Chianti Classico for less than £7? Worth a try. It's OK, but kind of falls short of what I'd expect from a Classico. Slightly plummy and baked I felt, and lacking the bright, juicy acidity that you'd get with the similarly priced Piccini offerings. Not bad for the price but if you think you're getting something fancy, think again.
My brother-in-law came home with a bottle of this the other night. I had a small taste of it, and there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it, although it was the night we were drinking Grenache most of the evening, so the old palate may have been a bit muddled.
I've seen this wine a million times in supermarkets, and never tried it. It seems like a supermarket stalwart - kind of just always there. Unspectacular looking, and normally just a pound or two too much to take a gamble on.
The entire Sainsbury's Taste the Difference wine range is on offer for 1/3 off until April 13th. I think this range is quite good value, and a further 33% off makes it a steal.
Because we drink a lot of Italian reds as 'everyday wine', I'm always trying new ones. I saw this award-winning wine on the Tesco website as I was ordering something else so I decided to give it a try.
Trying this wine recently has sparked my interest in Chianti Classico. Quite often I buy 'normal' Chianti as a good value, food friendly table wine, but there is supposedly a big leap in quality between that and Chianti Classico. It's been years since I've had Chianti Classico (with the exception of the one mentioned above), so I figured it's about time I explore a little bit.
This was a bit of a risky purchase. I ordered 6 bottles without having tried it, going solely on the wine's reputation and price: half price from Tesco Wine Club (£9 from £18), and a Decanter gold medal. Sounds like a deal.
This is essentially the same wine this, except this is a different vintage and it's gone up in price. I've been wondering if I should bother blogging about different vintages of what is essentially a supermarket wine. Italy isn't exactly California though, and vintage does make a difference. However, this blog is more about identifying good value wines than comparing vintage tasting notes, so this won't be standard practice.
I snuck a bottle of this Chianti into a recent Waitrose order. I hadn't tried it before, and it looked like a good deal (40% off). We like to have Italian wine around the house to have at mealtimes, and if we liked this I would plan to buy more.
This entry is basically for completeness' sake. I think this is the same wine as the 2004, but now it's a "Gran" Selezione Oro instead of a "Selezione Oro". I guess that translates into "really gold selection", instead of just "gold selection". Maybe that means that 2005 was a better vintage in Tuscany than 2004? Not according to Parker or Berry Bros. Perhaps then they mean that the fruit went through a more rigorous selection process for that year? Maybe it's just marketing-speak? I'll never know - I suspect this is made for Tesco and I'm sure if I contacted Piccini and asked them, they could fill me in, but it's not really that important.
Ah yes, Piccini. Where would the supermarkets (or I) be without them? I think this is the 4th different type (or cuvee, or brand, or whatever) of Piccini Chianti that I've seen, and the 3rd that I've tried, all from either Tesco or Sainsbury's.
These Piccini guys get around don't they? I think I've had 3 or 4 supermarket Chiantis recently, and I've just worked out they are all "Piccini". They seem to be in the business of producing a ripe, fruity style of Chianti that is easy drinking and affordable but retains some character, which is just what you want from the supermarket.
Is it just me, or do most supermarket Chiantis disappoint? I usually find them quite difficult to drink. OK, food helps, and you are not going to experience all the potential of Sangiovese by bottom-feeding from supermarket shelves.
Posts
All Comments
