Supermarket Sweeps - Six for £60 - Waitrose Part 1

Hello All,

 

Welcome to the third installment of my look at the supermarket shelves for value wines, this time the fantastic wine section of Waitrose. We popped to the local Waitrose in Malvern and as luck would have it, caught the end of the 25% off sale. There was a great range of wines, but we found that the most interesting stuff was between about £10 and £15 quid, so although not technically sticking to the £60 mark, we weren't far off; 6 bottles for £62.44 before discount but £46.83 after!!! And that's what it's all about, catching the bargains while you can, so I won't apologise too much. We also picked up some Champagne for Christmas - it would have been rude not to! Keep an eye out for their 25% off offers which happen every couple of months.

So, on to the wines. Reds first...


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Stonier, Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula, 2009

£12.99 before discount (£9.74 after). From the much-lauded Mornington Peninsula, a very cool climate region of Victoria in Australia where the proximity of the ocean cools the vines. I've been wanting to try this for quite a while so it was a good find. 13%

The Look: A dark ruby core with strawberry red and lipstick highlights.

The Smell: Cherry, black fruit, strawberry, spice and some leathery complexity.

The Taste: Very bright acidity, fresh red fruit, cherry and raspberry. Smooth tannins with some grippy feeling on the aftertaste. Very nice. High acidity will help it age well.

The Score: Probably not everybody's cup of tea given the cool-climate acidity, but a good wine nonetheless. I liked it. 7.5/10. Recommended

VFM: At £9.74 after discount, this is decent value; VFM = 0.77

Vidal, Syrah, Gimblett Gravels, 2008

£11.99 before discount (£8.99 after). From the, again, much-lauded Gimblett Gravels area of Hawkes Bay on New Zealand's North Island. Famous for it's spicy Syrah but lots of Cabernet & Merlot blends do well on the stony soil  there too. 13%

The Look: An intense, dark, plummy black/purple.

The Smell: Intense nose of black pepper, blackberry, ripe plum and other dark fruits. Some violets.

The Taste: Awesome. Much like the nose, peppery black fruits, blackberry and plum etc, pleasing acidity, some tannic grip with a long finish. This rivals Craggy Range and Trinity Hill Syrahs costing about £6 or £7 more!

The Score: Intense flavour bomb of cracked black pepper and dark fruit. Well worth it. 8.5/10. Highly Recommended

VFM: At £8.99 after discount, this is a serious bargain. Great flavour intensity for the price. VFM = 0.95

E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone, 2007

£9.99 before discount (£7.49 after). We had the 2009 from Majestic not that long ago and really enjoyed it so it was interesting to find this one with a few more bottle-years behind it. 2007 was a superb year in the Rhone so this held much promise.  14%

The Look: Mid-purple, translucent, to a strawberry rim.

The Smell: Black cherry, plum, spice, gentle vanilla oak and developed raspberry and blackberry too.

The Taste: Delicious. Spicy plum and dark fruits, lovely vanilla notes with smooth integrated tannins. Plenty of acidity keeps it fresh and there's plenty of fruit. A good life ahead of it yet, easily keeping for another 3-5 years, if not more. 

The Score: Great, and plenty of ageing left in it which is nice to see at this price. 8/10. Highly Recommended

VFM: At £7.49 you can't go wrong, this is a bargain.  VFM = 1.07

Wow. What a start from Waitrose. Three very nice wines indeed. Yes, they're a little pricier than the Tesco ones, or even some of the Co-op ones, but after 25% off they really are competitive. I'd gladly drink these three again on a regular basis.

Waitrose might just pip the Co-op? We'll see next time with the whites. Until then...

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

Tesco Delicious Dozen Part 2...(& semi-blind tasting)

Welcome to the second part of the Tesco "Delicious Dozen" review. If you're not familiar with the Blog then please see my other posts over to the right and down a bit in the Blog Archive, and read my welcome notice here: 

Ok, so these were again served up blind, without me seeing the bottles. We had the two whites first this week:

Abbot's Vale Chardonnay-Viognier, Yarra Valley, 2008

Made by Kate Goodman of Punt Road winery in the Yarra Valley. This is cool-climate Victoria (this winery also makes a lovely Punt Road 2005 Shiraz which is maturing nicely now). 13% alcohol.

The Look: A pale, medium yellow

The Smell: Quite restrained, but subtle hints of apple and mellon. D says "water mellon".

The Taste: Wow. The first thing you notice is the texture - like silk, or a glass of cream. So smooth. Oppulent apples, mellon, cream and peaches. Beautiful. Very drinkable

The Score: This really is very good. I'd never have expected a £5 bottle to be so good. 8/10 Highly Recommended.

VFM: at the case price of £5 a bottle it gets an excellent VFM = 1.6, At its regular price of £10 it still gets a pretty good VFM =  0.8. Snap it up while it's still a Fiver! Seriously, get some - I will be getting more...

 

Domaine Baillard, Chablis, 2008

An AOC Chablis produced by Jean Claude Fromont.12.5% alcohol

The Look: Again a pale medium yellow, lighter than expected.

The Smell: Apples, tropical fruit and maybe a bit toasty.

The Taste: Beatiful, good fresh acidity, lots of fruit with apple, pineapple, tropical fruits but with a steely-dry minerality. A long finish - you can taste this for a ges after swallowing.

The Score: Very well balanced. Very good 7.5/10 Recommended

VFM: at the case price of £5 a bottle it gets an excellent VFM = 1.5, but the true bottle price is £13, giving a modest VFM =  0.58. Definitely one to look for in a mixed case at reduced price, but good nonetheless!

Jacktone Ranch, Petit Sirah, California, 2008

Produced at an old mid-19th century horse breeding farm, who were the first to plant vines in the San Joaquin valley. Petit Sirah is also known as Durif. 14% alcohol.

The Look: A very dark, deep purple turning to violet at the rim.

The Smell: Strong smell of blackcurrants/Cassis with some spice and pepper, maybe some sweetish vanilla.

The Taste: Much the same as the above! Lovely spicy blackcurrants. Alcohol is slightly overdone leaving a burning sensation on the tongue. Not much complexity.

The Score: A decent fruity drop for the price. 6.5/10 

VFM: at the case price of £5 a bottle it gets a very good VFM = 1.3, but I'm not sure what the regular price is as it seems to be out of stock now.

 

Left Bank, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux AOC, 2007

Modest Bordeaux AOC here, and 2007 was a particularly un-ripe year so not expecting big things...

The Look: To be honest I didn't make a note because...

The Smell: ...Phoo, that's not right. Musty and sour.

The Taste:  Horrible musty, sour, cardboard and mouse pee (or what I imagine that would taste like). Corked.

The Score: Probably one of the worst cork-taints we've had. 1/10 It's a shame, it could have been good but we'll never know.

VFM: Not applicable. I guess we were due a corked wine - they say 1 in 12 bottles are corked or otherwise tainted and we've had a good run lately. Oh well, such is life. If this was the Laithwaites case I'd get a full refund, although with Tesco, I'm not so sure?

 

Okey doke, so there's part 2 of the tesco case done. Next time around part 3 of the Laithwaites case, the final four whites. There will be one more part to the Tesco case and then we'll be looking for some new cases! We have an Oddbins tasting coming up soon, so if we're impressed we may go there (they offer 20% off mixed cases and your tasting ticket price back). Also, I've received a £40 off Virgin Wines voucher, so I really should take advantage of that in the pursuit of oenological frugality!

 

 

Semi-blind tasting continues...

So as I've said in  previous posts, I'm trying to develop my blind tasting skills. D serves them up at random, with bottles hidden from view and I have to guess at the 

• Grape type
• Country or Region
• Year
• Alcohol level

So, here are my notes, transcribed directly from my note book:

Wine #1:

Pale medium yellow. Sticky. 13.5%? Beautiful texture - like cream! Restrained nose, maybe mellon and apple. oppulent and smooth. Peaches, just off-dry. Chardonnay? Smoothness could be Viognier? Great. Oak aged I think, 2007. White Burgundy, good quality.

The guess: Chardonnay, probably very good quality white Burgundy, 2007, 13.5%

The reveal: Australian Chardonnay-Viognier, 2008, 13%! I picked up the Chardonnay but dismissed the Viognier. Silly boy. NOTE TO SELF: The smoothness comes from Viognier and so does the Mellony flavour. White Burgundy is more of a "pee-like" yellow, for want of a better expression!

 

Wine #2:

Pale medium yellow again! 13%, not so sticky. Smells of apple, tropical and toasty. Good acidity, fresh, balanced, smooth, steely dry. Minerally. Apples, tropical fruits, pinapple. Long finish. Good Chardonnay? 2008. Yes.

The guess: Chablis. 2008. 13%.

The reveal: Chablis! 2008! 12.5%! Oh God-Damnit, so, so close! NOTE TO SELF: Ok clever-cloggs, so you can pick out Chablis occasionally.

 

Wine #3:

A very deep dark purple with violet rim. Quite sticky, 14%? Strong blackcurrant/cassis smell. Cab Sauv? Spicy though, spicy like Shiraz! Taste is spicy blackcurrant, pepper. Alcohol is overpowering. Slight burn. This is new world due to power and colour. A bit of oak so maybe 2 year old, 2008? Blackcurrant and oak has to be Cab Sauv? USA?

The guess: USA Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008, 14%

The reveal: Bloody Petit-Sirah (i.e. Durif)!. California.2008. Hmmm, thrown by this one! It was too spicy for Cab Sauv but too blackcurranty for Shiraz, although it had the deep colour that could have been either. Label says "Blackcurrant and oak" so got that right but, NOTE TO SELF: Recognise this for the future. You've had Durif before and should know it!

 

Wine #4:

Uch! Corked! Sour, musty cardboard and mouse piss!

The guess: N/A

The reveal: N/A

So, not too bad on the whites. Bit of a non-event on the reds this time around. Looking forward to the next wines, which will be the remaining four whites from Laithwaites -all blind!

Speak to you soon!

Cheers.

WBFTF