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The two two absolute bankers in our book are Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Cotes du Rhone Villages (made by Chapoutier, one of the finest Rhone producers); about six or seven quid, and Concha y Toro Cab Sauv (Chile) for sheer reliability. For something near-universally available and reasonable money, we always go for CyT; about £5-£8 depending on where you buy it (ASDA lower end, offy in Moidart at top end) - by no means an amazing wine but absolutely nothing about it not to like.
If you have an Oddbins near you, Leyda Pinor Noir (Chile), Penaloen Cab Sauv (Chile) and D'Arenberg Footbolt Shiraz (South Australia) are exceptional at the 10-15 mark.
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This is always a default cheap option from tescos for a fiver for me. (I'm having some now)
If you have a liking for Rioja though search for an Ontanon Reserva some day. Best Rioja I've ever had. Or a bottle of Plot from bodega Urbina, not technically a rioja but its stunning. Nightmare to get hold of though unless you get it direct from them.
If it's half price in Tesco, this stuff is simply Looooovelllyyy
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Lots of suggestions - seems the only thing for it is a STW wine tasting evening 😀
which one are you then?
WTF is that?
Less than 3,00€, no middle men and no bullshitters. 😆
that is an iconic cultural highlight you philistine! 😉
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_Free_(TV_series)
I was more of an [url= http://www.losbarcos.org.uk/1280.html ]Eldorado[/url] man myself. 😳
Gran Tesoro,£3.99 at Tesco's,worth every penny.
Ian
Is that hapless Keith Barron trapped in the Costa del Sol!?
I recently bought a load of Wolf Blass Yellow Label (half price at Asda) which was surprisingly nice - very drinkable without food. I dint reckon it will be robust enough for anything more than pasta or fish if taken with a meal though.
Isn't a Crianza thats spent longer in the bottle likely to be better than a reserva that hasn't?
Generally not.
A crianza is minimum 24 months ageing, 12 months under oak
A reserva is minimum 36 months ageing, 12 months under oak
Its in a bodega's interest to reserve only the better wines for those cuvees that they must keep for longer.
Of course every rule is to be broken and there's many crianzas that are better than their (or other) reservas or even grand reservas. There's also the matter of vintage.
However with Campo Viejo since it is a blend of many, many wines (it is a very big producer) so there's not a great deal of variation from vintage to vintage.
Berry Brothers Good Ordinary Claret - Does what it says on the bottle.
Berry Brothers Extra Ordinary Claret- Does what it says on the bottle.
Failing that, a nice Mouton Rothschild '82 would do fine. 🙂
I must try their ordinary. heard good things about it.
you in town next week or galavanting again?
The Ordinary is my house tipple, 'tis ace.
Currently no gallivanting planned. Will try and remember to email you....
I am planning a few weeks in Bordeaux this year to finally study the wine. I havent bought a bordeaux for years because I just dont know anything about it (I have studied Loire, Languedoc and a bit of Bourgogne).
The size of bordeaux is terrifying though!
I thought Reserva was more time in the oak, and if it was younger the oak would overpower it, however it seems my understanding is wrong.
As far as Rioja is concerned, the regions biggest seller by far is Crianza. Many people, especially those local to the Rioja region will only buy Crianza on a day to day basis and only buy the reserva/gran reserva on more special occasions. It's therefore in the bodegas best interests to have a very good crianza that will sell well, so many of them produce reservas and label them as crianzas so they are often far better value for money.
Gran Reserva will get a min of two years in oak and I think 3 in the bottle.
I didn't know that Zoolander but can definitely verify that very often the Crianzas can be better than the Reservas.
Apparently in ye olden days, some reservas had over 20yrs under oak 😯
There's also different kinds of "oak". The Bodegas have a lifecycle for their barrels and new ones impart much more flavour than older ones so they can pick barrels to suit the cuvee.
@ pieface
Your not entirely wrong! You have cosecha, crianza, reserva and gran reserva/ reserva especial each has more time in oak barrell and bottle. Some are aged in new/young American oak and some in French oak - which is less strong. The young American oak barrels can overpower wines though so often they'll use a mixture of the two.
Edit- strangely some bodegas lie the oak down, once bought in, outdoors for a few years before they make them into barrels - believing that the oak takes on the flavour of the region. Not sure I'm buying that one myself though!
( I'm going to shut up now!)
Kosher Wine.
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One of my favourites