deep lemony yellow.

The Smell: Light, airy, Sauvignon dominant with slight grassy/herby hints.

The Taste: Crisp and steely-dry. Some limey citrus, grapefruit and gooseberry. Restrained fruit; you're left expecting a bit more on the finish. Very drinkable but a slight bitterness on the finish.

The Score: A little underwhelming but by no means a duffer. Drinkable all day long...  6.5/10.  

VFM: At £5.75 a bottle this is a bargain and great value at VFM =1.13

So that was the Top Society Sellers from the Wine Society and I can see why! An excellent case overall. Great value for money. Every wine was good (6/10 or above), the majority recommended (7.5/10 or above) and all great value (the majority over VFM = 1.0).

If you're already a member then you probably already know (and love) the Society's own wines. If not then I thoroughly recommend joining. Three or four cases and you've more than made your £40 back in terms of value.

Well done to the Wine Society!

Next week we return to Laithwaites for a "Mystery Case". Basically a reduced-price lucky dip of bin ends. Always interesting to find out what's in the case, although they can be a  bit of a gamble in terms of value/quality, but, I have a fondness for them!

As always...

Speak to you soon!

Cheers!

WBFTF

The Wine Society - Part 2

Hello All!

Ok, so we're continuing with the "Top Society Sellers" case from the Wine Society. You can find Part 1 here; which had some very good (both value and quality-wise) wines. Can they keep form? Let's have a butchers...

The two whites were:

The Society's Muscadet Sur Lie, 2009

Oddly for France, Muscadet is the name of the grape (as well as the region in this case). Muscadet comes from the Loire Valley and is also known as Melon de Bourgogne. Usually a refreshing, very dry white. The "Sur Lie"  means "drawn off the lees without racking" which is essentially drawing the wine off the sediment deposits without syphoning or filtering. 12%.

The Look: Medium, lemony yellow with gold highlights.

The Smell: Very muted, doesn't give much away. Slight grapey-ness and quite minerally.

The Taste: Very fresh acidity, very lively burst of grapefruit. A certain minerality and some spice. Honeyed on the finish with a sort of  lemon/lime hint ("Quite like Sprite" - D), although remaining dry and taut. Surprisingly good. Very good!

The Score: Again, great for the price.  7.5/10.  Recommended!

VFM: At £6.50 a bottle this is great value at VFM = 1.15.

The Society's Chilean Chardonnay, Limari, 2009

From the Limari Valley - touted as one of best new World sites  for Chardonnay. Sea breeze induced cool-climate and limestone soils with little rainfall, plenty of sun and virtually no frost, breeds some superb wines. Aged on its lees (see above) and about 10% is oak-matured. This is made by the mighty Concha-Y-Toro. 14%.

The Look: A light but deeply coloured medium gold with hints of green. 
The Smell: Fig? Perfumed and floral but with some smokiness.

The Taste: Great! Mouth-pleasing acidity. Lovely complex quality (fig, sweetness, spice, cinnamon) great fruit strength. Alcohol is apparent but not overpowering; just a nice warmth.

The Score: Everything you'd want and more from a wine of this price!   7.5/10.  Recommended!

VFM: At £5.95 a bottle this is superb value at VFM = 1.26.

And the Reds...

The Society's Chianti Rufina, 2008

From Tuscany in Italy ("The Bordeaux of Italy") this Rufina comes from North of the more common Chianti Classico sub-region. Rufinas are normally "elegant and complex". 12.5%.

The Look: A fairly dark, plummy-red/purple. Brick-red on the rim and not quite opaque.

The Smell: Smells like spicy cherries, cinnamon, oaky. Almost hot initially (on a BIG sniff) but did fade away - clean, not faulty.

The Taste: In all honesty - I was dreading this. We've had some acidic-horror-Chiantis at this price before...but...WHAT a surprise - it was bearable, I might even say "mild", and delicious. Still plenty of lively acidity but integrated with lots of cherry fruit and a savoury/herby edge. A long, warming finish. Superb with meatball spaghetti. Slightly "chewy" tannins and lots of them. Slight Bordeaux resemblance with the oaky cherry. Very nice. Opened-up nicley after an hour.

The Score: Very good. Open an hour before drinking or maybe more. 7.5/10 Recommended.

VFM: At £6.95 a bottle this is great value at VFM = 1.08. Bargain.

The Society's Corbieres, 2008

This Corbieres is Carnigan dominant but has some Grenache and Syrah thrown in the mix. From the Languedoc region of France (Corbieres is its own AOC within Languedoc-Rousillon) made by producer Pierre Bories. Corbieres are normally very spicy, dark-fruited wines.14%.

The Look: Dark, opaque purple with a violet rim.

The Smell: Smells plummy, slightly smoky and some definite blackberry and raspberry.

The Taste: Some blackberry fruit and some graphite-like minerality, some spice but mainly just heat! Too hot and too harsh. The alcohol is too apparent - tongue feels like I've had a whisky!

The Score: If you're going to do 14% alcohol then it needs to be less apparent and be balanced by other things. Not horrendous but not great - bit of a let-down. 6/10

VFM: At £6.50 a bottle this is great value at VFM = 1.15.

So part 2 pretty much followed on from the first; very good wines for the price. As simple as that. For everyday drinking, you can't really go wrong. Unless there are some horrors in the last four wines (which I doubt) - this could possibly be the best value for money mixed case we've seen. 

I guess we'll find out next week!

As always...

Speak to you soon.

Cheers

WBFTF