More cheap Waitrose wine buys

As I mentioned the day before yesterday Waitrose has a 25% off promotion across all its wines until Tuesday night.

Having checked through my notes for the cheapest bargains here are six that are available online and, in most cases, in Waitrose branches though the price may possibly differ there. You only need to buy six bottles rather than the 12 you need to buy online to get the discount though. Prices are adjusted for the 25% discount - all under £6.

Arc du Rhone 2009 Côtes du Rhône £5.99
A good gutsy Côtes du Rhône from the excellent 2009 vintage ****

La Umbra Merlot 2009 £4.49
It's been a while since we've seen Romanian wine on the shelves but this is a really good fruity Merlot that I reckon would be great with robust pasta dishes like lasagne. ***

Vredenhof Cellar Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, South Africa £5.09
A really good lush blackcurranty cab. Terrific for barbies.***

Matra Mountain Pinot Grigio 2010 Hungary £4.49
Yes, I know you can buy Pinot Grigio from Italy but this is a really well made example - brilliant for the price. Wouldn't pair it with French onion soup though. Try seafood pasta or risotto.***

Gran Lopez Airen/Sauvignon Blanc 2010 La Mancha £3.74
A decent basic citrussy white. Fine for a summer party. **

Nederburg Chardonnay/Viognier 2010, South Africa £4.49
Another good buy from South Africa. The lush aromatic viognier element is quite noticeable - not always the case at this price. ***

Majestic riesling flies out!

Who says people don't want to buy German riesling? The limited parcel of Burg-Layer rieslings that Majestic announced yesterday morning are all but sold out. Certainly the ones I would have advised you to buy, so apologies for being away at the crucial moment.

The current trend in the wine trade seems to be for having 'flash sales' - massive reductions that are only available for very short periods. The wine merchant Slurp was offering Taittinger champagne for £21 for about half an hour earlier on today instead of their usual price of £42.95 (which of course is ridiculously over-priced).

The only way to rely on getting them is to sign up for email updates and newsletters. Which is of course exactly what retailers want you to do - and nothing wrong with that. Suspect we'll see a good deal more of it this summer.

25% off at Waitrose, old riesling parcel at Majestic

A couple of good deals this week to give you the heads-up about.

Waitrose has got a 25% off offer on all its wines until next Tuesday (28th), a great chance to buy slightly more expensive wine than you might normally feel able to afford. It applies if you buy six bottles in store or a minimum of 12 online. Bottles that would tempt me include (reduced prices in brackets)

Domaine Felines Picpoul de Pinet £7.99 (£5.99)
Domain Wachau Terraces Grüner Veltliner already reduced from £8.49 to £6.36 (£4.77)
See Saw Shiraz/Mourvèdre 2009 South Australia £8.99 (£6.74)
Cousiño-Macul, Antiguas Reservas Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, Chile £9.99 (£7.49)
and Chateau Musar 2003 £13.99 (£10.49 - expensive but a great chance to buy this iconic wine at a very good price)

And Majestic has bought in a parcel of mature German riesling which should make riesling lovers very happy. I haven't got my notes with me in France so will let you know what I thought were the best buys tomorrow but I note 3 of the wines are already sold out and that they seem to have already abandoned plans to sell them by the mixed case.

Marks & Spencer wine sale deals

The new year sales trundle on, not least at M & S which is knocking a couple of quid off a number of wines that are moving on to their next vintage. As I've said before you need to watch out as some of them are 2-3 years old now but here are six I'd take a punt on (former price in brackets):

Pirque Chardonnay 2008 £5.99 (£7.99)
Classy Chilean Chardonnay of the full-on buttery kind from a boutique estate I visited earlier this year. Their Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 at the same price is also well worth the price

Corriente del Bio Pinot Noir £5.99 (£7.99)
Pretty good at its full price of £7.99. A snip to find a really quite elegant pinot for £5.99

Kaituna Hills Cabernet Merlot 2008 £6.49 (£8.49)
Haven't tasted this for a while but a normally reliable minty blackcurranty Cab from giant NZ producer Brancott (formerly Montana)

Minervois 2008 Gerard Bertrand £4.99 (£6.99)
A good gutsy blend of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan. Just what you need for the last couple of months of winter drinking.

Torre Scalza Montepulciano 2007 £5.99 (£7.99)
Possibly the best bargain of the lot: a rich spicy southern Italian red that could pass for a posh Tuscan. Would be lovely with lamb and baked pasta dishes.

A mixed bag from Majestic

Majestic sent me some samples of a limited parcel of wines it is offering for the New Year - two bottles from the Australian producer Houghton, three from Mondavi's Woodbridge range and a Ravenswood Zinfandel.

All are from the 2007/2008 vintage - i.e. bin ends or vintages they want to clear. Not a problem in the case of the reds but I think both the whites are past it. The best buy to my mind is the Woodbridge Shiraz which at £3.99 is a steal. Here are my ratings and comments

Houghton Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2008 4.99
Has that canned asparagus, tinned pea taste you can get in Sauvignon. A little bit sweaty and oily - i.e. not massively appealing. Even at this price I'd give it a miss. No score.

Houghton Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2008 £4.99
Soft and fleshy with a nice whack of blackcurranty fruit. Not over jammy. A little tarry on the finish but I don't think you'd notice that with food. Looks smart enough to wheel out with the Sunday roast, especially if it's lamb. Quite full-bodied at 14%
Rating: ****


Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Sauvignon Blanc 2008 £3.99
A bit soft and flabby, like a woolly apple that’s been left in the fruit bowl too long. Past it.
No score.

Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Merlot 2008 £3.99
Light juicy, fruity red but oversweet (like boiled sweets) and a bit rubbery. Not worth buying when you can get the shiraz below
Rating: *

Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Shiraz 2007 £3.99
A little bit jammy but actually has some real substance and character. Decent everyday drinking with e.g. pasta, pizza or sausage and mash. About half the usual price. Worth buying (but not keeping for any length of time).
Rating: ****

Ravenswood Zinfandel Vintners Blend 2007 £4.99
Attractive, soft brambly fruit, a little rubbery when you first open the bottle and a little sharp on the finish. Would work with baked pasta dishes like lasagne. Maybe worth picking up if you're a Ravenswood fan (it's half the normal price) but not as good as previous vintages I've tasted.
Rating: ***

A bit of advice about buying bin ends

With wine merchants sales in full swing a word or two of warning about snapping up what may look like unmissable bargains:

* Check the vintage particularly on inexpensive whites and rosés. A 2008 white may not sound that old but if it comes from Australia or Chile it's almost two years from harvest. It may even be a bit elderly for a fresh-tasting European white.

* Be particularly careful about mixed and 'mystery' cases. Check the vintages of all the bottles. Merchants have a habit of slipping in one or two older vintages they want to get rid of.

* Don't buy an unmixed case without tasting the wine. OK there's a danger that someone else will snap it up but it's better than being landed with 12 bottles you wouldn't want to serve to your worst enemy. (This of course is true outside sale time)

* Remember many wines are now priced for big discounts so 50% off may not be the amazing bargain it looks. If you have a chance - and certainly if you're buying online - check the price on wine-searcher.com

* With a few rare exceptions (fine wines, designed to be aged) don't keep the wine you buy in a sale too long. Maybe there was a problem with the corks on that particular bottling so you might get a higher than usual incidence of cork taint. (You can of course take the offending bottle(s) back but that's harder to do a couple of years on.)

* Buy from a merchant you trust rather than one you haven't dealt with before. And ideally one local to you who is not going to risk losing your custom.

Champagne offers for New Year’s Eve

Having gone quiet for a couple of weeks the supermarkets now seem to be having a last thrash to get our custom for New Year's Eve. And inevitably it’s focussed on champagne.

Tesco is now the one discounting Heidsieck Monopole Blue Top Brut NV I wrote about a couple of weeks ago down to £13 from £27.99 although my husband said it was sold out earlier. (Asda has it for £17.)

Sainsbury’s has the Etienne Dumont Brut for £10 instead of £27.99 (can’t vouch for it as I haven’t tasted it but apparently it’s a huge seller for them)

Asda has Piper Heidsieck for £14 (normally £25.88) and Jacob’s Creek Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir for £6 instead of £9.49 if you’re looking for party drinking.

Waitrose is advertising the very decent Duval-Leroy Premier Cru at half-price for £14.99 instead of £29.99

Marks & Spencer has got their Louis Chaurey champagne back on promotion at £15 - again reduced by 50%. Again I haven't tasted it but apparently Jancis Robinson gave it a favourable review. (Let's hope they have more supplies than they did before Christmas).

Majestic is selling Jacquart for £15 instead of £25 but if you can run to it Louis Roederer at £25 rather than £37 is a better deal (but remember you have to buy six bottles - which can be mixed - in total)

It's interesting how similar these figures are. £14-£15 certainly seems to be the magic number although Tesco and Sainsbury's are offering deals below that and I wouldn't be surprised to see someone pop up tomorrow with another under £12 fizz. (Tip me off if you spot one!)

Expect to see the next round of offers during the first two weeks of February in the run-up to Valentine’s Day.

Cheap supermarket wines + more cut-price bubbly

The Guardian has a feature today written by wine writer Peter Grogan on cheap supermarket wines. It includes some good tips though we'll have to agree to differ on The Whale Caller which didn't appeal to me at all.

Supermarket champagne and sparkling wine offers also seem to be in full flow. Tesco is offering half price deals off Mumm (down to £14.99), Lanson (£14.49) and Taittinger (£16.99) while Sainsbury's has reduced the price of the very decent Heidsieck Monopole Blue Top to a remarkable £11.99. Obviously you have to take the scale of the discount with a pinch of salt - the original selling prices are ridiculously inflated - but they're still useful reductions.

Great deals on reds from M & S

These ‘25% off if you buy six bottles’ deals are getting silly. Since everyone’s doing them you can only assume that virtually all prices these days are set to allow for discounting. I heard this afternoon that M & S has a 10 day 25% off promotion from today (lasting until Sunday 14th).

I was tasting through a selection of their wines this afternoon and these are the ones I’d pick out under £6 (normal price first, promotional price in brackets). Interestingly - apart from the sherries - they’re all reds. I wasn’t particularly grabbed by any of the cheaper whites

Secano Estate Pinot Noir 2009 £7.99 (£5.99)
Must be one of the best Pinot Noirs around at the price - fantastic for the money

Cerro Syrah, Chile 2008 £7.99 (£5.99)
Really gorgeous Syrah - full of vivid fruit but not jammy

Las Falleras Red 2009 £4.29 (£3.22)
Cheap’n’cheerful Spanish red - perfect for pizza, pasta and parties. (Not nearly so impressed with the white)

Popolino Rosso 2009 £4.99 (£3.74)
As above, only Italian (or, rather, Sicilian)

Minervois 2008 £6.99 (£5.24)
Gutsy characterful blend of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan - though more typically St Chinian in flavour than Minervois

Dry old Palo Cortado £7.49 a half bottle (£5.62)
Amazing bone dry but deliciously rich sherry. An absolute must for sherry aficionados. As is the slightly sweeter Dry Old Oloroso on a similar offer but I personally prefer the Palo Cortado.

. . . and some Waitrose wine bargains

Despite yesterday's trashing of the Whale Crossing I would recommend a trip to Waitrose this week which like every other supermarket seems to be knocking 25% off their prices if you buy six bottles (and 12 if you buy online)

Bear in mind though there may be subsequent offers that don't require you to buy as much. For example the Chateau du Gazin Canon Fronsac - a very decent basic Bordeaux - will be reduced from £9.99 to £7.49 by the current offer but from December 8th you'll only have to buy one bottles to get the same discount.

What Waitrose - and all wine retailers - want you to do during these promotions is to buy more wine and trade up to more expensive bottles. Nothing wrong with that but in keeping with the ethos of this blog here are some of the cheaper buys I'd recommend (promotional price in brackets)

Reds
Chateau Calage, La Mejanelle 2008 Coteaux du Languedoc £7.99 (£5.99) - big lipsmacking blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre

Fontaine du Roy 2009 Costières de Nîmes £6.49 (£4.87) - Syrah, Carignan, Grenache and Marsalan. Gutsy Cotes du Rhoneish red.

Gran Lopez Garnacha/Tempranillo 2009 Campo de Borja £4.79 (£3.59) Robust 'winter warmer' Great Christmas drinking - good for mulling. Snap it up at this price.

Whites
Montgravel Chardonnay 2009 Vin de France £4.99 (£3.74) Not my cup of tea (more Aussie Chardonnay than French) but amazing for the price - good party drinking

Vina Costeira 2009 Ribeiro, Spain £7.99 (£5.99) Attractive aromatic white blend of Treixadura, Torrontes, Albarino, Godello and Laureira from Galicia. Good for spicy seafood dishes

Cowrie Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Marlborough New Zealand £5.49 (£4.12) Massively OTT (to me) gooseberry flavours but it you like this style it's an absolute steal.

Sweet
Fetzer Bonterra Muscat 2009 £6.99 a half bottle (£5.24) Very pretty delicate sweet wine. Would be lovely with fruit salads.

Credit Crunch Drinking is back!

The great thing about journalism is that it changes the whole time. One moment you’re writing about student recipes, the next about beer or wine. I’ve always been one for serial enthusiasms so I’ve blogged - and still blog - about cheese and frugal eating and about odd ingredients, restaurants, books or drinks that take my fancy (Food & Wine Finds).

Credit Crunch Drinking seemed like a good idea when I started the blog back in 2008 but I was more involved in food at the time and found it hard to keep up. But I’m now resurrecting it because I’ve become the Guardian’s new wine writer (Saturdays in the Weekend mag) and have - unsurprisingly - found a fair number of my readers want to see the column focus on sub £6 wines.

There’s also a demand for wines that aren’t stocked by supermarkets - and are therefore going to be more expensive - so I’ve been giving a bit of thought about how to square the two. Not easy in 400 odd words! I also have to write my article two and a half weeks ahead which means it’s hard to let readers now about last minute promotions.

So this is where I’m going to pass on info about good buys that don’t make the column - mainly wine but also beer, spirits and cider when I come across them.

The first bit of news is that Asda has knocked 25% off its Extra Special range until the end of the month (i.e. Sunday) and that Sainsbury’s has 25% off all their wines for a week from today (until November 3rd) if you buy six or more bottles. That includes fizz - which brings their very drinkable own brand Blanc de Noirs champagne (***) down to £12.74 a bottle - and wines that are already on promotion. If you like to plan ahead now’s a good time to get your Christmas drinking sorted.

Yet more wine offers!

Hardly a moment goes by, it seems, when I don't get a message in my inbox about some new money-off deal or promotion on wine. And we're talking big savings.

In the unlikely event that you have £250 burning a hole in your pocket, one of London's best wine merchants Berry Brothers & Rudd will give you £50 of it back if you place an order to that value with them by midnight tonight.

Wine Rack has just extended its 40% off offer until New Year's Eve although this is only slightly better than the 3 for the price of 2 offer they normally have which is not quite as generous as it seems given their prices are higher than elsewhere.

All the supermarkets are slashing prices though again the discounts are not always as good as they look. A 50% off offer on Cava, for instance sounds fantastic but may only reflect what the product was worth in the first place. (Tesco's 3 for £10 offer on its own brand Cava looks like the best deal for party drinking)

I also picked up from fellow blogger Jamie Goode of Wine Anorak that there's a fantastic competition on the Duchy Originals website to win a bottle of Mouton Rothschild 2004. Now that is worth a punt!