Tesco Christmas '06 Wine Selection

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Tesco Christmas '06 Wine Selection

From: Mark
Category: Wine
Date: 15/11/2006
Time: 18:56:08

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Okay, so you shop at Tesco's. I won't hold it against you. Much. Having said that sometimes you are left with little choice. So if you shop at Tescos then take a look at the selection below. You could do worse than printing this off and making your trip to Tessa Cohen's place.

One word of caution though. The selection below is drawn from the store and online (both the home delivery and wine club). Where I have stated 'wine club' then they can only be ordered online as a separate delivery to your home grocery delivery. Otherwise it is available in store or via standard home/store delivery online.

White

Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2005, New Zealand £7.98
Okay, so we have quaffed oodles of Kiwi Sauvignon...and we still want more! In the 90s it was Cloudy Bay, last year it was Jackson Estate. This year we recognise the stoic success of one of NZs larger producers, Villa Maria with an absolute classic. This has more gooseberry, more grapefruit, more tropical fruit more of everything that makes Kiwi's great. Villa Maria has moved this wine from just good to truly excellent.

Pazo de Serantellos Albarino (Adega Condes de Albarei) 2005 Spain £7.00 (wine club)
Spain's 'great white hope'. Like France's Viognier, Austria's Gruner Veltliner the Albarino grape has been 're-discovered'. Super high quality and capable of Chardonnay-knocking flavours. At this price it should be the 'one to help you cook Christmas lunch'. Packed full of vanilla scented citrus and apricot flavours. Bone dry, bracingly refreshing yet also rich and tropical. Great with a wide range of dishes from fresh, simply streamed fish through to more spicy Asian dishes.

Montagny Vieilles Vignes (Blason de Bourgogne) 2005, Burgundy, France £11.98
I tried this earlier this year whilst taking a summer break in Cornwall and was immediately impressed by its elegance. This has a great purity of fruit with a ripe richness to the yellow plum, melon and lemon-zest. This is backed up by some chalky minerality on the palate. Excellent length and balance. What good, moderately priced Burgundy should all be about. keep an eye out for it on special.

Montes Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2005, Chile £6.80
Outside the world of French and Kiwi Sauvignon Chile takes the Bronze. However this wine is anything but a runner-up. Somewhere mid-way between a cool, grassy, herbal, mineral Sancerre and a gooseberry, passsionfruit-laden Kiwi sauvignon. A solid performer in its own right I think and very inviting at the price.

Tim Adams Semillon, Clare Valley, Australia £6.40 (wine club)
Clare valley is a 'cool' adjunct to the hotter Barossa. This needs a bit of age and demonstrates the quality but also the need to let this grape age and develop its alluring secondary characteristics. Lashings of lemon and greengage sorbet, real concentration but with a creamy, toasty hint - which will come to the fore with age.

Peter Lehmann Semillon, Barossa, Australia 2003 £3.74
I find alot of Semillon wines a bit hit or miss. Its wines often exhibit a bit of hollowness in the middle of the tasting experience. This can be often 'cured' or filled by either bottle ageing, use of oak or the mouth coating qualities of 'noble rot' and sugar - both present in such great as Sauternes. However when it young, unoaked and unmodified by sugar/noble rot then it often disappoints. But this is a great value lemon-citric wine with a full, soft, round palate that is not hollow. For this price its a steal.

Red

Tim Adams The Fergus, Clare Valley, Australia 2004 £9.49
Tesco's have done themselves a favour stocking several Tim Adam's wines. This is no exception, as is the Clare Valley Shiraz (£9.49) that I would also recommend if this one is not in stock. As the story goes: "first made in 1993, this was named after a wine-growing neighbour of Tim Adams’s called Fergus Mahon, who helped him out by selling him some Grenache when his own Shiraz had been all but wiped out by a freak hailstorm." This area, north of Adelaide is an ideal climate that brings out the best in this grape. This wine has an intensity and power matched to an unexpected elegance (like an iron fist in velvet glove). Flavours of redcurrant, raspberry, cherry, mace, cinnamon and some pencil shavings.

Penfold's Bin 28, Kalimna Shiraz 2003 South Australia £10.00
Kalimna fruit used to (it might still be in small quantities) go into the legendary Penfold's Grange (£130-200 a bottle). This wine demonstrates why Penfolds sets itself apart from the other larger operators in terms of quality and style at all levels. I would never be embarrassed turning up to a dinner with a bottle of Penfolds. They deserve more recognition than ever. This example has brooding dark fruits with real concentration and potential complexity as it ages.

Louis Jadot Combe aux Jacques, Beaujolais-Villages, France 2005 £6.98
I love the lip-smacking raspberry and banana fruit of a good Beaujolais. At its best it is like a pretty girl frowning. This is from the super-ripe 2005 vintage so it demonstrates very deep colour, great depth and richness but with an amazing purity of raspberry fruit. A wonderful example from a top Burgundian negociant.

Amarone Della Valpolicella, Cantina di Soave, Vento, Italy £9.99
Forget normal Valpol - this is the Rolls Royce version. Think of it rather like a dry vintage port (but at about 15% / 16% alcohol) that has not been fortified with additional spirit. Use it for massively rich dishes, game, especially venison...or after dinner with cheese. It is made with in a uniquely traditional way, in small quantities, with classic Valpolicella grapes left to dry and shrivel on straw matts up in the eaves of the wine loggias until Christmas when these dense, raisined grapes are pressed to yield a viscous dark juice. Packed full of funky morello cherry flavours. Whilst this is not the best version available it has a degree of typicity and is well priced for a wine style that usually inhabits the £15-£30 range.

Kanonkop Pinotage, South Africa 2003 £16.00 (wine club)
I love this wine. Its a pure Cult Wine. Had a bottle (different vintage) the night before my wedding. Made with stressed old vines (40 years +) that give low yields and massive amounts of concentration. This is arguably the finest pinotage you can buy. 2003 was heralded as one of the best years in past two decades. Drink now or cellar and watch it develop. Don't leave it too long though!

Mas La Plana, Miguel Torres 2001 Catalonia, Spain £20.90 (wine club)
If you felt like really, really spoiling yourself this year or forsaking a bottle of Champagne or Port then please, please try this wine. A bit of a cult, consistently fine and truly one of my favourites. This cabernet sauvignon has perfect balance, truly well crafted, expertly judged oak aging, top quality fruit and demonstrates dark cherry, cassis, cedar backed with fine-grained tannins. Simply heaven in a glass. But don't expect to be overwealmed - this is elegance and balance incarnate. Only for those with taste-buds!

Sparkling

Montana Lindauer Brut NV £8.00
Once again, ditch the expensive 'cheap' Champagne for 'volume' guests and opt for a back-on-form Lindauer Brut. Pass by the more expensive 'Select' and plug for the standard 'house'. Honey, toasty nose with lemon 'pips'. Nice, weighty palate with good length.

Piper Heidsieck Brut NV £20
If you want to drink some of the best NV Champagne then make a bee-line for the earthy, creamy, nutty, toasty Pinot-dominated wine from Piper H. Classy stuff and now truly back on form.