Two quite different propositions for you to consider today and we start with a white.
2025 M&S Found Ansonica (£7.50 at M&S and at Ocado and 11% abv ):
Over on the Midweek Wines Guild sister site, my colleague Paul Davis rightly praised the M&S found range a few weeks back.
It’s a range that trades on the value unfamiliar grapes still represent, yet between the M&S team’s experienced judgement and endorsements like Paul’s, quality is never the trade-off.
Sicily’s reputation as a wine island owes plenty to its volcanic geology – Etna’s lava blackened slopes and the scorched vineyards of Pantelleria among them. The island’s hot, mineral rich terrain has long suited the ansonica grape.
It was traditionally destined for marsala before finding new life as a crisp dry white. M&S’s buyers have tracked one down, to provide wine with a discernible mineral edge and well worth seeking out
There’s a nutty aroma to start, then smooth, rounded apricot, cooked apple and honeydew melon flavours take on the baton.
Nevertheless, bright grapefruit acidity keeps things fresh before the concluding floral, herbal and (predictably) mineral influences kick in.
A Tale of Two Cabernets
Cabernet sauvignon is a distinctive grape variety. Its fruit is small and thick-skinned, and those skins give the wine two things. One is firm tannin that can coat your teeth when the wine is young. The other is the savoury notes of green pepper, cedar and graphite that make the wine stand out. Admirers call the combination “structure and character”. Plenty of drinkers, however, are less flattering.
Producers know this, and they often have a choice. They can make cabernet the classic way and let its grip show, or they can dial it back for people who want something smoother. Here are two bottles at almost the same price that occupy opposite sides of that line.
The Classic: 2025 De Luxe Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon (£7.25 in Lidl and 13.5% abv)
Coonawarra in South Australia, with its red terra rossa soil and long, cool ripening season, is one place where traditional cabernet is also a crowd-pleaser. This one is deeply coloured, richly perfumed and full bodied, with blackcurrant, plum and cherry flavours at its heart. The tannin is fairly firm, but lively acidity keeps it in balance, and the graphite, oak and allspice stay quietly in the background. To me, it is textbook entry-level Coonawarra at an excellent price.
NB:- The price may not have been updated on the website.
The Softer: 2024 Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon (£7.50 with Clubcard – instead of £8.50 until 12 October in Tesco and 12.5% abv)
Chile makes superb traditional cabernet, and Concha y Toro’s flagship, Don Melchor, from the Maipo Valley proves it. However, this guy is the same company’s everyday bottle and is made for a different drinker. Those classic features have been deliberately turned down. The fruit is simpler and more berry-like, the acidity a notch fresher and the tannin soft and controlled. Smoke, cinnamon and cocoa are there, but as gentle garnish rather than ingredients. It’s nicely crafted, easy-drinking cabernet.
Which one is for you?
- Choose the Coonawarra if you like a full, firm red alongside food like steak, lamb or hard cheese, and you enjoy cabernet’s savoury, cedary side.
- Choose the Casillero if young reds often taste drying or bitter to you, or you want a red that’s easy to drink without food.
Better still, try both
One of my golden rules is that tasting two wines side by side, sip for sip, is the quickest way to find out what you like. Pour a glass of each and compare them carefully. Quite often tannin makes the biggest difference. So, notice how your mouth feels after you swallow – heavy tannin can make the back of your teeth feel fur lined.
Whichever wine scores highest with you tells you which way to head the next time you’re choosing a cabernet.
BUSY SHOPPER SUMMARY
For readers short on time, here’s the verdict at a glance:
Which wine should I buy? 2025 M&S Found Ansonica
Where, how much and what abv? £7.50 at M&S and 11% abv
Why should I buy it? Despite being an unfamiliar grape variety, it is a “no-risk” purchase that lacks nothing in terms of quality.
What does it taste like? Rounded apricot, cooked apple and honeydew melon flavours abound supercharged by bright grapefruit acidity
***
Which wine should I buy? 2025 De Luxe Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
Where, how much and what abv? (£7.25 in Lidl and 13.5%
Why should I buy it? It provides text book South Australian cabernet which is traditional in style but with real crowd appeal and at a very keen price.
What does it taste like? Richly perfumed and full bodied, it delivers blackcurrant, plum and cherry flavours with tannin that is firm but never intrusive
***
Which wine should I buy? 2024 Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon
Where, how much and what abv? £7.50 with Clubcard – instead of £8.50 until 12 October in Tesco and 12.5% abv:
Why should I buy it? Nicely crafted, easy-drinking cabernet aimed at those seeking approachable versions that work well without food.
What does it taste like? It has simpler, more berry-like flavours than the Coonawarra with softer tannin but also provides attractive smoke, cinnamon and cocoa influences
Make sure you call into our sister site, MidWeek Wines Guild, this week because it looks at wines from Asda on Thursday and “other red wines” from the Loire two days later. Both are the perfect appetisers for the next Top Tip that will hit your Inbox next Monday.
8 responses
Is not one of the main differences between Chilean Cabernet and all others that the wines there are produced from phylloxera free ungrafted vines.
Good point, Brian as being phylloxera-free has allowed very old vines to survive in Chile and be propagated from the vineyard’s own cuttings and this may well affect quality. It is certainly a factor but no one seems really sure how that compares to other influences such as climate, site and the winemaker.
Good recommendation with the M&S Found Ansonica Brian (and Paul) although I have to admit I haven’y yet tried it. There are a couple of other grape varieties traditionally used in Marsala from Sicily that are ‘going solo’ these days aren’t there? Grillo (which I do like) and Catarratto?
Funny you should mention Catarratto, Keith as I have been looking at Vinca Organic White Wine (£7.50 – down from £8.50 until next Monday – with a Tesco Clubcard) that used that grape. It has strong shades of summer with peach, lime and apple flavours and a tangy grapefruit bite. The really distinctive thing is its “packaging” – a featherlight, picnic-friendly, aluminium “bottle”.
Interesting concept. Not a regular Tesco shopper I haven’t come across the Vinca Organic / Vegan wines before. I see there’s a red too (Syrah & Nero d’Avola). They appear to be getting very positive reviews from customers on Tesco website
I half expected sales resistance to the aluminium container but that does not seem to be deterring people.
Having just finished a bottle of the Ansonica, I can report it passed the hardest test – my wife’s approval! We’ll be buying more.
And there’s 10% off all M&S wine, if you buy 4.
Yes, Chris., our household has one of the very stern tests you mention, and it’s not restricted to wine! I am pleased that the Ansonica came through with an A-star.