Today’s post should generate interest from two sets of subscribers in particular.
One is for folk trying to catch up with a fast-growing trend.
The other is for people ready to start a new one.
The trend quickly gaining traction here concerns the intense and rich Spanish reds under the Mucho Mas label.
So, news of its appearance in a new retailer will arrest the attention of those ready to try it, but who have yet to do so.
Meanwhile, in any word association exercise, sauvignon blanc and Germany would not score highly amongst most of us.
However, the variety is a rising star in that country with around 2000 hectares of vineyards now dedicated to it.
That is impressive growth since the variety was only approved for cultivation in Germany 25 years ago.
This recommendation represents a risk-free way to see whether sauvignon from thereabouts is for you.
So, there you have it, two options for you to try if you have yet to catch with one (or both) of them.
In the usual way, hyperlinks and pictures are used where possible to help you locate the bottle in question.
Here is that sauvignon
2021 Weinhaus Sauvignon Blanc Kalkstein (£7.99 – instead of £9.99 until 22 October – at Waitrose and 12.5% abv):
This offering from Germany’s Pfalz region is unusual sauvignon – certainly when judged against those expressive and zingy New Zealand versions.
However, it still provides heady aromas which, in this case, embody a cocktail of grapefruit, green pepper and passion fruit elements with traces of grassiness.
Those grapefruit constituents carry through onto the palate where they are joined by pineapple, lime, mango, asparagus and blackcurrant influences.
Meanwhile, bright acidity provides invigorating freshness without compromising the wine’s gentle, background sweetness.
And the trend setting red.
Mucho Mas (£7.49 at Lidl and 13.5%):
Major Spanish player Félix Solís has hit the jackpot with their Mucho Mas brand which has now extended into white and sparkling wine and appears in several retailers.
The original (non-vintage) red version has now popped up in Lidl where it will no doubt win new friends to expand its (already) huge popularity.
Textured and concentrated, it contains intense plum jam, cherry and bramble flavours enriched by a little extra sweetness (which does not always appeal to traditionalists).
Fans, however, revel in its flavour-accentuating suggestions of molasses, allspice and chocolate and the good acidity and soft tannin that accompany them.
NB:- This does not yet seem to appear on the retailer’s website.
See you all again on Thursday when we take another look at alternatives to conventional pinot noir.
24 responses
Still waiting for any of the wines from the October wine tour to arrive at my local Lidl outlet (Holmfirth).
Hope they’re not favouring larger city branches like Aldi sometimes do.
Thanks … I have raised this with Lidl and will keep you updated on progress.
Mucho Mas is gluggable for sure, but it’s got all the sophistication of alcoholic ribena. Very sugary.
You are not alone in finding that extra sweetness a bit too much (See Dave’s comments). I did try to cover that in my observations but, as we have discovered here many times, wine drinkers represent a “broad church”.
I went to a wine tasting last week which included a German Riesling/Sauvignon Blanc blend. I was like you say surprised to come across this grape variety in a German wine, and it was good. I look forward to trying this one you recommend from Waitrose, I’ll make sure it’s whilst the offer’s still on!
The volume of German sauvignon is surprising, but I guess the climate in certain parts of Germany will suit it admirably. Hope you enjoy that one I have recommended.
I must admit I might be in the minority here but I’m not as enthusiastic as some about the ‘Mucho Mas’ but I appreciate it has its appeal, for me it’s a touch over baked/Confected and a little too sweet for me. Saying that it sells well (so what do I know, Lol!)
Now German Sovee’ is different I’m generally a big fan and prefer it to a lot of NZ sovee’s the ones I have tasted have been really good and a little more restrained, not tried the Waitrose one yet though, will remedy soon!
As I said in another comment, you are not alone as a Mucho Mas sceptic. Equally, its richness is just “what the doctor ordered” for a number of wine enthusiasts.
Morning Brian … a wine I’ve followed from the get-go today …
First remember getting into discussion about Mucho Mas Tinto maybe 2 years ago when only Morrisons carried it but caused a stir when it came in on an offer at not much more than a fiver! Then Tesco got it followed by Sainsbury’s earlier this year, and now surprisingly Lidl. Seemingly Lidl don’t usually do these widely available popular ranges so the move to do this looks interesting.
My wife is usually our Tesco store shopper and judiciously she waits for a Clubcard/25% off buy 6 double dip and is on for several bottles every time from that store to go in the rack. I think that Lidl not usually doing a similar big discount offer will see most fans purchasing from one of several other outlets more cheaply on a deal, though base price of £7.49 is OK. And purchase this wine they will.
It’s my wife”s forever go-to weekend red, especially if what I’m punting to her as an alternative isn’t more to her taste. LOL! It’s the tannin you see, or lack of it. The caress of sweet, ripe, almost jammy fruit she likes a lot. I usually go for something different but it’s not unlikeable even to me.
These concocted, none vintage wines, have their place for consistency, made by top wine makers. Its Italian equivalent, four grape varieties and nv too, Piccini Memoro Rosso has stuck around now for nearly a dozen years since I first reviewed it at Tesco. I’d expect the Mucho Mas to do the same. The bianco and the fizz are ok too but I’ve not had the rosé yet.
Coincidentally one thing from this weekends TWS delivery comes a bottle of similar characterises to MM in the shape of Braucol Les Plaines Sauvages IGP Comté Tolosan 2023.
Probably more for the enthusiastic amateur wine explorer this is rather esoteric. If Mucho Mas is egalitarian and straight ahead for the majority population this one is not something I would push at everybody. The Braucol grape variety … or Fer Sederou, is not found anywhere else but this location of Gaillac, in South West France. I’d never heard of it before. It’s usually used to blend with. It’s comes in akin to a Loire Cabernet Franc in some ways, but without the stridency of much if any tannin. Perfumed and masses of jammy black fruit this is our bottle for blue Stilton for sure!
I don’t know why I bought it except it had money off and looked interesting. A sweet one from Occitanie and the Fer Sederou as a stand alone component .. no cuvee here. Certainly not typical of other grape varieties in the area like the dryer, way more rustic Tannat or Cot/Malbec maybe. This is more elegant, clever wine-making. It’s a bit of a one off.
Hello Eddie,
The Co-op have brought out a new collection called “Hidden Vines “as part of a discovery range.
A little birdie told me that their Hidden Vines Braucol Côtes du Tarn red wine on offer at £7.85 until the 15th October is excellent.
Unfortunately despite my best efforts and three Coops later the desired wine stays hidden.
PS The wines are not even on the website yet!
Cheers Paul
The latest TWS catalogue just arrived and their Braucol is no longer listed! I think they still have some of the current stuff but might be fast disappearing when there’s some money off it at bin-end.
I can see why the Co-op range is called ”hidden vines”. This grape is pretty obscure and seems rarely to escape from its home territory. It’s a bit of a revelation. Yet another peach from Comte Tolosan.
But again the Co-op drags its heels on promotion and availability that can be frustrating for those of us wanting to have stuff to try.
I was going to write something eventually but will say this here, now, about recent Co-op purchases. That recommendation from Brian for their Orvieto was spot on. We both loved it here; brought back memories. And the 30′ Co-op Irresistible Casablanca Valley Pinot Noir was very good too. Absolutely nothing to complain about there. And they were both in my local store close by
Might pass on a TWS order this week and go Co-op hunting around the district to see what is what …
Thanks Eddie., and pleased that Orvieto hit the spot and that my reaction was not just nostalgia for “times past”.
ps … just got an email-prompt through from Laithwaites and it occurred to me yes!, that these newer style, sweeter reds even from the Old World have been with us and amazingly popular for years now. I’m thinking Cabalié that isn’t an obscure grape variety, Grenache. And of course some of the younger wine makers in the Languedoc have their finger on the pulse too.
Hi Brian,
Good to see the recommendation for the 2021 Weinhaus Sauvignon Blanc Kalkstein. I drank quite a few bottles of the 2020 vintage and thought it very classy, the attractive elements of NZ, but turned down a notch, and I guess less residual sugar. In case anyone is worried about its age, I drank the last of my 2020 vintage in Nov 2023 and it was drinking beautifully.
Thanks for the useful recommendations again on a Monday morning Brian. I half remembered you had rated the German Sauv Blanc earlier in the year (in fact I see now it was on 22 April) so I thought I really must try it this time. Disappointingly, my immediate trip to local Waitrose this morning drew a blank. As a fan of less astringent SB I have high hopes. Damn! Nevertheless, my visit wasn’t in vain. I picked up a bottle of Yealands Reserve Grüner Veltliner (currently £7.99 from £12.99 until 22 October). Austrian GV is a white wine I regularly go back to but, I’m not sure I’ve ever tried one from NZ. Hopefully, it’s not quite as supercharged as NZ Sauv Blanc!
I am a big fan of that Gruner – aromatic melon and mango influenced wine with traces of savoury herbs in the last one I tried.
I’m a pretty enthusiastic red wine drinker (take that as you will!) and, as such, I almost never go for very expensive/premium/top shelf stuff unless they’re on offer. Additional to that, I’ve occasionally been branded a special offer tart:-) I like the idea that wine can be an everyday drink (note: not “every day!”) except for special occasions. In my view, Mucho Mas has hit the nail on the head in that regard. I’ve tasted finer wines and indeed, I have a store of such, notably the Portuguese red we nattered about recently and the excellent La Cascata from M&S, among others, but there’s plenty of room for Mucho Mas in my philosophy… Incidentally, I’ve tried the rosé, the white and the sparkling versions and I think they’re all decent, sound, honest-to-goodness glugs without necessarily being the top dogs in their respective styles.
Hi Steve,
Given your preferences above I would also suggest the Portuguese Animus Douro Reserva in Aldi. Better in my opinion than the various other Animus Douro reds. However, I do note on their website it says ‘In store only’ for all of them so I guess that might suggest it’s being discontinued. Somewhat bizarrely though I see that putting the word ‘Animus’ into the Search box today brings up “Animus Douro Reserva” at £6.99 and “Animus Animus Douro Reserva” (sic) for £4.99. Anyone know why? I’ll have the £4.99 one please although last time I had this wine I was quite happy to pay somewhere around £7-£7.50
Sadly, “in-store only” means almost an hour’s drive to get to an Aldi for us. Might be going past one next week, though, so cheers for the tip!
Lidl has just knocked a quid off the Mucho Mas in store.
No sign of Mucho Mas in Lidl Croydon, which is a big store. Any sign elsewhere?
Was in my store these last few weeks but gone today too Alun. Doesn’t surprise me with all the recent promotion attaching and the fact that there could be a £1 a bottle off too, making it the cheapest current shelf price of all retailers selling it. Cheers ..
Mildew: The sequel.
Regular readers will have read my previous posts on the disastrous effects of mildew.
It will come as no surprise that the wettest spring on record in France since 2008, and one of the wettest on record, contributed to the spread of mildew across many wine regions.
The harvest is expected to be one of the smallest in a century.Bordeaux has been particularly badly hit.
However sunlight is the nemesis of mildew, and clever engineers have developed an open ended shed shaped robot on four wheels that can independently travel along the vines and uses a type of ultra violet light,UV-C, to kill the fungus.
It is particularly effective if the treatment is followed by several hours of darkness, so it is done at night.
This has the potential to be a game changer to vastly reduce chemical usage and seems to me to be far more effective than spraying with dilute infusions of horsetail or chamomile
Peripherally cover the subject tomorrow, Paul – and quote your earlier observations.