A look forward today and a look back too.
Although regular MidWeekers probably ignore the concept of a “close season”, Easter signals the traditional start of the wine drinking new year.
What better way to start the run-up to summer than with a good value and well-made sparkling wine.
Indeed, anyone needing Easter fizz that’s cheaper than champagne but less sweet than prosecco should seek out the Alsace option featured here.
In addition, we know enough about British weather to keep some substantial red wine available most summers for when temperatures or raindrops fall (and often both).
So, as a wistful look back at the type of red wine that cheered many a cool winter day, one such offering is also featured today.
I hope you enjoy them both.
Once again, pictures and hyperlinks are included where possible to make it easier to track down the wine in question.
So hold on for a bubbly start.
Extra Special Cremant d’Alsace (£9.36 at Asda and 12% abv):
Although France has at least 8 cremant producing regions (all using the “traditional” method), results can be patchy – but this one is spot on.
Alsace fizz – which is increasingly winning friends – is dominated by the pinot blanc grape which I always consider a seriously underestimated variety.
Quite large but persistent bubbles greet you here and lead into soft pear, apple and peach flavours.
These are supplemented by lemon acidity, a long slightly chalky finish and an appealing cream soda texture.
And that rainy day insurance
2023 Santa Julia Malbec: (£8.75 – instead of £10.50 until 29 April – with Nectar card at Sainsbury’s and 14% abv):
For a heartier than average Argentinian malbec, do try this substantial abv offering while its 15%+ discount lasts.
The brand is part of Argentina’s Familia Zuccardi operation and is named after José Zuccardi’s daughter, Julia.
Smooth with dark berry aromas, the wine delivers powerful loganberry, black cherry and damson flavours
Additional support takes the form of balanced acidity (but limited tannin) a sage based savouriness and suggestions of cocoa and clove.
Join me again on Thursday when we have the first 2025 Producer Review looking at the wines created by one particular producer. The following Thursday sees MidWeeker, Paul, take another look at some of the science aspects of wine.
17 responses
Well I hope that was not summer!
Woke up today to rain and a 10C drop in temperature.
Can’t go wrong with Brian’s Asda Cremant.VGV and a great party fizz.
Richard and I have mentioned before the free ( for members) of Co-op online wine tastings.
The most recent one was on the Irresistible Cave de Lugny Mâcon- Villages Chardonnay.2023 13% abv £10.50
Made in the warmer southern area of Burgundy and this is reflected in its rounder creamy riper character.
Cave de Lugny is a big cooperative with over 400 members.90% of their vines are chardonnay with a little Pinot noir and aligoté. They also make Crémant de Bourgogne.
The tasting was led by the Co-op main buyer Sarah Benson MW.
There are subtle aromas of white flowers, citrus and honey on the nose and the palate is neutral with refreshing hints of green apple and lemon.A well made,unoaked, and easy drinking versatile white wine.
After months of no show, the very good brambly The Hidden Vine Braucol Côtes du Tarn red wine 2023 14% £10.25 *has thankfully reappeared on my local Co-op shelves.The grape is known locally as ‘Fer Servadou’ which is derived from the Latin for wild.Which fits in with the story that these were wild grapes in the area that were subsequently cultivated.
Full bodied, smooth and bold with a black pepper finish.
in October 2024 this wine was £8.85, the price increase reflects our very high alcohol duty and tax increases.
Now I may have tempted you to do a shop in your local Co-op and the excellent Irresistible Viognier Pays d’Oc 13.5% abv white wine from Paul Mas, IWC Silver Award and previously recommended by Brian is on the shelves and is a bargain £8 with 50p off in some stores.
A trio of wines that I think you will enjoy.
And thanks to Keith,I tried WoodWinters Brachetto d’Acqui.Like a very light,very sweet Lambrusco.A bit niche because of the 100g/ litre residual sugar,but sensational with Elon mess.
Pleased to see you enjoyed the Co-op Hidden Wines Braucol Paul. I came across it at the end of last year but haven’t seen it since. I believe it is 85% Braucol with 15% Gamay. Cassis and dark fruit aromas, smooth and fruity with a slight sweetness.
I’m always fascinated by local grape varieties and how good winemakers can make interesting and quirky wines from them. Italy and SW France are good examples seem particularly strong in my experience.
Ah, disappointed to have missed the Mâcon- Villages online tasting. I see Co-Op’s next one is coincidentally an Argentinian Malbec, on 7 May.
How nice to see Sarah getting some recognition. She was the only UK person to get her MW this year, and was only one of four in total.
The Co-Op sometimes get enough recognition for their wines as they have to try to support local shoppers buying habits so it can be difficult to always get what is recommended. Sarah has always had a strong ethical side and this is reflected in the support they give local producers of their wine, so those who support this ethos should look in particular at the work that has been supported in South America.
Well said Claire. The Co-op team is a good one and the wines they offer represent some great options. I believe that those online sessions owe a great deal to Sarah’s persistence so it is good to see Paul, Richard and Rebecca recognising their worth.
That Co-op Viognier makes a repeat performance on Thursday so watch out for it.
Typo.Meant to say Eton Mess ,but strangely find Elon Mess quite accurate.
Incidentally, I owe everyone an apology. Your piece on Wine Science is a week later than originally “advertised” and this Thursday sees a Producer review. The main post has been revised accordingly and I am sorry for misleading anyone.
Haven’t tried the Santa Julia since 2021, it was sent as a substitute on our supermarket delivery, although I didn’t buy it again I seem to remember we enjoyed, perhaps it’s time to revisit.
I must give the Cave de Lugny Mâcon- Villages Chardonnay from the co-op a go Paul as I really enjoy Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Mâcon- Villages Chardonnay but only buy it on 25% offers as it is now £13.50.
I know not everyone can do this but I had a put a bit buy to wait for the after Christmas offers from the Sunday Times Wine Club ( Laithwaites) and when I ordered my case recently I was able to add a case of Lobo e Falco one of my favourite Portuguese reds at £7.99 a bottle. However, it does mean going easy and only buying the odd gem, usually recommended by midweekwines I always look forward to the posts many thanks Brian.
Agree Lobo e Falco is a star.
G’day Brian
Can endorse this Alsace crémant today, plus a Loire rosé version and a Jura crémant (Aldi-chardonnay) I had. Seems that paying over the odds for Champagne provenance isn’t necessary for an enjoyable glass of bubbles that in truth has not always been a favourite tipple. But these days I enjoy a well-chilled aperitif shared with my best woman on a Friday tea-time.
What we do need to try when also shopping in Asda (because I can also endorse the many very decent, fun-time Valdob/Conegli Proseccos we can have for a song), is Brian’s, Asda Frozen Lily from Asolo ( a bit like Maserati versus Fiat!), that I see is on rollback .. £8.86 down from £11.98. Over £3 off so I’m in for that deal asap.
Also endorsing your Daily Record column Rosso Vino d’Italia last Saturday from the current Lidl Wine Tour at £7.49. I went and got a bottle and opened it yesterday. Very much ”of its type”, Italian as can be and great value.
Speaking of your Daily Record column Brian, that you said you were surprised I could read when seemingly nobody can have that newspaper in an online format, it is only because with all these publications unless we pay online subscriptions, if available, or buy the hard copies daily/weekly/monthly whatever, then for sure money will need to change hands at some point to access whatever is available out there we may want to read about.
I’m lucky in that my boy shares a free (sic) access to his Readly app. He pays about 40 pence a day for the availability of over 1300 magazine and newspaper publications and 4 more nominated family members can use it too.
For me that includes The Guardian and Observer, Radio Times, Daily Record Weekender with Brian’s column, and any other columnist writing about wine and food in some, not all, UK rags. Importantly I can see and download for later reading Decanter every issue as well. Mind you, Decanter is not for the faint-hearted at the prices of the high-end wines it mostly discusses. The Majestic Alain Gignon black label Minervois at £10 was must-try Weekday red of the month in April but fair dos, the Aldi Specially Selected Castellore Gavi 2023 at £6.99 was given a shout too. So not everything spoken about is so massively elitist. And look at that … Koolibrra Specially Selected Grenache Riverland South Australia 2022 £4.99 gets an honourable mention too. A breezy, lightweight quaffer with pretty cherry flavours apparently. Decanter recommending at under a fiver. They are still out there folks ….
And I know I’ve mentioned this before (in response to Eddie in MWW comments last August ) but if anyone else is interested in reading newspapers and magazines online incl. Decanter, Daily Record, Radio Times etc. can I also suggest you explore whether the PressReader app is available free via your local library service. It is here in Kent. Presumably they have a public service subscription but this remarkable facility is entirely free via my library login. I have the app on both my iPad and phone and use it most days.
Eddie’s mention of accessing periodicals via the Readly App prompted a memory of reading magazines in my local library. Some years back I used to catch a bus from my village to Ipswich, get a coffee in M&S, sit in the Reference section of the library and read Decanter, What Hi-Fi and Q magazines, and then get the bus home. I took great pleasure in this – especially as the journey was free (bus pass); the coffee was “free” (I had monthly vouchers); the library was free, and the bus trip was a nice community experience. It became less attractive, as the bus times changed, there was an increasing queue in the M&S Cafe and the magazines weren’t always available. So I stopped going. Subsequently our village bus service ceased, for which I still have some pangs of guilt. However, if in London with some time to spare, I do sometimes pop into the Barbican library and reprise the experience.
But I remembered that when Q magazine moved to being online only (it has since closed completely) the librarian pointed out that via the library you can get online (& free) access to periodicals. I used it a few times.
Prompted by mention of the Readly App, I just checked it out again. And yes, Suffolk Library (and I guess many others) still have an arrangement with the PressReader app. If you download the app, find your local library link, give your library number and Pin, you too can get access to a whole host of magazines, including Decanter. I just checked it out. It works fine, on my iPad mini. So I can now browse wines, cars and HiFi systems beyond my budget. Happy days – thanks Eddie!
More than one way to skin that cat then Richard …. Keith ….
And this Press Reader app is, if nothing else, free and most importantly convenient if it can be accessed as suggested by the downloading/association with a local library service and then viewed at home.
I certainly could not make a daily visit to my local library and anyway it’s not open every day. Having my daily newspaper with my breakfast is the advantage of Readly I value most even at weekends and then every other magazine I dip in and out of. In fact the Radio Times I still buy weekly on a subscription deal because of all the publications that is the one I need hard-copy to wander around with, house and garden, circling the TV choices from its excellent format and all else. To date I have had 5 letters to the editor published involving mainly wine and food.
I took deal subscriptions for years of Decanter because it is high quality in every respect, even though most wine spoke about is unaffordable to me. I have read Dave Cronin’s letter to that magazine’s editor before today! But I amassed dozens of copies I didn’t really need to keep so looked for someone who might enjoy them and gave them away. And here’s the thing I like more than anything about Decanter even online … terrific photography and pictures of places I’ve been to in Europe. I kept a few editions about some wines and locations especially stuff on France and Italy, Bolgheri, Verona, and a very evocative look around the Montsant , the mountains above the Costa Dorada near Tarragona from whence cometh Priorat. Happy days indeed ….
Sorry, MidWeekers, for repeating (in a rather rambling way) Keith’s information. We overlapped.
Not at all Richard. And here’s another recommendation in the light of Eddie’s comments. The bi-monthly magazine Italia! (no idea why it needs an exclamation mark) is available for free via PressReader. It always has great photography of locations in Italy and has a decent Food & Drink section every edition. The current April/May 2025 edition has a few pages on Red Wines of Sicily
Not forgetting ‘France’ magazine that I used to get for years a while back that is on Readly I see. Lots of pix and location stuff in that one and references to wine and food.