#supermarket

Dec 13, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Chateau Musar 2003, Bekaa Valley, Lebanon

£27.99 (£24.99 in a 6-bottle mix), Majestic; £27.99, Waitrose I'm as guilty as anyone of being seduced by new and unusual wines, overlooking old favourites in the process, especially when the new wines come with heart-warming back stories. So it was good to be reminded recently why I fell in love with Musar way back: the 2003 stood out like a beacon in a tasting of wines from all corners of the world. As it happens, of course, Chateau Musar came along with a very human story

Nov 16, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Thymiopoulos Atma Xinomavro 2017, Macedonia, Greece

£11.99, Waitrose and waitrosecellar.com If you know that Xinomavro translates as 'acid black' you might be surprised to see the declaration 'smooth and fruity' on this label. You might also think that a wine with a description sounding more like a mass-market Merlot is not for you. Hold on! Atma means soul and the winemaker is Apostolos Thymiopoulos, a master of the Xinomavro grape and creator of the modern, approachable style – a style retaining the character of the grape va

Nov 1, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Finest Chardonnay Valle del Limari 2017, Chile

£10, but £8 on current offer, Tesco A new wine from a single vineyard, Lachica, in the Limari Valley, one of Chile’s most northerly wine regions. It's relatively close to the sea and has a dry, fairly cool climate – all good for wine growing – but even more critically it has some of Chile's rare limestone soils, which Chardonnay loves (think white Burgundy). The limestone influence shows in the characteristic mineral freshness. This wine, made by Marcelo Papa of Concha y Toro

Oct 4, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Ken Forrester Workhorse Chenin Blanc 2017, Stellenbosch, South Africa

£8, Marks & Spencer I don't know whether this has been getting better with each vintage or whether I'd forgotten what great value it is. Probably it's both, but either way you get a lot of quality and Cape Chenin character for a modest outlay (and if you're having a party, see below for quantity discounts). The vines are 30 years old, mature enough to give textbook Chenin flavours – straw-like nuttiness, dried flowers, fresh peach, apple and crisp citrus – and they're bound t

Sep 13, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Famille Bougrier La Grande Réserve Touraine Chenonceaux 2017, Loire, France

£11.99, in any 6-bottle mix, Majestic Touraine Chenonceaux is a small appellation on the River Cher east of Tours, created as recently as 2011. (What took them so long? The splendid Château de Chenonceau has been spanning the river there since the sixteenth century.) The white wines are made from Sauvignon Blanc and have some of the green fruit and bite of Sancerre (about 150k upstream on the Loire) but wrapped in more succulent, tropical fruit, which makes them a good bridge

Sep 6, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Taste the Difference Saint-Chinian Syrah Grenache 2016, Saint-Chinian, France

£9 (or £8 on offer), Sainsbury's This is the new vintage of a generous, warm-hearted red blend that's one of the best wines in Sainsbury's range in terms of quality-price ratio (especially on offer at £8 online and in most stores). Syrah and Grenache provide the blackberry and blackcurrant fruit, peppery spice and aromatic herbal notes of the garrigue, while partial ageing in French oak barrels rounds it out with subtle toasty notes. It's a winner with lamb – braised shanks,

Aug 30, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Château de Cruzeau Blanc 2015, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France

£17.99, Waitrose It may seem unlikely that any sort of Bordeaux wine is underrated or not as well known as it should be, but white Bordeaux, whether dry, elegant and complex like this or lusciously sweet and intense like Sauternes, is neglected by great swathes of wine drinkers. There are signs – just – that the dry whites are starting to pick up speed, but there's plenty of room for more, so here's a wine to convert people. It's made entirely from Sauvignon Blanc, giving th

Aug 9, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Zalze Shiraz Mourvèdre Viognier 2016, Western Cape, South Africa

£6 on offer, Morrisons and Asda A richly fruity, spicy red that's a good buy even when not on offer but is a bargain at the offer prices (scroll to the bottom for more offers and stockists). It's a wine that really shows off the virtues of blending. The Shiraz at its heart drenches it in aromas and flavours of sun-warmed blackberries, ripe red fruits and spice, Mourvèdre (15%) adds complexity with darker, more savoury flavours of Mediterranean herbs, spice, wet earth, roast g

Jun 28, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Haut les Mains 2017, Pays d'Oc, Languedoc, France

£6.49, Waitrose and waitrosecellar.com An aromatic dry white from the south of France with the freshness and lusciousness of a perfectly ripe, juicy peach. The components, in descending order, are Viognier, Chardonnay, Vermentino, Mauzac, Muscat and Roussanne, which sounds like a kitchen-sink blend but the wine is far too seamless to be a chance creation or an assembly of leftovers (random and leftovers aren’t producer Benoit Valérie Calvet’s style anyway). It’s unoaked and m

May 30, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Paolo Leo Primitivo di Manduria 2016, Puglia, Italy

£8.24 on offer, Waitrose and Ocado I originally chose a new Argentine Malbec for this week, Tabu 2016 made by Luigi Bosca (fragrant, briary, lightly oaked, £11.99, Waitrose), but this Primitivo, a perennial favourite and a great barbecue wine, is temptingly on offer, down from £10.99 until 12 June when you buy any 6 bottles. Genetically, Primitivo, which originated in Croatia, is the same as California's Zinfandel, but at home in Puglia in southern Italy, way down in the heel

May 3, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Taste the Difference CVNE Rioja Gran Reserva 2011, Rioja, Spain

£12 (on offer), Sainsbury's Textbook Gran Reserva from CVNE, one of Rioja's most admired bodegas. Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España (you can see why it's known as CVNE, pronounced 'coonay') has long since perfected a style that blends modernity with the best of classical approaches: in this case, combining ripe, dark fruit with two years' ageing in French and American oak barrels followed by three years in bottle. The result is a balance of sweet, velvety fruit with cream

Mar 29, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Arthur Metz Crémant d’Alsace Brut 2015, Alsace, France

£14.99, Ocado One taste of this and you understand why Crémant d’Alsace is the most popular sparkling wine in France (aside from Champagne) and why the French keep nine out of every ten bottles for themselves. It’s dreamily fresh, rounded and floral with delicate honeysuckle, peach, ginger and citrus flavours and a breezy grapefruit-zest finish. It’s made in the same way as Champagne, which means the bubbles are created in the bottle during a second fermentation and the wine

Mar 23, 2018

12 of the best from Aldi

Aldi's wines are cheap, as you would expect, but they're bought with care. These are a dozen that stood out at a recent press tasting. Overall, the whites were better than the reds, or at least I preferred them. There's a tendency for the reds to be a bit sweet and/or oaky. Generally, I reckon it's harder to buy whites of any interest at the bottom end than it is to get reds, so buyers Mike James and David Elliott are bucking the trend. The two sparkling wines are both very g

Mar 22, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Lot Series Te Haupapa Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017, New Zealand

£8.99, Aldi The Lot Series wines are smaller parcels of more expensive bottles – more expensive by Aldi's standards, but not by Central Otago or Pinot Noir standards. Cheap or not, it's smooth, light-bodied and lively and brimming with fragrant, cherry and plum fruit, sappy orange-peel freshness and a dash of spicy oak. You can drink it without food, but it goes with fish such as salmon or red mullet, simply roast quail or chicken, charcuterie, savoury tarts or other light me

Feb 15, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Telmo Rodríguez Mountain Blanco 2013, Sierras de Málaga, Spain

£17.95, Ocado Here’s as fine a demonstration as you’ll get that there’s more to Málaga than sweet wine. Sierras de Málaga is the DO (denomination/appellation) for dry white Moscatel wine and this glorious example, from old, mountain vineyards, comes via Telmo Rodríguez, the pioneering producer who has brought Málaga’s forgotten vineyards and wines back to life (and those of other parts of Spain). It’s a wine of wonderful purity, succulence and intensity, with spicy, herby, fl

Feb 8, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: Le Grand Prébois Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Quatres Terrroirs 2016, Rhône, France

£17.99, Waitrose Knowing that a lot of wine drinkers raid their wine racks for Châteauneuf-du-Pape over Christmas, I’ve found a cockle-warming offer to replenish stocks. It comes from the cellars of one of the leading producers, the Perrin family, who are renowned for Château de Beaucastel, one of the most sought-after of Châteauneufs. Le Grand Prébois Les Quatres Terroirs is a typical Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah blend, but the grapes come from all four of the different Châtea

Jan 29, 2018

Sauvignon catch-up

My Festive White Wine Guide last month was light on Sauvignon Blanc, so I’m putting that right with 8 recommendations here, in a variety of styles and at a variety of prices, and with this week's Wine of the Week. Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2017, Adelaide Hills, Australia Light and sprightly with lemon and pink-grapefruit flavours flecked with pear and white peach, delicate mid-palate texture and racy, refreshing acidity. Ideal for people who don’t like grassy green or pung

Jan 25, 2018

WINE OF THE WEEK: De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc 2017, Durbanville, South Africa

£8.99, on offer until 20 February, Waitrose and Ocado The weather in London is looking a bit more Sauvignon Blanc-friendly than it has been recently, but this isn't a bracingly sharp, cold-shower kind of Sauvignon anyway. It's certainly not short on zing and vibrancy, but ageing the newly fermented wine on its lees (yeasty residues) has added a delicate creaminess to the juicy white peach, apricot and grassy pea-shoot flavours. It's only then that the palate dives headlong in

Dec 21, 2017

WINE OF THE WEEK: *finest Greco Beneventano 2016, Campania, Italy

£8 until 1 January, Tesco Since I included this southern Italian in my Festive White Wine Guide last week, I've discovered that it's on offer, down from £9, until January 1, making it an even better buy. It's also in a large number of stores (864), so it's a useful wine to have on your list in the frantic run-up to Christmas and the quiet days before New Year (and the Tesco *finest label can be peeled off). The wine itself is crisp, dry and unoaked and should pass muster with

Dec 20, 2017

The Festive Sweet, Sticky and Fortified Guide

Sweet and fortified wines come into their own at this time of year – for entertaining, sipping quietly and contemplatively, or giving as presents. With the exception of pale dry sherries and tawny ports, most can be kept several years (in cellar conditions). Fortifieds, in particular, are also often bargains. So here are my picks for this year, going from dry to sweet and/or fresher, lighter to richer, heavier (rather than in ascending order of price, as with my other Festiv