I’m not looking for sympathy here, but September/October is crazy season in the wine industry.
Tastings, invitations, harvest days, launches, lunches and all the supermarkets showing off their autumn/winter wine portfolios. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been bouncing around retailer wine tastings in London noting down the gems we should all be looking out for. You’re welcome.
I have to say, the value for money on our shelves has never been better at all price levels. Bottles haven’t just been plonked there, a lot of thought and planning has gone into selecting them. Why more so now? Because they recognise that their customers are drinking less, but better.
According to the IWSR, per capita consumption of wine peaked in 2009 and has been in decline ever since, aside from a spike over lockdown. Nowadays, the UK drinks 14% less wine than it did in 2000. It’s not just us, it’s a bleaker story in the US and France, and you’ve probably read about the massive wine-drinking declines in China.
Sparkling wine has been the hero of the wine category, which is still showing incredible growth across Prosecco, Champagne, Crémant and Cava. Look at Waitrose, who recently announced they were outperforming the market by 3.5% in value on fizz with their Champagne and Crémant sales in particular.
And a word to the wise, now is a good time to stockpile your wine. From February 1st, 2025, duty is set to shoot up to the tune of 42p on a 14.5% bottle of wine, which represent 80% of the UK market. Give us a break, Keir, wine duty is already £2.67 a bottle.
Without further ado then, here are the top 10 value for money wines from Tesco…
Sparkling
Crémant is going great guns as the budget French sparkling made in the same way as Champagne. It actually comes from the French word ‘cremeux’, meaning ‘creamy’. This bottle is from the Loire (it can legally come from 9 French regions), so there’s Chenin Blanc alongside Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc. It’s dry and mouth filling with flavours of frangipane, honeyed yellow apples.
Have you seen the price of English sparkling recently? It’s monstrous, but then the category is still ‘so hot right now’. At just over £20, this breaks from the norm, not that it’s all about the price. Made by a big-name producer down in Staplehurst in Kent, called Balfour, it’s a rich and citrussy style with a mouthwatering lip-smack factor.
A vintage Champagne for £30 is the stuff of fable, they’re usually north of £100 depending on the producer. Why? Because 85% of the grapes in the blend must be harvested from the year stated on the bottle, tricky to do if it was a poor year. Funnily enough, 2017 was that dicey year, with a famous frost event that decimated vineyards across Europe. This is made from a wine co-op, made up of 2,000 members, hence the costs are lower than a recognised Champagne house.
White
Finding a decent red in the £6 price bracket is a breeze. A white? Not so much. See, a white wine is missing the flavour and texture housed in the grape’s skin, relying solely on the juice within its more neutral-tasting flesh. There needs to be skilled winemaking involved to enhance those barely-there flavours, or it can taste unbalanced, lean and acidic. Thankfully, here we have a zesty white with intense, mineral and citrussy flavours for a barely-there price tag.
I only have to read my tasting notes and my mouth waters; “peachy, lean, zesty, honeyed – great value!” This is produced by a union of 68 winegrowing families from the hallowed Mosel region of Germany. Here’s the thing about the Mosel, it’s a steep-banked area that follows the course of the river and is considered to produce some of the best Riesling in the world.
Ever heard of Floreal? Don’t worry, no one has. It’s a recent hybrid grape engineered to be disease resistant. Tesco are the first major retailer to sell it, and it’s a great step forward as it could reduce the carbon footprint of a wine. If you like Viognier, you’re in luck here, this is peachy, pear-like, textured and rich.
Get this, red wine in the Rhône Valley represents 74% of production, 14% for rosé and only 12% for white wine. It’s minuscular, right? Production of whites is on the rise though, as they’re keen not to be known just for their reds. But let’s focus on this bottle being under a tenner when it’s also made from old-vine grapes. That usually packs on a premium in itself, not here though.
Red
We’re not setting the world alight here, but boy is this red juicy and crowd pleasing. Made by a cooperative of 3,000 members in the Abruzzo region of Italy, the Merlot grapes are hand harvested and aged on the fine lees for 12 months. Soft and pillowy, this plumtastic red should be a staple over festive season.
Let the value for money roll in, this time from the Western Cape of South Africa. Produced by Boland Winery, located in the Paarl Valley, who have been named as one of the top 100 wine producers in the world by the World Association of Wine and Spirits Writers. Their wines are aimed at the modern wine drinker, with soft tannins and juiciness. Check and check.
Copyright: TESCO
I love a good Malbec. Anyone else? Spice, plums, damsons, it really has it all, when it’s done well. Trapiche is a respected name in Argentina, owned by the leading wine-making company in the country. It’s also the number one Malbec producers worldwide. Rest assured, this will give you the Malbec hit you need, along with change for a tenner.
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