Many thanks for all the kind words following Monday’s email – the MidWeek Wines community really is a great tribe.
Happily, I am sufficiently powered up today to provide the final piece of the “what to buy for Christmas” exercise.
As ever, sparkling options are the subject of Part 4.
There are some fabulous champagnes out there (with prices to match) but they get lots of coverage from other commentators.
So, the focus this time is on sparkling wine at the inexpensive end of the spectrum.
Nevertheless, it is still useful to know what to look for in wines with bubbles, so I have added this four point guide.
- First what does you nose tell you – look for fruitiness (apple blossom and peach aromas for instance) counterbalanced by toast or brioche elements.
- On the palate, the balance is also important – acidity, fruit and savouriness – with none of them dominating.
- Active but small bubbles are another good sign.
- Look, too, for “legacy” flavours after the liquid part has gone; toastiness, freshness and, possibly, a little flintiness are all positives.
I hope you find them “present and correct” in this sextet of options.
In the usual way, pictures are used where possible to help you locate the bottle in question but there are no hyperlinks this time.
Starting in Spain
Cordorniu Cava Cuvee 150 Aniversario (£8.99 at Lidl while stocks last and 11.5% abv):
Despite being made in same way as champagne, Cava has been pushed into the background in recent years by the unstoppable march of prosecco.
So, consider this as a hugely successful fight back – rich and smooth yet by no means costing silly money.
If you usually walk past Cava displays, give this a try; I think you will be amazed.
Rich with creamy fragrances, it exhibits smooth, orchard fruit and marmalade flavours built with caressing, rather than energising, bubbles.
Those elements are neatly partnered by lime based acidic verve with yeasty influences and a trace of camomile emerging on the finish.
Doubling back to France
2022 Specially Selected Crémant Du Jura (£8.19 – instead of £10.99 until 31 December – at Aldi and 11.5%):
Crémant, is French sparkling wine made like champagne but from regions other than Champagne itself.
It does vary considerably in style and, I fear to say, in quality too.
However, this exclusively chardonnay version from Jura has been consistently good – even in drought influenced 2022.
Perhaps as a result of those tricky conditions, this does contain an extra mineral edge I do not recall in previous years.
Nevertheless, it remains centred around stylishly smooth, balanced apple and greengage flavours, embellished by grapefruit acidity.
Anything but ordinary prosecco
Pietra Fine Prosecco (£18 at WoodWinters and 12.5%):
Not all basic prosecco is brilliant but trading up to a superior version like this can show off how sensational quality versions can be.
This is from Asolo – the other DOCG area besides the better known Conegliano Valdobbiadene – and many argue that gives it an extra edge.
Soil, micro-climate and altitude are different in Asolo and that, combined with tight production regulations, seems to boost the wine’s complexity and distinctiveness.
With energetic bubbles and rich aromas, this example delivers minty apple and pithy greengage flavours.
Additional support comes in the shape of an acidic lemon buzz attractively counterbalanced by a saline mineral edge and suggestions of herbs.
Now to the Holy Trinity of grape varieties
M&S Graham Beck Cap Classique Rosé (£14 at Ocado and in some physical M&S stores and 12%):
Cap Classique is South Africa’s name for the “in-bottle fermentation” techniques that we know and love when they are used for champagne.
What is different though is the warmer climate there where the familiar trio of “champagne” grapes – used here incidentally – acquire more ripeness (hence flavours of soft fruit) but dial the acidity down a notch.
Here, then, aromas of soft fruit take you gently into a flavour range that includes raspberry, strawberry and red cherry components.
Its other constituents – vanilla and saline touches, gentle sweetness, active but controlled bubbles and a spicy twist – are all built into an enticing creamy texture.
Unusually, a little time to allow it to breathe really opens up this wine.
And so to Champagne itself
Les Pionniers Brut Champagne (£15 – instead of £21.50 until 24 December – for Co-op members and 12%):
I cannot fail to include what is, for inexpensive Champagne, one of the most consistent performers on the High Street.
It is made for the Co-op by a major Champagne House with a good stock of “reserve wines” and that helps it maintain its stable quality levels.
The result is a brilliantly balanced option, year on year, that regularly outperforms many higher priced rivals.
With small bubbles and a controlled mousse, its foundation is soft, cooked apple, peach and ripe melon flavours.
These are ably and meticulously combined with orange traces, toasty roundedness and firm lemon acidity to provide the balance so lauded a paragraph or two earlier.
And, for, in-house production.
Champagne Berthelot Piot (£22 – instead of £26 until 22 January – at Asda and 12.5%):
I know that some of you especially like champagnes made by the, often small-scale, producers who grow the grapes and make the resulting wine themselves.
Récoltant-Manipulant (or just RM) signifies most such wines where control of the entire process is in one set of hands.
Usually, that pushes prices up (no economies of scale) but this version ticks the individuality boxes at a keen price.
Floral and bready aromas mingle agreeably in the opening of this wine while its quince, tropical fruit and straw influences take over as you taste it.
There is a richness in its texture which includes black pepper and dough touches and where sharp lemon acidity brings everything to life.
Footnote from Santa’s Elves.
A bit of a price war is building up on budget level Champagnes.
So far, Lidl’s Comte de Senneval has dropped to £9.99 until 31 December and the Asda Louvel Fontaine Champagne Brut is also reduced to £9.99 (from £18) until 1 January.
Keep an eye open for others and report them via the Comments page please. Other MidWeekers will bless you for doing so.
Finally for 2024.
As usual, MidWeek Wines takes its Winter break now. Christmas is a time for drinking wine not reading about it and – in any event – folk will either have too much surplus wine left over (or the opposite with money) to buy much in January.
I expect to be back with Top Tip recommendations on 16 January.
Meanwhile, enjoy your own festivities and may I wish you a successful, happy (and, said with feeling!) healthy 2025.
…. And do keep in touch with wines you are currently drinking via the Comments page. MidWeekers love to hear about them.
42 responses
The younger female members of the extended Davies family like Morrisons’ Sorso Prosecco, which they tell me is a decent drop.They particularly like the offer price-£5, mixing it with god knows what, and the label looks “cool”.
Just a catch up on a previous recommended wine that was tasted recently.Once you get past the ‘dull as ditch water’ label, the Waitrose Red, Venturina Freisia D’Asti 2022 12.5%, highlighted by Brian when £4 off, was like drinking liquid summer pudding.Out of season perhaps, but still scrumptious.A top pick by Brian, among many during 2024.Thanks.
I would like to recommend “Intoxicating History” a new podcast about the pleasures and perils of alcohol.Hosted by likeable posh boys Henry Jeffreys and Tom Parker Bowles.Two episodes are currently available on the website, the first on Port/Portugal was like the Grand National- a bit jumpy and chaotic, but the second episode on Dickensian drinking is a focussed belter.
Did you know that on tour, Dickens started the day with cream and two tablespoons of rum at seven in the morning?
”A merry Christmas, Bob!’ said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you, for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob!”
A Christmas Carol, 1843
Learn more about Smoking Bishop on the podcast.
Hint- listen out for red hot pokers.
Charles John Huffam Dickens certainly enjoyed his drink-Pickwick Papers is basically a 801 page pub crawl- and I think it inspired him to write his finest novel ‘Grape Expectations’.
Merry Xmas to Brian and family, regular and irregular contributors, subscribers and all at MWWines.
PS Tonight at 7pm there is on online talk and tasting for Co-op members on the consistently excellent champagne mentioned above.A terrific bargain too.
Totally agree with you about the Freisa d’Asti from Waitrose Paul – a real taste of summer but sadly now back to full price (and not recommended as VFM at that price).
I too enjoyed Intoxicating History podcast and suspect it will be getting better and better with each episode. I’m in it for the long term. I would also recommend Henry Jeffrey’s book ‘Vines in a cold climate’ (currently less man £10 p/b on Amazon) for anyone wanting a good run through wine production and personalities in English wine making in the past 50 years.
PS What did folks think of the recent Sainsburys TtD Discovery Collection Italian Teroldego from Alto Adige? I thought it was a lovely, great value, underrated fruity red. Have just spent a couple of days in Manchester and went to the lovely Sparrows restaurant [https://thesparrows.me] with their fascinating menu of Alpine and Central European cuisine. Needless to say the Teroldego on the wine list was the best (and cheapest) accompaniment to some wonderful spätzle dishes. Happy Christmas to one and all!
Hello Keith,
My non controversial additional post has been filtered out,but this is what I was trying to say.
Why is the excellent Co-op champagne-on offer for a week only- named
“ Les Pionniers”?
At the same time as Dickens published “A Christmas Carol”,living conditions in northern industrial towns were tough.
The first successful co-operative movement began in Rochdale,Lancashire in 1844 when 28 workers formed the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society and was unique in paying a patronage dividend.
The champagne was named in honour of these early “pioneers”.
Why is champagne best drunk out of white wine tulip glasses and not flutes or coupes?
Hi Paul,
I was aware the cooperative movement started in Rochdale in the 19th century but have never paid a lot of attention to the label on the Co-op’s highly acclaimed champagne. To be honest, if asked to write it down I would have written ‘Les Pigeonniers’ (trans. The Dovecotes). How wrong could I be? The idea that it’s a play on words for the pioneers is far more fun.
As to the champagne glass preference, surely it is something to do with the best shape for maximising nose and taste whilst maintaining size/longevity of bubbles? Whatever it is, it must better the myth that the champagne coupe is modelled on Marie Antoinette’s generous chest!
Morning Brian, hope you are well and have recovered from your infection.
An interesting list as we’d all expect this time of year and currently enjoying that Cava a bit too much along with the rose Bissinger champagne currently on offer.
Here’s “Chris’s Christmas Curveball” for you and one I’ll be serving on Christmas Day. Harlot English Sparkling. Comes in rose and brut (picked up a 3+3 case deal online) It’s reasonably priced too at about £15 a bottle. Has all 3 champagne grapes in it but also has Bacchus added to make it that bit different, something I like in wine. Charmat method and think it’s done by the Silverhand Estate, who’s own sparkling is also nice. Would highly recommend to all. Both different from each other but so good.
Anyway, wishing you, the family and Mid Week family all the very best for Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2025.
PS. Forgot to say that champagne from Lidl is a good buy and can create good stories at Christmas time or anytime for that matter. People can say they know the guy that makes it…….. well it does have my initials on it in a few places. ……
Thank you so much for all the fantastic work you put into Mid Week Wines throughout the year. You have guided us to so many excellent choices and provided a much-valued wider wine education along the way.
I hope that you are fully recovered and wish you and yours a very happy and restful festive season.
Thank you Calum – on the mend nicely at the moment and taste fully restored now. I really appreciate your praise because you hit the nail on the head on what I am trying to achieve – “What are above average versions of what you like – and why, plus what should you try as a new wine-related “best friend”.
Hey Brian!!
So sorry you were struck down by that Repellent, Suffocating, Vileness. Hope you are well on the way to recovery.
And many, many thanks for your comprehensive guide to Xmas fizz. Tremendous!
I’m a big fan of Cremant so will try and secure a bottle of Aldi’s.
Thanks too to Paul and Chris for your excellent (& entertaining!) information.
On a different note, I don’t suppose anyone’s tried Aldi’s Pedro Ximenez (37.5cl, 17%) for £4.69 (instead of £6.29)? Seems a bit too good to be true!
Season’s greetings to one and all!
Thanks Gill and sorry to be tardy in responding – but you do know the reason – and welcome to the comments section. I think you will enjoy that Aldi cremant but I have not tried their PX (although most inexpensive versions usually turn out OK and one or two can be excellent).
Hope you are fully recovered by the time the big man in red makes his deliveries, Brian.
Thank you for another year’s worth of always interesting suggestions and recommendations. I have enjoyed several of these and always look out for your posts with anticipation.
Thanks as well to the MW community for their many responses which are often enlightening.
Merry Christmas to you all and enjoy whatever drink you happen to open across the festive period.
Nice Brian, This post shows us there are still great inexpensive fizz’s around if you look, I’ve long been a fan of all Graham Beck wines, I personally don’t think there is a better value sparkler out there ( get it on offer and it come down In price to nearer £10). I always have a case at hand, (just bought another recently).
The Co -op ‘Les Pionneries’ is excellent as well, while talking Co op, I bought some of their Argentinian sparkling wine called Tilimuqui, currently £9 (made with the same method as Prosecco) but in my opinion a lot better than some Proscco’s I’ve tasted for similar price or even dearer ones.
When I buy Fizz regularly, not just Christmas and special occasions my choice of bubbles is normally Graham Beck and Cava (not necessarily in that order) there are some fantastic Cava’s out there ( my preference is for Brut Nature, but a little more expensive)
Finally Brian , I wish you and your family a great Christmas and of course, all fellow Midweekers, I look forward to the New Year and more wine gems. Thanks all!!
Aldi have joined in the fun with their £9.99 champagne, the Nicolas de Montbart Brut, reduced from £14
They also have a Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG reduced from £7.49 to just £5.59
Finally, they have an Aussie sparkling Shiraz also reduced from £7.49 to £5.59. It’s great fun to pop the cork, and watch the expression on people’s faces as you pour them a glass of fizzy red
You’re in good company, Dave. I read just last week that Rick Stein’s favourite Christmas wine is sparkling Aussie Shiraz. Every year, to the amusement of his family, and with great ceremony, he opens a bottle.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you Brian and to all Mid Weekers. What a competitive price for the Co-Op Les Pionniers Champagne, very tempting for the special day. My go-to affordable fizz for larger gatherings is Sainsbury’s Cava Brut (not the TTD version) @ £6.50 (and there’s a “buy any 6 or more save 25%” offer there at present).
Do ya know Brian, I think for old time’s sake I might just take a bottle of Mateus Rosé from the shelf on Xmas Eve and Mrs Claus and myself can indulge in memories of warm October days along the Algarve in the company of our small family sharing a villa at St. Raphael across the bay from Albufeira.
Can’t exist without evocation where wine and happy days are concerned and looking back to NALGO dinner dances at Xmas in the 60s when we thought ourselves people of world asking for a bottle of Mateus’ to be served at our table!!
How we laugh now but when I found out Jancis too was partial to a bottle of that pink, petillant Portuguese 60 years ago although I realise yes, we have moved on a bit, there is nothing wrong with cheap and cheerful if it makes folks happy still. Its undemanding nature certainly puts a smile on my face.
Apart from an investment already in offerings from TWS, (including that astonishing and exciting Cabernet-Merlot Cuvée En Auger, Coteaux D’Ensérune, Domaine Perdiguire 2022, that will accompany our Xmas beef) I got The Society’s Cava Reserva Brut 2021 as the fizz to take to share with family this year. It has a lot of fans.
However I have decided to put all my High Street wine cash right now into Aldi and all they offer at reduced price including the Crémant d’Alsace Rosé down from £9.49 to £7.09, (my best pal requires her full rosé fizz! Me too!)
Then five bottles all well below £6 … Castellore Toscana Rosso, Maçon Villages, Specially Selected Beaujolais, Oz Chardonnay-Grüner Veltliner and the Chassaux et Fils Vouvray that seems to cover several of my favourite grape varieties and I can only think that mid-weekers working to a lower-end budget will find something in that roster that can work for them re quality and value for money.
Not forgetting of course your choice of the Crémant du Jura Brian that I will have too.
And Aldi have all the upgrades too from those bottles with more expensive, one-step-up choices, all the colours and all the sizes!
If funtime Mateus ain’t your thing for some lighter bubbles then as something else left-field and even more off the wall that Brummie Dave mentions at £5.59 that Sparkling Oz Shiraz is enough to make anyone laugh. I’ll give it a go.
Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year one and all … keeeeeeeeeeeeeep mid-week-wine-ing ……
Hi Brian, I would like to add my thanks for all the work you put in to these posts, and the creation of a MidWeek community that is so friendly, supportive and mutually informative! So wishing you, and everyone who contributes to the comments here, a great Christmas. And as Brian mentioned, would be good to have everyone continue to add comments on wines that they have loved, or surprised, or proved popular with their guests.
One thing that I have been doing for quite a while is to address the problem of the guest(s) who have to drive, so cannot drink the carefully chosen wines! I have a selection of the screw top 100ml sample bottles – as used, for example by Wickham’s for their online tastings. And I pour a 100ml sample of each wine served, and give them to the drivers. They can take pictures of the donor bottles, so when they taste them later, they know what they are. This has become reciprocal in our wider family, so I get given these bottles when I’m the driver at their events. It has proved very popular. Bottles can also be given to the main host/cook – who might be so stressed and frazzled that they cannot relax enough to enjoy the wines! If poured to the brim the samples stay in good condition for a week or more. Of course quarter bottles, 187ml, could also be used if 100ml is considered measly.
Hi Brian, glad you’re on the mend. Question, you picture ‘The Rhona’ version of Graham Beck which I believe to be specific to M&S and Ocado. Is the ‘standard’ Graham Beck, that’s available via Majestic Wine (& other outlets too) exactly the same or is there an actual variety difference between the brand and various outlets.
There is a difference. The M&S one has 57% chardonnay and 43% pinot noir while the “standard” version is almost exactly 50:50.
As stated above Aldi and Lidl have come up with amazing wines in 2024 and here are two of my Santa super picks and either would be fab with the Christmas Turkey, Goose or Duck, just try to to cook it so the breast meat is kept pink and moist and the legs get longer cooking. Remove the breasts or turn your bird upside down if your knife skills are iffy. It’s not difficult to remove the breasts and later “refit” them with a few cocktail sticks to allow you to make a triumphant photo worthy entry to the table followed by an effortless slick professional bone free carve.
First wine up is from Aldi is a fabulous 2023 Pouilly-Fume from the famous Les Charmes vinyard worth every bit of the original price of £20 and best described as a “sipping wine” due to its intensity. Lovely sauvignon blanc grassy bouquet, intensely aromatic mineral palate brilliantly balanced flinty mouthful for fish or poultry wonderfully rich dry classic french wine. For reasons unknown it’s todays wine of the week in Aldi and reduced to £9.99, hefty13% ABV. Charles Depuy.
My alternative red poultry wine is a bit less expensive at £9 again from a perfect French negogiant Collin Bourisset and somehow Lidl seem to take many CB wines that score under 90/100 and push them out under £10. Normally this negotiant’s wines cost five times as much. This Bourgogne Gamay from 2021 has matured perfectly now the tannins have softened and has the concentration of a light Burgundy rather than a Beaujolais that matches well to succulent pink Duck or Turkey breast. Lovely cherry flavours from this wine and a glowing Burgundian finish.
Well there’s little else to celebrate this year as our country slides into a recession under a terribly unpopular Labour government with a Chancellor that has only got retail banking experience. What a mess. I predict there will be a massive clear out of keenly priced wine next January! I must turn my heating down seeing Labour tricked us out of our £200 Christmas bonus! What horrors will Farmers inflict on us going forward! Lovely people treated badly will retaliate! The Tories especially Liz Trust and Boris were a nightmare but somehow Starmer is even worse!
As the year changes it’s a time to reflect. What might inflence our wine spending in 2025? There may be tax hikes for a big government rise in defence spending as Europe digs very deep to defend Democracy against Autocracy, and will Trump dump NATO? We must defend Europe and lovely to see Ukrainian and Georgian wines with excellent examples in Lidl last month. I doubt we will see much Californian wine imported into the UK due to Trump’s crazy tariff schemes however I found a lot of it was too sweet for a European palate. I’m going to try and focus on buying more from eastern Europe! Perhaps also Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa!
I don’t rate Rachel Reeve however she did have a sensible approach asking to attend EC economic meetings as a silent observer and it’s fairly obvious we might have to rejoin the EC. That would certainly drive down all our prices especially wine and food. Do we really want USA’s corn fed beef from multistorey feed yards and chlorinated poultry? No thanks I want free range animals with a natural varied diet please and wines from the old world!
A massive shout out to Brian and all those other Midweekers that recommend wines as the quality keeps rising although the price also hardens due to government interventions. I have taken half my red wine budget and transferred it to Scotch Malt Whisky. There’s now nearly 50 new whisky distilleries in England alone. Things are changing fast! I focus on Campbeltown and Islay however also try fabulous new English distilleries such as “Circumstance,” “Wireworks,” “English,” in Norfolk, “Lakes” etc. These and others are forcing Scottish distilleries to look at improving their distillation and run their processes at slower rates, use better yeasts, use worm tub condensers. Also shorten maturation using smaller casks, use cleaner, younger, more active oak casks, rerack into highly active “finishing” casks (3 months to 4 years) especially from the wine industry. So now you can enjoy 3 year old whisky if you choose very carefully and tasted blind people think its 4 times older! Perhaps someone in the wine industry can enlighten us on what they are up to improve quality. One example I can think of is the improvement of Italian white wine where they store the picked grapes on roofs? so the sun reduces the water content of the grapes. A great example is Duca di Sasseta whites available from Lidl.
Anyway, wishing Brian good health and everyone a Merry Christmas and a successful, happy and healthy year for 2025
Chris B … hi … this site is about wine … not politics and your personal opinion, in this instance slagging off our new Government for ”tricking you out of your £200 Xmas bonus”, is extremely badly misplaced.
Let’s be clear. The Winter Fuel Payment is a universal benefit that was until now payable to ALL pensioners to help TOWARDS whatever was their INCREASED cost for WINTER FUEL.
It was not anything to do with being a ”bonus” in the sense that the £10 universal payment has always been called a bonus, and it certainly was not originally intended or aimed at the purchase of treats at Xmas for ourselves or for the grandkids’ presents!
Whatever the rights or wrongs about the implementation of the new arrangement for you, me , or many others visiting this wine blog, who will not now be receiving any WFP support for their domestic energy bill, it hardly behoves any of us to be complaining about this loss of support on one hand as if it was a god-given right, and on the other talking-up £20 bottles of Aldi Pouilly-Fume (regardless it’s down in price), because those two matters do not to my mind compute.
I too may feel aggrieved that my WFP is no more, but this site is not the place to complain about it when discussing the purchase of a not particularly cheap retail item many would actually consider more of a luxury than necessity in the grande scheme.
You may feel ”tricked” but speaking for myself I don’t when my income and domestic budget arrangements still allows me the facility to buy wine whose price is in a range I can still afford within reason, even taking into account the loss of a government hand-out sourced from other tax payers.
Totally agree Eddie. And as a ‘new pensioner this year I was hob-smacked this week to see £10 credit each from DWP for my wife and me in the bank account which I assume is a Christmas bonus. We do not need it or had expected it and FWIW I wish somewhere there was a tick box option “Do you accept this” or “Would you like to forgo it in favour of someone more in need”. Sadly this is not the case but such an argument is for elsewhere and I agree is irrelevant to the MWW website
I was enjoying the wine related comments by Chris B , but as soon as he started commenting on current politics ,I stopped reading the rest.MidWeek Wines is about wines and wine related topics.So well done,Eddie and Keith.
I thought exactly the same Eddie and admire your boldness in being the first to point it out. Let’s keep the comments to sharing news and recommendations about affordable, easily available wines that punch above their weight.
PS. I haven’t seen anyone comment about this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau, which I have much enjoyed. Took advantage of the MidWeekWines 10% discount this week at Wickhams Wines described above and we enjoyed it enormously with a grilled tuna steak (a combination recommended – sort of – by High Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book.)
How funny. We’ve just had grilled tuna steaks with Beaujolais Nouveau this evening, as much as anything because we wanted to clear the decks for more wine and it just seemed the most inoffensive bottle to hand. Didn’t realise I was following a recommended combo! I only managed to get BJ Nouveau from 2 high street sources this year – Waitrose and M&S. In contrast to 2023 we preferred the M&S to the Waitrose. Both were fresh, fruity and bubble gum like and offered a ray of sunshine during some particularly gloomy weeks at the end of the year.
Hello David,
I was rather sniffy about Beaujolais Nouveau from Wickhams wine, but it was great and I have ordered another bottle.I do really like Wickhams wines and although they are mainly over £10, I do feel that most of the wines in the £10 to £20 range are worth more than that and the added value is down to the expert selection and buying by Dan.The free delivery for orders over £40 is very appealing.I also enjoy the in house quarterly publication of the “Drop” magazine.
I have to applaud the incredibly ( recyclable ) bomb proof packaging of wines that arrive within 2/3 days of ordering.Good to see an independent retailer thriving and it deserves our support.
In respect of wine being spoken about in the popular press right now, I see Jane MacQuitty in The Times giving the thumbs up to Aldi’s Crément de Loire hailing it as “the slashed-price steal of the season”. For bubbles I think she might be right. I’ve had it before and it is a nice drop as are many of the Créments!
Normally £8.99 they have it down to just £4.99 between Friday December 27 and Tuesday December 31. Time to get it after Xmas then. But be warned, as with some other previous Aldi wine deals they are trying for some equitability and allowing only 2 bottles per person. That’s like 5 trips in-and-out if you want 10 bottles!!! Ha!
I just got the Crément D’Alsace Rosé for £7.09.
Brian is going for the Asda Wine Atlas 2022 Côtes du Rousillon Villages at £7 in the Daily Record Supplement last weekend along with a lighter white at lunchtime for those who prefer that, Morrisons 2023 Best Verdicchio also £7.
Again where this Asda red is concerned for the money it is very good value for decent quality. I liked it a lot. Having a couple of those on the table with a roast turkey, and a bottle of this white Italian too, a larger family group could bash away and be well satisfied I think, enjoying using that alternative choice.
Laithwaites aka Times Wine Club/Averys doesn’t get a lot of coverage here it seems. I tend to think a lot of their ”really popular” repetitive stuff becomes tedious to know about after a while no matter their Cabalié was a revelation when it first appeared several years ago. BUT …I got a couple of deals earlier this year with free delivery/reductions/encouraging-me promotions and bought a case or two of some terrific Portuguese bottles that had over 50% off. I have to say I’d have them again as long as I could get the free delivery but they always seem for us to need to buy 12 bottles before lower prices kick in.
The last of my Portinho do Côvo 2023 got opened last evening. A clever cuvée from Setúbal south of Lisbon, Aragonez, Syrah and Cabernet, it is a perfumed, fruity, hint- of-sweetness, elegant red that suits me a lot, though quite strong at 14% abv.
I have one bottle left of their Lobo e Falcão 2022 this time from Tejo to the north of Lisbon it’s a fabulous big mouthful of velvety, dark fruit, again elegant but a degree less alcohol than that previous one.
This central, coastal area of Portugal for those wanting to further their interest in this country’s output, that have rarely shown large in UK supermarkets, is so attractive. Easy peasy starting point would be at Asda that have their Tejo Bodacious currently at £7.50 but often with a £1 off!
I took delivery yesterday of my final TWS order for this year. As much as I would like to try some kind of Nouveau Beaujolais I have not been anywhere yet that stocks any.
But I did get the Asda Fleurie at £7.09 that looks to be a very good for-value pick. I pushed the boat out as far as I might with TWS and have one bottle of a Chiroubles https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/chiroubles-domaine-de-la-boisseliere-2023-no-added-sulphur/at £12.95, before it sold out, that has to be some kind of endorsement for its popularity, though punter reviews are few one is very complimentary. Will Lyons, Jane MacQuitty , Victoria Moore and Jancis all endorse it. I hope to add positively to the review list too. Back in stock in a few weeks. My Beaujolais roster is sorted.
Hi Eddy,
I tasted the Asda Fleurie and thought it a very decent example, and at that price is a steal. I was going to go and get some – but a recent experience in a VERY crowded Waitrose, put me off. The TWS Chiroubles is coming back into stock mid-January, so interested to get your review! I thought the 2020 example was super – but the ABV is creeping up.
I’ve enjoyed The Society’s Falanghina 2022. Also opened an M&S Found 2023 Verdil, which got good reviews in Decanter. It has skin contact – I’m afraid I still find orange style wines a bit weird. It has a slightly oily texture, so may try the remains with smoked salmon, see if that makes it work for me.
Meanwhile my new secret passion is for Lidl’s mixed vegetable crisps. I love crisps, and delude myself that the vegetable ones are more healthy than straight potato versions. And I don’t want to hear otherwise. Cheers!
As ever we can only speak as we find, almost only subjectively where wine and food are concerned. We cannot say what others should like only express an opinion about our own preferences that brings me to a situation just dealt with today.
I am a big fan of TWS, I make no secret, and not just for the usual decent quality of any or all of their wine I’ve tried thus far. But my take here IS objective in as much as it isn’t always just about the wine and our subjective take on what we drink, of theirs, that we enjoy, or not. It’s as much to do with their diverse range across countries and styles, prices, availability, terrific website presentation and information, changing vintages and without doubt their free and fast delivery option regardless of money spent/number of bottles purchased.
But should we come unstuck with something that doesn’t deliver what we anticipated this is important … they will address the matter and refund what we have spent without some massive challenge to our opinion.
It’s such a mature way forward in respect of retailing. We need offer no opinion about what ”we think is wrong” with a bottle. Just say we don’t like it and they will refund our spending without question, as is their guarantee.
Specifically I did not enjoy as I believe I should have my recent 2 bottle purchase of The Society’s Austrian Red. I thought the Sainsbury’s Zweigelt was terrific when I had it a couple of years back. This Zweigelt from TWS didn’t work for me regardless it has many online positive reviews. I will not slag it off per se just say ”not for me”. And I have my money back for both bottles. They said keep that second bottle, on us, but that is as much ironic as it is a nice gesture.
Their Cahors Malbec that Paul mentions may be another case in point set against the M&S offering. As long as both can be enjoyed we pick as we prefer. But it seems M&S get the bragging rights and we know where we might better go to try some French Malbec. I bet both are nowhere near as ”rustic” in nature as almost all Malbec from Cahors was 40 years ago!!
As for potato crisps, they are are they not a guilty pleasure? Jeez, how I love plain, sea-salted ones, black pepper, flat, crinkled, bring them all on. The more exclusive, de luxe ones from Lidl, do seem to go well with bubbles stuff, and chilled whites and rosés drunk as aperitifs.
I got a TWS white Rioja too, and their Austrian Riesling, and reordered their Nerofino Rosso Vigneti delle Dolomiti Castel Firmian 2020. It’s quite a mouthful in more ways than one!
My sons and I were very impressed with M&S Cahors Malbec which is a modern French expression .
We compared it with a Wine Society more traditional and more expensive Cahors.The M&S version was much better.
£9, but on 25% off with 3 bottles ,which makes it good value.
Richard I too like crisps but no mucking about with flavours and vegetables- potato ,salt and pepper only ,and I far prefer the crinkly ones.
Thank you Brian. Both for your work and recommendations through the year, but specifically for that Codorniu Cava. Cava was my goto fizz since the 70’s but eventually the quality dropped (at least as far as my wallet stretches) and I was shocked to see I had not had a bottle for over six years, having switched to Limoux with an occasional Clairette and a not to be repeated attempt at Prosecco. But that Codorniu shines. It is up there with the best wines I have had this year and I believe the nose IS the best of the year – clear fresh honey and lemon meringue – not a whiff of sulphur dioxide (which I am sensitive to).
Well, another Xmas is over.
Fortunately my wine selections went down a treat.
Asda’s Asquith Gardens English sparkling wine with smoked salmon and toasted sourdough bread for breakfast.Too good to ruin with orange juice.Fizz with no Buck.
Then the star of the show with traditional turkey dinner.
Ponte de Boga P Mencia Ribeiro Sacra Spain 2023 £11.95 Wine Society .An excellent recommendation by David Williams in the Observer.I think Mencia is very much under rated- it is like a muscular Pinot Noir.
With dessert a Waitrose sweet Greek Samos Vin Doux with a mango/ raspberry cream meringue.
A favourite with my three year old grand daughter once the fruit had been removed.
Her current phrase is “ Granny, Taid can be quite annoying” which usually gets an affirmative response!
So Christmas ‘chez nous’ has largely involved a tasting of readily available red Riojas:
1) Finca San Martín Crianza 2020 from The Wine Society (drunk with pasta and duck ragu) – medium-bodied, well-balanced, yet restrained and refined. Fruity with long aftertaste.
2) Muga Rioja Reserva 2020 TWS £18.00. (Drunk with turkey and all the trimmings). A full-bodied wine from a well respected producer. More complex than wine above with 24 months in oak ad 12 months in bottle. Soft tannins and long finish.
3) Monticello Reserva Rioja, Waitrose Christmas offer £15.99 > £10 until Jan 1st . A medium bodied modern Rioja, 24 months in oak and minimum 18 months in bottle . A bargain at the price.
Overall conclusion: a timely reacquaintance with Rioja. All three were decent bottles confounding my memories and perceptions of this famous Spanish red. All three demonstrated a fine balance between fruit and oak in contrast to the over-oaked wines I remember from the past.
A Majestic heads-up ….
If I want to visit a Majestic outlet the nearest one makes it a 40 mile round trip! I can’t just drop in as I might with all the other usual suspect retail traders nearer to me.
I tend to think as well that their single bottle pricing is often not easily identified nor realistic where value for money is concerned. Nevertheless they sell some decent wine that can be had much more cheaply when buying a mixed 6. That’s their trick, to make it look better financially than at first it seems. Fair enough, it’s not like we don’t recognise the way they operate. That brings me to a current offer they have.
Those not quite as clear with what Portuguese wines/grapes are about and value against quality, as they might be with other countries like France, Italy and Spain, may not easily recognise this. Fear not. Now we can all indulge …
Herdade de Gambia 2021/22, nothing to do with Africa, is a red cuvée from the Sado river area just south of Lisbon on the Setubal Peninsula. Normally £11.99 a mix 6 deal drops to a way more affordable, realistic and exceptional vfm bottle price of £6.99.
I’ve had it before and like many wines from the central/coastal area it suits my palate well. It’s their national grape Touriga Nacional with added Syrah and Aragonez . Wikipedia tells us Touriga has long been associated with the production of Port. Jancis says maybe a bit Cabernet, both Sauvignon and Franc. Aragonez is also called Tinta Roriz or in Spain Tempranillo.
For me the tendency for Portuguese styles further south and away from coastal influences can be over-cooked, toasted and some heaviness. This Herdade is much fresher but as we could expect with hot summers in this country the fruit is still well ripe. I liked it in a previous vintage but it’s certainly seeing the deal price of very decent wine that draws me back to it. A contender maybe for ”house red” for a month or two. It works with the Portuguese signature chicken piri piri, meatloaf, pasta with a strong meat ragu and concentrated tomato dishes. Good to help with cooking in a herby lamb casserole too.
A couple of weeks back, Keith Evans reported that he enjoyed the 2024 M&S Beaujolais Nouveau, which he thought was better than the Waitrose example.
Well, I popped into M&S yesterday and they were selling it off for £5!
Well I have chosen to have a Damp January, rather than a Dry one which is being pushed yet again.I prefer to drink real wine rather than flavoured water.
But for anyone who wants to cut back,
I recommend the terrific range of half bottles of wine by the Wine Society- which are not over priced.
The Society’s own Beaujolais Villages and the Muscadet would not disappoint.
In the absence for the time being of a new edition of MWW it’s good to see at least Brian’s column in the Daily Record Weekend supplement last Saturday, with a reprise of a couple of bottles that gained some determining publicity in 2024 including ….
… well Waitrose are now yet another of the big supermarket retailers to carry the Mucho Mas Tinto. It just goes to show that eventually resistance breaks down for the promotion of such a success story and a populist item and even the posh shops get there in the end. And why not. It makes them money! The public vote with their feet and drive both the interest and commerce.
When I first took a bottle at Morrisons 2-3 years back my wife liked it. I thought it pretty good too. After all the new styles of fruitier with sweetness coming out of the Languedoc for instance were gaining traction too over and above more tannic offerings that don’t really seem to suit the British palate. (Hence the popularity of Oz Shiraz and Merlot over decades). Now we get that effect from this Spanish cuvée.
Next it was on the shelves at Tesco, then Sainsbury’s .. oh and Lidl too, probably the cheapest shelf price. And now Waitrose. It’s never ”so cheap” anywhere at around £8 or more but when the 25% mix 6 offers kick in can be as little as £6 that make it a very affordable pleasure to many.
My wife told our d-i-l and she told her dad … that’s how word of mouth works I suppose.
But Brian’s Daily Record column also features the Co-op 2023 Orvieto Classico that got spoken about here positively during the year. I bought it right off at a discounted price and really enjoyed a ”trip back in time” , when then so little Italian wine made it onto supermarket shelves here 50 years ago even though that country was the worlds biggest wine producer, and still is! Thankfully now that restricted choice has changed. But that trebbiano/Orvieto grape has over the years had a hard time, often described the most boring of Italian offerings. Well personal, subjective appraisal aside maybe it can be as a generalisation. But I’ve always enjoyed both it, and Frascati too, before any pinot grigio came along to be the Italian preferred bianco of choice . I like the aromatics and herbiness of Italian whites and sometimes the lightness and delicate edge of especially Vernaccia di San Gimignano that Sainsbury’s had, but not now!
Brian’s catch up article also features an Asda Wine Atlas Series red, the Jaen Dao. Personally I preferred the WA Côtes du Roussillon Villages that for the £7 asking price I found most agreeable in the way again of new-style-old-world offerings. I was buying it on a deal at £5.25. Such irresistible silly money. Bring it on.
Come back soon Brian …
I don’t do Dry January – I’m not keen to deny myself the immense pleasure (and to counteract the usually miserable weather) I get from drinking wine! But, in passing, the 2 low alcohol drinks that we do consistently enjoy, are Adnam’s Ghost Ship 0.5%, and Waitrose’s Low Alcohol cider. We periodically try other low alcohol products, but haven’t yet found anything better.
I have been having a bit of a Portuguese phase, post Christmas. Re- trying the Asda trio of Douro, Dão and the (Wine Atlas) Jaen. All enjoyable and good value, in their different ways, although the Jaen is not in the same style as pricier Mencias. Some consider Dão to be “Portugal’s Burgundy”, which I don’t really get – but the view that Touriga Nacional is Portugal’s answer to Cabernet Sauvignon, does resonate. Most Portuguese red wines are blends, so was keen to try, and really enjoyed, the 2023 M&S Expressions (100%)Touriga Nacional, 13% and £7.50. This is age worthy, has good tannins, and could be seen as a more user friendly Claret alternative? Sweet fruited, but still a touch lean, rather than jammy. Of course Touriga Nacional is now an approved grape variety in Bordeaux, which should be a good move as it will be well suited to a climate change affected area. But note that this approval does not apply to classed growths or Cru Bourgeois wines, so no 100% Touriga Nacional Château Lafite Rothschild anytime soon!
I then tried a trio of Waitrose Blueprint wines. The Greek White was a blend of 65% Moschofilero, 20% Assyrtiko, 15% Malagousia, and a pleasant drink at £8.99. The Grüner Veltliner at £8.99 was also a good example – but note that their No 1 Grüner Veltliner, is currently on offer, reduced from £11.99 to £8.99. I have tasted this and I thought it a step up, so worth a try. To use Brian’s terminology you are getting a “sweet spot” wine at an “entry level” price.
Lastly, and back to Portugal for the 2023 Blueprint Vinho Verde, a blend of 35% Arinto, 30% Loureiro, 10% Avesso, 20% Tradajura, 5% Fernão Pires – at £6.99. Although this is really a spring or summer wine, I find that drinking Vinho Verde is an uncomplicated but joyous experience. This had a nice spritz, and was just off-dry. We paired it with a starter of red chicory, avocado and chunks of Waitrose No 1 Gorgonzola, drizzled with olive oil (The SA Morgenster, recommended in these columns some time back) For us, the hint of sweetness in the wine matched the blue cheese perfectly! So good we forgot about the weather.
Talking of cheese, when asked for our Christmas present desires – we always say that we would really only like consumables – we have masses of “stuff” and are de-cluttering. By consumables we mean: wine; food or socks. Well, we were presented with a basket of lovely Waitrose No 1 Cheeses. I like any Manchego cheese, but the No. 1 Spanish Manchego Curado was a step above!
This is my attempt to maintain the wine conversation until “our Brian” returns. Happy New Year everyone!
An appreciation …
January edition of Decanter magazine has the Aldi Specially Selected Vouvray £7.49 as it’s white Weekday Wine of the month scoring 90/100. Currently I have an open bottle in the fridge door. Bought before Xmas there was a £1 off the usual price.
This one is described as off-dry but that’s subjective by degrees. I’d say yes, off and maybe a tad more though nowhere near the typical greater sweetness of one of its near neighbours in the Loire, Coteaux du Layon. I’m drinking it very well chilled that reduces the possible cloying effect of residual sugar.
It doesn’t have to be as such, especially today. It could be well-sec and of course there are those fizz styles too. But let’s say this Aldi offering comes across as so typically traditional. Could be a fruit pudding wine but best probably with Thai Green Curry, king prawns or chicken..
Along with almost any Riesling in style I find the Chenin Blanc grape the most appealing of all berries. Massively versatile I enjoy the South African representations too, even the cheapest of them that Lidl for instance can offer, that are all drier. It’s pleasantly remarkable and welcome we can have very decent bottles of any of this stuff for so little money for the evocation and pleasure it can deliver.
It certainly had, back in the day when I first discovered Vouvray, the kind of guaranteed provenance frequently spoken about in travel/food/wine articles in the likes of the Sunday broadsheet colour supplements. We just had to visit the place. Land of the classiest, most iconic Renaissance château including close by at Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau and the fabulous one in Chenenceaux built across the Cher river.
Fairly described as iconic wine when we first went to the commercial , underground caves operation of the local producers’ association cut out the local tuffeau stone, we found the actual village, hardly a town, east of Tours, a bit of a surprise let-down. We had it as I remember all to ourselves. A tourist attraction it certainly wasn’t.
No matter, that wine nearly 45 years ago stuck with us. Our groundwork back then would provide dividends for decades to come. We bought a 3 bottle pack in the caves, that in truth we could hardly afford in those days. Ha!
100%. Chenin Blanc and Riesling. I grew up with the German vintages of 71, 75, 76 and guess I will not live to taste their likes again. Far beyond my pocket now but then I would be picking up a Rhinegau Spatlese for not much more than twice the price of paintstripper plonk – remember Rocamar from Victoria Wine ?
There continues to be some noise in the MSM wine columns that includes the Aldi Vouvray aka Chenin Blanc from to French Loire. Well it should. I’ve been doing a glass a day with my bottle for 6 days now and still it delivers, though maybe I should finish it now.
That’s worked out at around £1 a glass that has to be some kind of attraction where both value and longevity of quality are concerned. I’m still getting that wee citrus kick on the end of a mouthful and the fruit is so much more exotic in nature than we might find usually in the Loire.
It’s back up to £7.49 but still a remarkable buy for an off-dry gem. Maybe with national trends running high for bone dry Pinot Grigio it won’t catch on with the masses. I understand. Even though it’s only 11.5% abv that has its massive advantages, the residual sugar may well be too much for the national palate.
I count myself lucky being able to have this one alongside the Lidl South African De Luxe bottle that is way different, dry and perky and hopefully very soon back on an offer in that store. Buy loads for garden days when the sun comes out again!
What I am struggling with is another recommendation by the columnist I was reading who told of a very interesting bottle at Lidl too. This was a Côtes de Provence BLANC at silly money, £3.21. Maybe it’s a rogue one. It certainly isn’t on the webpages at Aldi though it’s not to say it couldn’t be, at a price that looks a little suspicious. Having said that they do have a Specially Selected Pagadebit Romagna bianco at £3.21!?!?
But I didn’t spot this either at my usual store when I was in this afternoon. I’m trying another outlet later in the week. It’s intriguing stuff apparently. I don’t pretend to know anything about this but as ever we can research, publish and look knowledgeable … I won’t go there and bore you friends .. … well at least there’s a website that explains all and very interesting it is too. Check it out. And then see if you can find it along with that white Provence.
Pagadebit DOC – Consorzio Vini Romagna
I did get the guy’s last Aldi white recommendation that is the £5.99 Pecorino. Seems this floated the reviewers boat. Can’t think it will last as long in the fridge door as the Vouvray … but we can try …I think it will be very acceptable.
Was booze ever so cheap???
PS amend … NOT at Lidl too … but ALDI again ….