Most of us have clear and long standing ideas about particular wines.
Although those ideas are just that – individual opinions – we often consider them to be “conventional wisdom”.
What we do not always take into account is that time moves on.
And, even where it doesn’t, there are usually notable exceptions.
For instance, a popular view is that carignan is a workhorse grape usually associated with rough and ready wines from the South of France.
An even more entrenched view is that pinot grigio is light, acidity-starved, “lift music” white wine.
Today I select wines that bust both myths – and, best of all, do so at budget-friendly prices.
Adopting my traditional format, images and, where possible, hyperlinks accompany the assessments of the wines.
First up, then, the red
2023 Alain Grignon ‘Vieilles Vignes’ Carignan (from £7.99 at Majestic and 13% abv):
This carignan, from Hérault in France, is crafted by a top producer using grapes from older vines, and excels because of its lighter style.
Indeed, delicately crafted versions like this draw comparison with pinot noir whereas basic carignan can be rugged and undistinguished.
Purple in colour with underlying garrigue hints, this delivers soft red plum, pomegranate and raspberry flavours.
Those are supported by a smooth, vanilla and baking spice influenced texture.
I turn now to the white
2023 Pinot Grigio Garda (£5.99 at Lidl and 12%):
Despite all the snooty mockery of pinot grigio, this generously priced gem from NE Italy is the real deal.
Indeed, it shares some characteristics with the white wines of nearby Soave.
Zippy and beautifully clear, it delivers soft, melon, citrus and quince flavours with hints of orange and apricot.
Accompanying features include vibrant grapefruit acidity and a savoury twist that adds a neat touch of complexity.
NB:- The image on the retailer’s web site may have been superseded.
So, two nice examples of often unappreciated wines that will make you seem – and feel – even more “wine savvy”.
In the next post (on Thursday) MidWeeker Paul helps you assess when a wine really is faulty while a week on Thursday I take a detailed look at wine from one of the premium discounters.
13 responses
Useful info as ever! One small point though: you should perhaps make clear that the Majestic prices you quote are nearly always their “mix six” price. This Garignan is £9.99 per bottle in fact.
Understand Sue and try to signal this up by the use of “from”. Since multi-buys are not allowed in Scotland, Majestic charge the “mix six” price for single bottles there and I would not like to put off those customers by quoting a price higher than they would have to pay.
That AG (Alain Grignon) Carignan is the wine we served at my son’s Wedding Breakfast, and is still one of my favourite affordable Carignans. It was a few years ago and we were allowed to source our own wines with no corkage, we actually went to France and bought the wines there, before we left the EU so really cheap and we could bring back as much as we wanted. I’ve bought many bottles since and I still enjoy it.
Hello Dave … Pleased to hear you come in positively on the back of Brian’s red offering today. Somewhere along the way I remember you saying you’d served the AG Carignan at your son’s wedding and you’d bought it in France that no doubt even though some considerable time ago now would still be a worthwhile saving when several cases may have been a requirement? However I see one Majestic on-line review is saying ”spend the extra and get the Reserve version”! Have you ever tried that and compared it against the cheaper bottle to be able to say the extra 2 quid is very much worth it?
Re Majestic generally that I don’t use a lot because I have to make a 35 to 40 mile round trip to access any local branch, I had a £10 off voucher a couple of months ago and went to get some Herdade de Gambia (Portugal) at £5 per bottle reduction and came away with a case on a terrific deal. That 21/22 Setubal is exceptional for the money but I was lucky given its limited availability. However checking on the AG availability near to me today I see they still have some Herdade left as well and I’m thinking of diving in to grab it for the shelf. It’s one of those unmissable treats, a true MWW … hello Brian! …. on the buy 6 deal price and I’d have no qualms recommending it to anyone who likes a red that delivers double in quality than its price point.
As for Carignan in general, rustic as it can often be that I quite like, smoother these days in competent hands, well I’ll repeat my disappointment at Aldi dropping its cheap-as-chips Carcassonne when it did a few years ago and Morrisons now not having its Calvet Cite de Carcassonne at the money it was asking, both heavy on a Carignan cuvee. If we now have another worthy south west France Carignan in the shape of this AG, basic or reserve, at the money Majestic are asking, then I’ll buy it.
Hi Eddie
No, I haven’t tried the Reserve yet, but I should do, I’ve got another wedding this year, my daughter this time and we have a Majestic ‘Wedding Wine Tasting’ to go to on the 28th March, so I’ll grab a bottle then.
I have yet to try the AG reserve – I will try to do so.
Hello Brian, An interesting choice of wines today, thanks.
I was asked to give a wine tasting al while back and decided to make ‘Grape varieties you may never have heard of’ as the theme:
Top rated wines from around the world from grape varieties you may not know:
https://eurostrategies.co.uk/news/top-rated-wines/
Beautifully produced booklet Geoffrey and really handy for persuading folk to be just a little more adventurous. Glad to see cabernet franc putting in an appearance after the post a week or so ago.
I would certainly urge MidWeekers to take a look at the book.
I am a lot older than you Brian, and my prejudices go back even further. I agree your point that we often tend to stick with our first conception of a wine.
PG to me is a rich, flavourfull wine, often with a touch of residual sugar. This is because I fell in love with it in Alsace. How I have moaned about the wave of insipid, lowest common denominator Grigio that has washed over us from Northern Italy. Your interesting review today reminds me that Sainsburys “Discovery” range recently included very decent Muller Thurgau from the Italian Dolomites which actually named the grape on the bottle.
After all that Liebfraumilch and Blue Nun!
Never say never.
Totally agree about success of Pinot Gris in Alsace Edwin and it’s also worth pointing out that the Italian Muller Thurgau in Sainsburys is currently £7.50 instead of £8.50.
Times may not change that much, Edwin. My son made his virgin stay in Alsace this January – and like you, fell in love with their pinot gris. That said, Blue Nun did have a revival a year or two back – with more riesling in the mix and significantly lower residual sugar. It was actually pretty sound.
CARIGNAN (a grape variety) not to be confused with CAIRANNE (an appellation in the Southern Rhône) where the wines are made from Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre …… and Carignan!
They are both 8 letter words starting with C, and including 2 x As, 2 x Ns, I and R. Carignan with a G. Cairanne with an E.
A wine lovers Wordle perhaps!