I've found a new friend...

The title refers to my new favourite wine but firstly I should report back on the two Tesco cheapies I picked up last week. The first to be drunk was the Tesco Nero D'Avola 2008 €8-69. I didn't love the 2007 and wasn't very hopeful about the 2008. I was pleasantly surprised that it was a lot better than the previous vintage. It had some body to it, a little fruit and some decent acidity, not fantastic but OK value for the price.

Next up was the Finest Tempranillo 2009 €9-99 from the Extemadura region of Spain.I wasn't crazy about this. It tasted very New World to me, almost Shiraz like. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, but not a fruit bomb. As always, I can tolerate lots of fruit if there is some structure to back it up, alas there was none present here. Probably too much to ask for in a wine of this price.

As I mentioned in my last post I got Burgans Albarino 2009 from the out-laws and we had it with the Newlyweds on Saturday. Reaction was mixed. I though it was an decent wine for a hot day, with some nice crisp acidity but the general reaction was more... meh.

As I said at the start of this post I have a new favourite. We were having the newlyweds over for a BBQ on Saturday so I went off to O'Briens to pick a couple of reds, as usual I checked out the specials and was attracted to the Quinta Nova Douro 2008 on special at €12-95. It's made from a blend of not very well known grapes, mostly grown only in Portugal, as i understand it and they are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Cao.

This was a big wine in every way. Full bodied, lots of structure, some plummy fruit and a long finish. I'm not really doing it justice I know. It's one of those wines that when you taste it you immediately fall in love with it. I can't find a link on the O'Briens site but if you pick up a bottle you won't be disappointed, I promise.

**Update** - found a description of the wine on O'Briens blog - "It is phenomenal, packed with sweet blackberried fruit and subtle hints of spice but most of all this is smooth, very smooth; there is a lovely silken texture to it, meaning; it’s terrific with or without the food."

**Update 2** Link for the Quinta Nova on O'Briens site here.