A Pair of Bargains or Not?

I was reading an article the other day about the state of the UK wine trade and one of the stats which still amazes me is that the average bottle price in the UK is £5.27, which once you've take the VAT and duty out of the price, the cost of the wine, bottle, shipping, labelling and retailer profit is £2.34. This to me is just amazing, the once you take out the other costs, the wine inside the bottle is costing you anywhere between 50 - 60 pence, which when you think about it is not a lot, and also makes me wonder is it any good?

So with this in mind I popped down to my local supermarket to see what they had around this price, also remembering about the articles earlier this year with regards to so called special offer wines, that aren't really that good an offer! And I found quite a few around this price from all over the world, but decided on two a Tempranillo/Grenache blend from Spain and a Petit Verdot from South Australia;

2007 Marques de Carano Gran Reserva

Having a quick scan of the back label the first bit of information you see is that this wine hails from the Carinena region in north west Spain. Carinena is one of the oldest protected DO's (Denominacion de Origen) and was created in 1932, it is also acknowledged as the source of the French Carignan grape, which is still grown in the region and is better known as Mazuelo. The other bit of useful information apart from some information about the region is that it is aged for at least 24 months in American oak. Adding in the age I was expecting quite a lot from this wine, even more so as it's original price was £10.99 but it was on a better than half price offer for £5.

In the glass it had a deep inky purple colour, with pronounced aromas of dark fruit, cherries blackberries with a touch of sweet spice namely clove and cinnamon. On the palate you got the fruit and spice coming through, unfortunately it had a large amount of bitter, green tannins which were not enjoyable and made this a very disappointing glass of wine, and one I wouldn't recommend.

2013 Wine Makers Selection Petit Verdot by Sainsbury's

Petit Verdot is not something you tend to see a lot of as a single varietal, it's mainly used in blends and originates from Bordeaux in France, the grapes for this wine come from south Australia.

In the glass it had a bright ruby red colour, with aromas of red berries, predominately cherry with a touch of graphite (pencil lead) and violet hue's coming through, these all came through on the palate and combined with plenty of soft juicy tannins. It had a refreshing acidity which bought the flavours and tannins together perfectly. Again this bottle cost me £5 and I really enjoyed it, and would definitely recommend it even more so when you consider the price.

Considering what I was looking for when I purchased these two bottles, I don't think I did too badly, yes one I wouldn't recommend and but one I definitely would!

A Trip to Spain with Tesco

The guys from Tesco Wine very generously sent me one of there Spanish Celebration cases the other week, and for the price I have to say I was rather impressed, the case was 3 reds, 1 white, 1 rose and a sparking (Cava unsurprisingly) made up with 2 of each. The wines were, in no particular order;

2008 Marques de Monistrol Vintage Cava

Made from a blend of Xarello, Macabeo and Parellada, has plenty of citrus flavours and a tart acidity, was drinkable but not my favourite and not one that I would buy.

2006 Vina Albali Gran Reserva Selección Privada 

Produced from 100% Tempranillo and is then aged in American oak for 24 months, which helps this wine develop some amazing characteristics. In the glass it had a wonderfully deep ruby/garnet colour, with very pronounced, yet delicate aromas of sweet spices and leather notes, these came through on the palate with a touch dark fruit to round it out. I have to say I thought this wine was absolutely stunning.

2005 Gran Artizan Gran Reserva Monastrell Syrah

As the name says, this is a blend of Monastrell and Syrah and has spent 18 months in oak, and another couple of years in the cellar before being released. In the glass you got a deep red/purple colour, with aromas of dark fruits and peppery spice, these all came through on the palate. There was also a good amount of acidity and quite a lot of fine tannins. Personally I don’t think it was all quite in balance with everything.

2011 Faustino Rivero Rioja Blanco

I’ve never been the biggest fan of white Rioja, but I have to say I rather impressed with this one. It loads of apples and pears both on the aroma and on the palate, plenty of nice acidity to go with the fruit, helping to make it a very enjoyable drink, definitely a better alternative to Pinot Grigio.

2011 Faustino Rivero Rioja Rosado

This wine has quite a deep (for a rose) raspberry colour, with beautiful aromas of red berries, Strawberries and Cherries, these all came through on the palate, there was also a touch of sweetness, making this an off-dry wine. Again not my favourite style of rose, but was quite an enjoyable drink, and the others all enjoyed it.

2006 Lagunilla Rioja Reserva

This Rioja is a blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha, which helps to give it great depth and complexity of flavour. In the glass it had a deep ruby colour, with quite pronounced aromas of dark fruits and plums, these all came through on the palate with a touch of spice coming through from the background. Great acidity and lovely fine tannins all go to make a beautifully balanced and complex wine that I definitely enjoyed.

I have to say I was rather impressed with this case, there were some really good wines and when you actually work out the bottle price, £5.50 each, it works out at excellent value that I'd happily recommend.

A Great Rose from California

Organic wine can be a bit of a misnomer, is their really such a thing? Many people will say, it says organic on the label so therefore it must be, but how carefully do they read the label. If they did they would see that usually in very small print, it will state that its wine made from organically grown grapes, not actually an organic wine. For it truly to be 100% organic would require the use of no chemicals at all, which reduces it shelf life considerably, due to winemakers inability to use sulphur to preserve it.

I had the fortune to be sent a bottle of Rose from the Bonterra winery in Mendocino County, California to review for the blog. I’d seen this brand around for many years on supermarket shelves, although not so much these days, but I’d never had the opportunity to taste them and this seemed the perfect opportunity.

The blend used for their Rose is that of Sangiovese, Zinfandel and Grenache which makes for an interesting drink. On pouring the wine, you had a bright Salmon pink colour with aromas of Strawberries, Raspberries, red Cherries and Elderflowers. You got all of these aromas on the palate, with a touch of peppery spice coming through in the background. To go along with these wonderful fruit flavours you got a good level of acidity, which made your mouth water, putting all these together you got a well balanced wine that worked so well.

Would i recommend this wine? Well chilled on a hot sunny day, this would be perfect for a lunch time drink that all will enjoy!

Currently this wine is available as a Valentines gift set from Tesco’s with two bars of Green and Blacks chocolate.

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc on the Cheap

Lately there seem to be a lot of offers around for one of my favourite wines, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. The amount of offers and the heavy discounting are quite unprecedented on these wines and led me to wonder if there had been an issue with the 2008 vintage.

Sainsbury’s is currently offering Oyster Bay with a third off, at a fantastic £5.99, to go alongside Makuta Bay and Nobillo which are on half price at £4.99. Sainsbury’s aren’t the only ones, Tesco’s also got Nobillo on half price, offering Wairau Cove on a similar deal, both coming in at £4.99. While at Wine Rack, you can pick up a 1.5ltr bottle of Vila Maria for £9.99, equivalent to £4.99 a bottle.

New Zealand had a bumper harvest in 2008, which made me wonder if this is what had affected prices. Decanter confirmed my suspicions. Due to 2008s abundant harvest many producers still had lots of full tanks and needed the space for this year’s harvest.

I hope the quality is of its usual high standard, but I think I need to taste a couple to be sure…any excuse! Will keep you posted!