'Tesco Finest' wines are always worth a try. This one I haven't seen before, but it's something that would interest me. A Mosel Riesling for under £7.
Yesterday I had to dash over to Liverpool Street to run an errand, and while I was there I stopped in at the Tesco on Bishopsgate where I used to buy wine when my office was located there. I've missed it, as it sometimes has interesting offers.
I can't remember exactly why I wanted to try this. I do like a good Chenin Blanc, and I may have seen this in some newspaper columns or something. Tesco Finest, like Sainsbury's Taste the Difference, is pretty good value and a step above their entry-level own label wines.
I first tried this at a café in Battersea park. I think it was last summer, but it may have been the one before that. It stuck in my mind, I remembered it. I thought it was strange that I liked a Chilean rosé so much. Usually I drink French rosé - Australian rosé is generally horrible, and unless you want to pay £10 - £12 for Pinot Noir rosés from New Zealand, France is my best option.
I confess I don't even know what vintage this was - we drank the bottle then immediately disposed of it, and now that I've finally got around to posting about it I don't know all the details (is it a 'Reserva'?). It's the one that was just half price at Tesco. Not very professional, but hey, I'm not getting paid for this. Also, I suspect it doesn't really make a difference.
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.
I haven't bought one of these half price Tesco clarets in a while, and after the first sip I remembered why.
I picked this up in another Tesco 50% off deal (£10 down from £20) a few months back. The exceptional vintage and the price made this an attractive buy.
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.
I had some Tesco Wine Club vouchers to use up, and this was one of the wines I decided to blow them on. I had never tried it before, but the fact that it won a trophy at the 2008 Decanter World Wine Awards pretty much made up my mind for me.
I frequently find that I need a Chardonnay, and I don't have any. It's not something I usually stock up on, and I really have no excuse not to do so. Some food just requires it - anything with a cream sauce, risotto, chicken, pasta carbonara, etc. I usually have to run out and get some, instead of grabbing one from my "cellar".*
Here is another claret bottled for Tesco by the negociant Yvon Mau. Whenever you see a half price claret at Tesco, chances are it's a product of Yvon Mau.
Ah yes, the magic of Hunter Valley Semillion. I've heard it so many times - this special terrior, you can put this wine away for ages and it develops into a complex, nutty, magical brew that is utterly unique to this part of Australia.
This was on offer at my local Tesco for £4.49 (half price), which is a silly bargain for a German dessert wine of Prädikatswein quality.
This Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has been appearing in the odd newspaper column recently, and now that it's on offer at Tesco I thought I'd give it a try.
Gavi is a DOCG region in Piedmont, Italy and its wines are made from the white Cortese grape. 
A friend of mine has encouraged me to try more Argentine wines. I've had a couple recently, and overall the impression I get is a good one. This particular one is a Shiraz from the San Juan province.
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.
I thought I'd try this Rhone wine, even though I don't normally like them, because 2007 was supposed to be a superb vintage in the Rhone. Yes, this is an entry-level wine and may not be the best expression of Rhone valley grapes. However, the quality of the vintage should shine through, shouldn't it?
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