Cuvée Chasseur 2010

Appearance: Bright purple.
Aroma: Simple oaky red fruit.
Flavour: Easy-going juicy red.
 

Wine Name: Cuvée Chasseur (Rouge)

Producer: Waitrose own-brand

Grape/Blend: Carignan, Grenache, Merlot

Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 12%

Country: France (Vin de Pays de L'Hérault)

Bought at: Waitrose

Price: £4.35

Value for money: ♦♦♦♦ Very Good
Over all rating: ♦♦ Average

Font de Michelle Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2007

Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a big reputation for big wines with big price tags. This one, a £25.00 bottle from Waitrose, is a real treat. It's very expensive (for me, at least) and comes with a Shiny Gold Award from Decanter on it. Let's have a little sip...

Appearance: Deep black-brown.
Aroma: Blackcurrant jam.
Flavour: Rustic, no holds barred with deep fruit flavours, low acid and soft mouthfeel.
Blackcurrant, morello cherry, candied peel and cinnamon.

Absolutely fantastic! Value for money is entirely subjective but I honestly think it's a fair price and would go without a week's worth of £3.99 wines for one bottle of this divine wine at the weekend. The tannins weren't any where near overbearing but with a bit of age, they should melt down nicely and improve the balance. 5 more years should do it.

This little bottle was greedily hogged between two people with fried lamb chops and a spinach, pecan and roquefort salad.
 

Wine Name: Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Producer: Domaine Font de Michelle

Grape/Blend: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault

Vintage:2007
Alcohol: 14.5%

Country: France (Rhône)

Bought at: Waitrose

Price: £24.99

Value for money: ♦♦♦ Good
Over all rating: ♦♦♦♦♦ Outstanding

Sainsbury's House Côtes du Rhône NV

Appearance: Mauve-tinged, dull red.

Aroma: Light, unidentifiable 'fruits'.
Flavour: Acidic and sugary, a bit like strong blackcurrant and apple squash. A bit of mustiness hangs on after swallowing.
Blackcurrant, pepper, fungus.


I've decided to try as many of the Sainsbury's House wines as I can over the next few weeks.
I thought this Côtes du Rhône was OK. There wasn't anything particularly exciting about it though it's no reason not to buy it. As with the other House wines, it's very competitively priced and is great for stocking-up on for parties, cooking or whatever you like.

It's almost Summer. Why not make up a big jug of Sangria?

Wine Name: House Côtes du Rhône

Producer: Sainsbury's

Grape/Blend: Grenache, Shiraz

Vintage: Non-vintage
Alcohol: 13%

Country: France

Bought at: Sainsbury's

Price: £3.99

Value for money: ♦♦♦ Good
Over all rating: ♦♦ Average