Four Cheap screw-tops from Tesco

I found myself in Dun Laoghaire yesterday morning, so I popped into Tesco for some of their delicious houmous and maybe some vino. I have to say the selection of reds was pretty good but rather than buy some old faves I grabbed four (relative) cheapies, The Negroamaro and the SGM (?)  are new to me but the Malbec appears to be a new slant on a wine I had fallen out of like with. The Villa Maria should prove interesting, as it normally goes for north of €15, and their Sauvignon Blanc is pretty decent. 

Rawnsley Estate Shiraz Grenache Mourvedre 2012 - €9.00
Awful, cheap, and nasty. (Note: judicious use of Oxford comma) Gave it a couple of hours in the decanter and it didn't improve. Down the sink with it. Found someone else who didn't like it here.

Quindi Negroamaro 2012 - €9.00
Another "drinkable" wine - apologies for using that somewhat meaningless term again. There was a little bit a pleasant, plummy fruit and a touch of spice. Not bad value for nine europes, but probably not a runner for much more.

Trapiche Melodias Malbec 2011 - €9.00
You know, there was a more expensive Trapiche Malbec in Tesco and I should have bought it, cos I really didn't care for this melody. There was plenty of fruit but I (and Herself) found it slightly cloying. I haven't found (m)any decent Malbecs below €15 so no surprises here.

Villa Maria Malrborough Pinot Noir 2011 - €9.74
I had expected this to be the best of the four and it was, by a long way. Light bodied, but delicious with lashings of zingy raspberry fruit. If you like your NZ Pinots them go and stock up on this. It's great value as priced.

Jackpot! (or something...)

Before I relate my keen eyed bargain hunting skills I should report on the various wines from the last couple of posts...

Hopler Gruner Veltliner 2008 (€13-99) - this was OK. I'm not really a white buff but I didn't really see anything special here. Perfectly drinkable but not at this price. For the same money they had a fab New Zealand Sauv Blanc from Wingspan with lots of funky tropical fruits.

Conti Zecca Donna Marzia "Negramaro" 2008? (€11-99) - we drank this with June on Saturday night and it was the star of the night. Earthy, full bodied and delicious. Good value at this price.

Promenade Des Papes Plan de Dieu Cotes Du Rhone Villages 2007 ( €7-99 reduced from €15-99 ) This was a nice wine, pretty standard CDR flavours, maybe a little thin and acidic but fine with it. Definitely worth a try at €7-99, at €15-99, not a chance.

Paradise Hill Minervois 2006 - €9-95. Another "OK" wine. Drinkable but with none of the nice minerally flavours you might hope for - now on special for much cheaper - see below.

Now onto the Jackpot part of the post - I was down in Tesco Dundrum (apologies for another Tesco-centric post but its where I normally shop, and yes I am aware that they are a huge, faceless multinational, wilfully pummelling the farmers of Ireland and elsewhere into the ground, yadd yadda yadda...), but I digest. I felt like a Celtic Ponce de Leon, as I discovered the bargain, bin-end shelf where wine orders come to expire. (The right-hand end of the last free standing shelf at the far end of the shop - you'll know it by the yellow discount pricing labels)

Left to right what I got was...

Santa Christina Toscana 2007 (€5-17!) - This is the base wine from Antorini who run the gamut of Tuscans all the way up to the Tignanello Supertuscan. If memory serves this is a decent Chianti like red (it's not labelled Chianti) which normally goes for around 12 lids.

Tesco Finest Gerard Bertrand Tautavel 2005 (€5-07!)- I loved this last time, when it was €10-79. I have not seen this on the shelves for a while so perhaps it has been languishing somewhere out of the way.

Famiglia Terraccia Chianti Riserva 2006 - (€6-99) - I have seen this in Tesco for €13-99 - so half price here. I likes a good Chianti so here's hoping. Jane McQuitty in The Times said

Like or loathe the behemoth Tesco, it’s been onwards and upwards for their Italian wine range each and every vintage. This chianti stood out from the herd because of its mature, elegant, beefy, truffley fruit, complete with that classic spicy, violetscented, faintly bitter finish that makes chianti so beloved by generations of British drinkers. Bouquets to the Baroncini family who have been growing grapes at their San Gimignano estate in Tuscany since 1489.

Next up - who knows! Let me live a little will ya?

Experimental Wines 101

I've been reading a lot recently about Austrian wines and as I found myself in Donnybrook Fair this lunchtime, doing some more tasting for Lil Sis's wedding, I decided to avail myself of a Gruner Veltliner and a tasty "Negramaro" from Puglia.

The Gruner Veltliner I got is from Hopler, in my ignorance I don't believe I have ever had any Austrian wine so I am looking forward to this. It's not a cheap wine at €13-99, but it was recommended by Damien, DF's buyer so here's hoping.

The "Negramaro" is part of the Donna Marzia range from Conti Zecca in Puglia, the heel of Italy. I do like wines from this region, earthy reds made from Primitivo and Negro Amaro. I did taste this and while my palate was polluted with various Sauvignon Blancs and Cotes Du Rhones, I did like this (€11-99)

On a related note I spotted one of my recent favourite wines the Chateau Phelan Segur 2003 which is a gem, at €55 though it's a bit rich for my pocket.

BTW - anyone know how to do umlauts (the two dots over certain vowels in German) in Blogger?