Supermarket sweep: Waitrose
In a regular feature, I travel to a major UK supermarket or retailer to find three bottles for no more than £30, ideally at the £8, £10 and £12 price-points, aiming to show the breadth and depth of wines on offer on the high-street which offer exceptional drinking and tremendous value.
Waitrose
I must first declare an interest: I have long considered Waitrose’s wine selection outstanding. I know when I go into a branch that if I want a decent Pinot Noir, I’m going to find one. If I want something a bit more esoteric, like a recent desire for a 40-year-old Tawny Port, they’ve also got my back. I am continually impressed by their wine buyers’ selections and there is often a discount to be had if you buy six bottles, so it seemed obvious that for my fledgling little blog I should start in what is a ‘safe space’ for me.
The supermarket sweep selection:
£8 Waitrose Vina Taboexa Albariño 2019, Spain - £8.79
£10 Cune Barrel-Fermented Rioja Bianco 2018, Spain - £8.79 (down from £10.99)
£12 No.1 Piccini Chianti Classico Riserva 2014, Italy - £11.99 (down from £15.99)
Total spend: £29.57
Overall I was particularly impressed with the quality of both of the wines that Waitrose had put their name to, the Albariño offering something completely different for under £9, full of freshness and flavour, and a stonking Chianti Classico 2014 which is an outrageous bargain for under £12. Had I wanted to buy bottles in the £6 to £8 band then I have no doubt I’d have found some decent wines, whilst Waitrose’s offering between £12 and £20 is as impressive as it is diverse and probably best of all the major supermarkets.
Verdict: Their fancy grocery offerings and Heston Blumenthal tie-ins might not be for anyone on a budget, but if you have a tenner to spend on a bottle for dinner then you’re unlikely to go far wrong with their wines. In fact, you might be so impressed you end up becoming a regular.
A reminder of the Sour Grapes rating system, where a 1 is a good value wine can be read here
Waitrose Vina Taboexa Albariño 2019, Spain - £8.79
Colour: Pale lemon
Nose: A really vibrant nose of yuzu lemon, nectarine, blossom, honeydew melon, green apple, peach and kiwi fruit. Touches of wet stone minerality and lemon thyme, too.
Palate: There is a really elegant mouthfeel to this Spanish white wine, it feels more substantial than the price-tag suggests, with apple, lemon and ripe peach coming to the fore. The minerality and finishing salinity keep the body balanced excellently. This is a fantastic wine for the price, and I’d urge readers to see the ‘own brand’ label as a mark of quality rather than an albatross around this very good Albariño’s neck.
Cune Barrel-Fermented Rioja Bianco 2018, Spain - £8.79
The lesser-spotted white Rioja is absolutely worth a try if you can find it, with the region in the North of Spain having all the meteorological ingredients to make complex but balanced white wines.
Colour: Pale lemon gold
Nose: Light Fino sherry and rich pear notes, almost pear drop-like. There is beeswax, acacia, Mediterranean scrub, orange and grapefruit peel. Light toast from the oak and a whiff of Jasmine make for an inviting bouquet.
Palate: For all its myriad of notes on the nose, this is elegant and clean on the palate. Beeswax, acacia and bitter peel come through, but there is hidden salinity, too. The finish is mouth-watering with a toasty note. Recommended with food or as an aperitif.
No.1 Piccini Chianti Classico Riserva 2014 - £11.99
Top tip – when you buy Chianti, always plump for Chianti Classico if you can. The zone was introduced to maintain the quality of the Chianti name and to placate older estates which had suffered from wineries in surrounding areas also being allowed to sell their poorer-quality wines under the ‘Chianti’ banner too.
Colour: Medium ruby with a garnet edge
Nose: Crushed raspberries, red-currants and blackcurrants, red plums and a touch of damson. There is also red cherry, sage, lavender and rosemary with a touch of cinnamon, all of which lends the wine a lovely complex and savoury note, like ambling over Italian hillsides on a hot day. A hint of balsamic vinegar and sweet liquorice complete a lovely perfume.
Palate: This Chianti has a voluptuous mouthfeel, with cashmere-soft tannins, which means that you don’t get an overly grippy, dying sensation on the gums. There is plenty of freshness from the fruit despite the wine’s age, with black and red currants, damson and black plum, but it is the savoury notes which take over, with delicious sage, lavender and menthol plus white pepper. The finish is long with plenty of acidity. This is a brilliant wine offering tremendous value: a well-rounded and complex Chianti Classico with good bottle age for under £12 – quite remarkable and a must buy before it shoots back up to £15.99!