Sainsbury's Lustau Fino Sherry

Le Tour est arriv��! Let the fun begin. The Tour de France kicked off (pedalled off?) yesterday with a new format encouraging a tighter, more assertive race.

Spain's Alejandro Valverde took the first stage, and my 'guest photographer' and chief Sherry pourer is a bit of a fan having seen him years ago cycling around Spain in the Vuelta years ago. I'm a big Sherry fan having gained a taste for it cycling across Spain.

Lustau is a big hitter in the Sherry world, and they've struck a deal with Sainsbury's to provide their 'Taste The Difference' range of Sherries. Not only does that mean great Sherry is available in the supermarket, but they also use 50cl bottles which are so much better for Sherry as the smaller bottle size means greater turnover in the fridge so fresher sherry. Hurrah.

This Fino is big and beefy, almost literally, it have that kind of Marmite style meatiness as well as a 'salt' level of Manzanilla proportions. There's bottle olive juice too, all in all a strong contender.

Look out for Valverde's bike today, he's brought along one to go with his new yellow jersey (that's confidence!), even the brake calipers are yellow.

Vina Sol - Sunny days for Valverde

This weekend Alejandro Valverde won the Dauphine Libere, in what could be a warm up for the Tour de France. What better way to celbrate than with a Torres Vina Sol 2007, Torres most successful wine in the UK.

It smelled fresh and fruity with green apple and a little spiciness. It was dry with a high yet balanced acidity. The alcohol level of 11.5% is afternoon-friendly. It tastes fruity with crisp green apple softened a little by ripe pears, melons and something just a little like cooked spicy pineapple.

It's a remarkably refreshing yet quaffable wine, reliably delivering year after year. It's generally priced between ��5.50 and ��7, and you can usually pick up a bottle (or more) at Thresher's, Tesco, Sainsbury, Majestic or any chain retailer.

Sainsbury's Fino Sherry

Making dinner at the weekend requires a glass of sherry, otherwise it's just another chore. There's usually a Manzanilla in the fridge, or a trusty Tio Pepe, but last weekend, the fridge was bare. OK, so there was food in there, but no sherry, not a drop.

I took a stroll around to the shops, and it's suprising how few sherrys are available in the average corner shop. I could find a section that looked like sherry - stuffed with large bottles saying things like Cream and Medium Sweet in big letters witha tiny little line admitting 'British fortified wine'. The best I could do was Sainsbury's own brand Fino.

It was OK, for an emergency, and allowed me to chop veggies and stir things in a reasonably relaxed state whilst listening to the commentary on the late afternoon match, but it lacked the zippy cheeriness I'd hoped for. It was cheap, it was available, and hyper-chilled it worked.

Nobilo Five Fathoms Sauvignon Blanc - Easy drinking

Nobilo was the first New Zealand wine I remember drinking. It wasn't a Sauvignon Blanc, it was 'White Cloud', a cheery combination of pedestrian grapes like Muller Thurgau and Chenin Blanc. It was really not bad at a time when Paul Masson, Blue Nun and Black Tower were still fresh memories.

It was therefore an enjoyable retro-moment to try Nobilo 2006 Five Fathoms Sauvignon Blanc which had made its way back on a ferry from France. Pastily pale yellow-green, it was fresh smelling with fresh cut grass and gooseberries. It was dry and crisp. It tasted lemony with under-ripe stone fruit, grapefruit and more grass.

This was a good midweek wine, expect to pay around £6. If the cost comes in above £7 then there's other Marlborough Sauvignons about that are worth trying.

Ghost Of A Wine

Whilst watching the fun of a teenage Halloween party going on around us I was challenged to a Halloween wine. Delivered in its costume of a silver ice jacket I weas asked to 'guess the wine'. It was tricky. It was pale with reasonably robust legs. It smelled clean, but with a very low intensity. It didn't smell of much except maybe a hint of lemon.

The quizmaster considered it a bit too cold, so that may have hidden some aroma. It was bone dry with a crisp acidity. Again there weren't too many clues as to the wines identity from the flavour. It was a little bit lemony with a slight almond bitterness.

It was Italian, and I thought, probably Tuscan. Beyond that I didn't have any inspiration. I panicked and opted for Vernaccia di San Gimignano. On reflection it lacked the body I'd expect from that, but 'guess the wine' always puts me under pressure.

It was a Sainsbury's Orvieto Classico 2006. I wasn't too far away geographically. We polished it off with an M&S fish pie as the teens recycled their Trick or Treat haul by giving their swag to Trick or Treaters as they came by.

Vina Maipo Season

Sainsbury's have Vina Maipo Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc and Vina Maipo Gran Reserva Merlot on sale again at 'half price'. It's reasonable value for a mid week wine at half price, but not at the claimed recommended retail price.

I've only ever seen the wine stocked when it's on half price offer, I'm sure one Sainsbury store somewhere sells it year round to allow the 'sale' tag. Hardy's Crest tends to use the same marketing ploy. It would be nice to see wine priced more honestly year round.

The plan is working

England’s Ashes campaign is going incredibly well. Not only have we managed to lull the Aussies into a false sense of security by fooling them into thinking they are superior in every aspect of the game, but we’ve even managed to goad them into showing off. HeHeHe, just wait ‘til we unleash Monty.

Strangely though I’ve been feeling an overwhelming urge to drink Wolf Blass. Advertising works. We had a bottle of Wolf Blass Yellow Label 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s a deep black cherry colour, with good legs. It smells of blackcurrants and mint with some gentle oak.

It tastes of blackcurrants too, with oak, plums, and menthol flavours. There’s good, soft tannins, and a warming hit of 13.5% alcohol. It lasts well in the mouth, and I suspect a bottle would last well for three or four years in a cellar (or in the cupboard under the stairs, if you don’t happen to have a cellar).

At around £7-8 this offer really good Cabernet Sauvignon character, with lots of concentrated ripe fruit. Better still, watch out for offers at Tesco and Sainsbury’s where you can often get a good deal.

I'm an aunt, give me Sherry

Sherry is often considered a drink only suited to aunts at Christmas. As an aunt, I’m always happy to be served Sherry, and would hate to have it restricted to Christmas only. There’s often a bottle of Hildalgo La Gitana Manzanilla in my fridge.

It goes wonderfully well with olives, salted nuts, and anchovy related snacks. It’s made for tapas, so pretty much goes with any tapas dish.

I tend to have a glass whilst fixing dinner at the weekend. It greatly enhances the cooking process.

If you’ve never tried Manzanilla or Fino, but enjoy very dry white wines, you’ll probably love La Gitana. If you love Harvey’s Bristol Cream or Croft Original then there’s really no hope for you, and no point in buying Manzanilla.

Expect to pay about £6-7, and you'll have a wine worth twice that - this wine is a bargain. Be sure to buy from somewhere with a quick turnover. La Gitana helpfully has a 'bottled on' date on the rear label, opt for the freshest you can find and reject anything older than 6 months.

Sancerre, raw

Last summer I cycled along the Loire and up to Sancerre. It was beautiful, stopping to stand on what passes for soil there and looking at vines as far as the eye could see. I did so in driving rain, up through the hairpins to the town of Sancerre itself. I’m a sucker for the romance of wines, standing in the vineyard, cycling past vines, feeling the sun the grapes feel, soaking up the rain as they do.

So when asked to pick a wine out of a limited selection in someone else’s fridge I immediately chose a Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Sancerre 2004. This Sainsbury’s range used to be called Sainsbury’s Classic Selection, and they went out of their way to find examples of famous wines which were absolutely typical of the appellation – handy if you want a reasonably priced benchmark.

This Sancerre was pale and bright. It smelled like wet stones, if you’ve ever bothered to stop and smell some! It had some quite zippy fruit, citrus and with just a smidge of gooseberry and herby grassiness. It’s bone dry and crisply acidic. The minerality feels really refreshing in the mouth, with the citrus flavour carrying through.

This is quite a direct wine, it’s not gentle or friendly and welcoming, it’s assertively acidic and mineral, perfect when you’re in a Sancerre frame of mind and don’t want to break the £10 barrier.

Spanish Smiles

We had a bottle of Berberana Carta de Oro Rioja Reserva 2001 this weekend. The weather’s perfect for drinking Rioja right now, if not for making it. The wine is a deep velvety purple with thick legs. It smells of rich oak, lots of vanilla with spicy fruit and some leatheriness.

It’s dry with a well integrated acidity and soft, ripe tannins. It feels full in the mouth with a warming 13% alcohol. It tastes of cooked black fruits, black cherries, leather and spicy vanilla. It’s fabulous on its own, with a DVD, with a friend, and with food.

It won a Decanter under £10 International award for being scrummy, and I awarded myself a second glass. It reminds me of warmer times cycling through Rioja vineyards, and makes me happy, what more could a person ask for from a £7-8 bottle of wine?

Campo Viejo Reserva Especial

Another bottle of Rioja, this time a Campo Viejo 2000 Reserva Especial. Especial I tell you. It’s a deep ruby with just a hint of age on the rim. It smells rich and oaky with plenty of vanilla covering some black and red fruits.

It’s dry with a balanced acidity and quite soft tannins, but it’s thinner than I’d expect with a lighter mouth feel and less intensity of fruit flavour than I tend to go for in a Rioja. It’s smooth with some sweet spiciness on the finish.

At around £8 a bottle this is reasonable value, but it’s not a landmark Rioja. I’ve had better wines from this producer, so I suspect I wouldn’t choose this 2000 offering again, but I would try another Campo Viejo.

Vina Maipo Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc

I tried a Vina Maipo Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2006. It has a cute label which tells a neat story about how the local people gather at their church to ensure protection for the vineyards. It has a raised outline of the church making for a tactile label. I wonder why they don’t use the technology to make Braille labels.

I’m twittering on about the label a lot, on the “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” principle. I’ve always preferred Mae West’s approach of “If you can’t think of anything nice to say about anybody, come and sit next to me”.

This is an ordinary wine. The ‘Gran Reserva’ tag is a little OTT, it aged more in the tanker on the way to the UK than it did at the bodega. As Sauvignon Blancs go it’s rather thin. It might make a reasonable stepping stone from bad Pinot Grigio to bad Sauvignon, before moving onto something more flavourful.

Sainsbury’s are currently offering Vina Maipo Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2006 at ‘half price’. They’re claiming the retail price is £8, but it’s on sale now for £4.

You can buy Sauvignons from New Zealand and from France which are much, much better for a fiver. £4 is the upper limit of pricing for this wine, it’s another example of scamming the customer through phoney half price deals.

More Sauvignon Blanc
Kiwi Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc
Vina Maipo Reserve 2005 Sauvignon Blanc
Reuilly "Les Bouchauds" Sauvignon Blanc
Pouilly-Fumé "Les Ferrés"
Montana Sauvignon Blanc 2005
Concha y Toro Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc
Stoneleigh’s Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2005
JP Chenet ‘Terroirs’ Sauvignon Blanc 2005

Peachy

I baked some peaches at the weekend – sliced in half, brushed with melted butter, sprinkled with soft brown sugar and baked for as long as it takes to eat dinner. They’re fabulous, and served with a little crème frais you can look like a great cook with no effort whatsoever.

I went further with my attempt to impress on a budget with a half bottle of Sainsbury’s Muscat de St Jean de Minervois. It’s a ‘vin doux naturel’, a wine made by stopping fermentation by fortification, so the wine stays sweet and grapey but comes in at around 15%.

It’s a rich amber colour, with quite a thick texture. It smells of honey and peaches (duh!) and grapes, yes, grapes, good old fashioned Muscat grapes.

It’s sweet, with a lemony acidity, which stops it being cloying, the fruity honey taste carries through and lasts well, developing a little bit of spiciness.

At £4 a half bottle this is great value, and makes it worth keeping a bottle on hand, just in case you can be bothered to make, or even defrost, dessert.

More sweet wines

Chilean Concha y Toro Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2002
Domaine Cauhape Jurancon Ballet d’Octobre 2003
Almond Grove Noble Late Harvest Riesling 2003
Inniskillin Riesling Icewine 2004

Tours of Touraine

The objective of my recent cycle trip in France was to get to Tours, specifically the tomb of St Martin. Strange but true. Fortunately mediaeval pilgrimage routes do tend to pass through rather nice wine country.

The whole region around Tours contains plenty of good Sauvignon Blanc, as well as Vouvray, but it’s a big region, and there’s plenty of vineyards in the flat fertile flood plains of the Loire. These regions produce great sweetcorn, peaches and melons but perhaps not the greatest wines.

I picked up a cheap and cheerful Touraine for under £5 this week. It was clear and bright, and very pale. It had a light fruity aroma with hints of asparagus and some fruit. It was dry and crisply acidic, with a fairly light body. The fruit was a little more gooseberry-like on the palate, but nothing special. It finished quickly.

I drank a few glasses of very similar wine in the region – it came free with lunch, which was nice, rather like a chocolate mint or an interesting amuse bouche. I suspect the Premiere Sauvignon de Touraine from Sainsbury’s comes from easy cycling areas, free from steep climbs and protected from the strength of the sun. There’s better Sauvignon Blanc around at this price, I’d opt for something from Chile if I was confined by budget, but for a couple of quid extra New Zealand and Pouilly offers a lot more for your Sauvignon Blanc pound.

Kiwi Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc
Vina Maipo Reserve Sauvignon Blanc
Reuilly "Les Bouchauds" Sauvignon Blanc
Pouilly-Fumé "Les Ferrés"
Sainsbury's Premiere Sauvignon de Touraine
Concha y Toro Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc Montana Sauvignon Blanc 2005

Albarino Rias Baixas 2005

I’m suffering from World Cup withdrawal, and am doing my best to cheer myself up with the Tour de France. With most of the big names out before the start, and my tip for glory, Alejandro Valverde, quitting after breaking his collarbone (wimp!), the field is wide open.

Today’s stage winner was Oscar Freire so it’s time for a Spanish wine - a Sainsbury’s ‘Taste The Difference’ Albarino 2005. The guys who made the wine may protest, the Galician’s don’t all see themselves as Spanish, and are campaigning for independence.

I cycled through Galicia in 2003 on the Camino de Santiago and really developed a taste for Albarino. It’s made from the same grape as Vinho Verde just over the border in Portugal, but it’s a very different wine. Galicia is a lot like Wales, both in geography and weather conditions, it rains, it’s cool and damp, and then it rains some more. This tends to result in thick skinned grapes and that in turn adds a good bit of structure and aroma. Enough of the background, I’m getting thirsty.

The wine comes in a handy screwtop bottle, it’s a pale yellow with good legs. It smells fresh and fruity. There’s a hint of nuts with lots of citrus aromas and some peach and nectarine.

It’s dry with a crisp acidity. It has a surprisingly full body for a white wine, and real depth of flavour with almonds, peaches, lemons and melons. The nuttiness builds in the mouth, making it a long and enjoyable drink. At 12.5% is smack in the middle of the alcohol range, and it’s wonderfully balanced.

This Albarino would go wonderfully well with seafood, particularly if you can get some of the fabulous seafood from Galicia, even post Prestige.

At around £6 depending on the special offers this is great value, and an excellent way to break a Chardonnay/Sauvignon/Pinot Grigio habit.

Vina Maipo Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2005

No World Cup tonight so I’ll relax with a wine from a team we’ve missed this year, Chile. Vina Maipo has been acquired by Concha y Toro, who are doing some pretty good things in Chile.

A nasty plastic closure is depressing, but the wine is clear and bright, it’s a pale yellowish green. It smells fresh, fruity and just a little of elderflower blossom. There’s gooseberries and a light spiciness.

The Vina Maipo Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2005 is very dry with a tingly crisp acidity. It has a medium body, with quite a bit of minerality coming through. There’s gooseberries, but a cat hasn’t pee’d on them, they’ve been sitting in the fridge next to a bowl of fruit salad and elderberry cordial.

The flavour lingers a little - this is good stuff for £4-5 on a special offer deal at Sainsbury’s. It’s 12.5% alcohol and has juicy fruit making it easy, budget drinking.

This is a great midweek wine, perfect with light pasta, salad, fishcakes, even a fish finger sandwich!

Kiwi Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc
Vina Maipo Reserve Sauvignon Blanc
Reuilly "Les Bouchauds" Sauvignon Blanc
Pouilly-Fumé "Les Ferrés"
Sainsbury's Premiere Sauvignon de Touraine
Concha y Toro Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc
Montana Sauvignon Blanc 2005