For the next ten days, Sainsbury’s are repeating its multi-buy deal that allows a 25% discount when you buy six or more bottles. Better still, these reductions also apply to lines that already form part of its current promotions. Today, then, I am concentrating entirely on those “double discount” wines.
The offer prices shown here apply until 17 November and the even lower multi-buy prices are available, outside Scotland, if you buy a mixed or unmixed parcel of at least six wines before 8 November – note this has changed from the original date (9 November).
Click on any of the bottles shown for an enlarged image to help you pinpoint the wine on a crowded shelf.
Sauvignon in the sunshine
Even in the warmer, northern parts of South Africa’s wine growing area, attractive sauvignon blanc is still possible – especially when low yields and old vines are involved as they are here.
Green apples and a sherbet influenced tangerine undercurrent provide a classic acidic base to 2015 Taste the Difference Fairtrade Sauvignon Blanc (normally £8 but the offer price is two for £12 – or £6 a bottle in Scotland – and the multi-buy price is £4.50) while a dab of Semillon and the three months the wine spends on its lees adds extra mellowness and texture.
A Rhone grape heads south
Even more of a rarity in South Africa is Southern France’s roussanne grape – but a cooler, high altitude vineyard has used it very effectively to produce this delightful, award winning white.
Enjoy, then, the rounded and shrewdly integrated 2015 Bellingham The Bernard Series Roussanne (normally £10 but the offer price is £8 and the multi-buy price is £6) with its firm lemon and lime acidity that leads nicely into a White Rhone-style savoury depth.
A terrific luxury white
Less than a quarter of the total Chablis and Petit Chablis area has premier cru status and most of the vineyards concerned are, like this one, on the south facing side of the Serein river valley.
That area’s trademark delicacy is readily apparent in 2013 Chablis Premier Cru Mont de Milieu (normally £19 but the offer price is £17 and the multi-buy price is £12.75) with its apple and lemon freshness and the burst of lime that enhances the wine’s attractive substance with an extra notch of acidity.
The Piedmontese house red
Barbera is very much the everyday grape of Piedmont but, lovingly handled, is also capable of creating masterpiece reds – this great value versions sits somewhere between those extremes.
Soft and spicy, 2014 Taste the Difference Barbera d’Asti (normally £8 but the offer price is £6 and the multi-buy price is £4.50) gives us blackberry and cherry fruit with a twist or two of cloves and vanilla and firm acidity to underpin it all.
Bordeaux under the Andes
The mighty Errazuriz team is behind this 3:1 cabernet: merlot blend from the Maipo valley – often described as the Bordeaux of South America.
Seek out then the herby and minty 2013 Taste the Difference Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (normally £8 but the offer price is £6.50 and the multi-buy price is £4.87) with its cherry and blackcurrant fruit neatly supported by vanilla and other spices.
And so to sparkle and opulence
For a touch of luxury, though, treat yourself to the 70% chardonnay blend in a vintage champagne made by the hugely talented Sandrine Logette-Jardin of Duval Leroy.
2007 Taste the Difference Vintage Champagne (normally £25 but the offer price is £20 and the multi-buy price is £15) has excellent poise and structure and centres around apple and lemon flavours given zest and vibrancy by sure-footed acidic balance.
Best of the rest
Other wines I have enjoyed and can recommend appear below. All are already on promotion but only the multi buy price (with the already stated conditions) is shown; to find the offer price, simply add a third.
- 2014 Brancott Sauvignon Gris (£5.06 when multi buy conditions apply))
- 2014 L’Avenir Pinotage (£4.50 when multi buy conditions apply)
- 2011 Mayu Shiraz Reserva (£6.37 when multi buy conditions apply)
- 2012 Georges Duboeuf Brouilly (£5.25 when multi buy conditions apply)
