£4-5
Here we are back with our latest venture into supermarket wines. Friends of the Wine Rambler will know that every so often I visit British supermarkets and explore what they have to offer in the cheap price range. So far the likes of Blue Nun and Liebfraumilch have been very disappointing - but here comes an Australian Riesling, from ASDA, that is actually quite drinkable. [read the full post...]
After all this recent writing about German wine guides, we go back to the infamous category of (British) supermarket wine - only to get seriously confused. Really, this wine is probably the most confusing tasting experience in a long while.
Gewürztraminer is a grape that I mostly know in a French context (Alsace), also from Germany and perhaps Italy. So I was quite pleased to see a reasonably priced Traminer at Sainsburys yesterday - and it is from Cono Sur, a winery that has been quite pleasant in a supermarket context. [read the full post...]
This is our second wine from the supermarket wine category. After the Liebfraumilch, it only could get better. And it did. At first, I was not really impressed. Drinkable, but not too much in the nose or mouth, apart from a little lemon. With a little bit of air, this wine did improve a lot. [read the full post...]
Intense cherry-red colour with a rich bouquet and very pleasant on the palate. Lots of cherry and some strawberry with smoky pepper notes. Smooth, very drinkable and fruity, it is pleasant without feeling industrial or oaked to death.
A wine that will appeal to the beginner as well as the Pinot lover, even though the latter might miss some complexity. The Cono Sur unleashes its full potential pretty much the second you open the bottle - trying it again a couple of hours later did not add anything to the experience. This is a wine that can and should be drunk now.
Certainly the best red wine I have seen in a UK supermarket below £8.
Recently I have been quite lucky in UK restaurants with Muscadets and the occasional Muscat (okay, the name is the only similarity, but still), so I gave this one a go. Sainsbury recommended it as one of the top 10 summer wines - at least in terms of popularity.
And I have to say that this Australian deserves it. Nice, clean and clear, very fresh, a lemony core, smoothed out with peach. Easy to drink and the high alcohol is not really noticeable. Some similarities to a Riesling, but less acid and no mineral - which makes this one a nice fish companion. The best British supermarket wine so far.