Quite a reliable wine, the 2023 vintage of Tesco’s Campo de Borja Garnacha is just as solid as the 2021 was. A good quaffer if you are looking for something cheap.
grenache
Three Cotes du Rhone reds
From the three Cotes du Rhone wines reviewed below, two have an ABV of 15% – hardly a surprise yet I’m still not prepared for it. As the years pass, I tolerate high alcohol less and less, and I crave balance more and more. Check out that Yannick Alléno & Michel Chapoutier bottling, it gets things right – still ripe at 14% yet not heavy or clumsy!
Aged supermarket wine with a twist: Séguret Les Aumoniers 2018 from Lidl
After my recent rant on the ageability of Southern Rhone reds, this came as a reminder that I was probably too harsh. Here we have a humble supermarket villages wine – a so called “named” village, Seguret – which I bought many years ago for 6 Euros and which was hardly made to age this long (it’s over 6 years old now). Yet this is not declining at all, to my biggest surprise. I think it’s even better than after release!
Chateauneuf du pape with age
A frequent topic about Southern Rhone reds is ageability. I’m with those who say do not age them. At all. There are exceptions, of course, but the majority is at their best when released. Ripe, round and seductive, they don’t need years to soften; they only lose freshness. Continue reading
Supermarket wines: Les Truffiers Ventoux 2023 from Lidl
Simple (and cheap) wines can be totally delicious. 4,5 € means cheap in the wine world (in Europe for sure), you only get entry level quaffers for that price but when well-made they can be more enjoyable than some more expensive ones lacking balance. And this is pretty solid.
Summer red: Rhonea Les Artistes Rouge 2022, Cotes du Rhone
If you know the red wines of Southern Rhone then this might surprise you. 11,5% ABV? Does not taste like an early harvested wine and it turns out that some of its alcohol was just removed. Sounds weird but the result is appealing.
Supermarket wines: Hacienda Uvanis Garnacha Old Vines Navarra 2022 from Lidl
Solid garnacha from Lidl. Old vine material for €4? It rather tastes like just cheap, €4 red wine, but a very good one.
Rhone reds from Lidl
I’m a big grenache fan and sadly there aren’t many available on the Hungarian market, so I was happy to see new Southern Rhone reds popping up in Lidl recently. I cannot say they impressed me, though.
Bondar Rayner Vineyard Grenache 2021
Australian grenache for the purists.Supermarket wines: Pierre Chanau Plan de Dieu 2021, a solid Rhone red
I had a bad experience with the 2017 of Auchans Plan de Dieu, but this 2021 is quite the opposite. Rock solid for the price. Continue reading