In any research among MidWeek Wine subscribers, one words surfaces continually “confusion”.
Here are some of the things you tell me:
- “I always find myself completely overwhelmed when standing looking at wine aisles.”
- It is a struggle “to make sense of the wine aisles where literally hundreds of wines lurk”
- It is good to get “the chance to browse in a supermarket but then I confuse myself with the amount of choice”
- “The market is hugely competitive … my challenge is to get advice to ease me in the right direction.”
So, picking up on Sophie’s challenge (the last bullet point) here are a handful of pointers.
Providing others is one of the full-time tasks of this site, but these three simple suggestions can help.
I hesitate to use the overworked phrase “Cheat Sheet” but these are potential short-cuts that apply to three specific areas.
In each case an example is included.
In the usual way, hyperlinks and pictures are used where possible in those illustrations to help you locate the bottle in question.
An important extra letter.
A high classification level for Italian wines, and one that usually appears on the label, is DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata).
This imposes important quality controls that limit production areas and methods as well as permitted yields and grape varieties.
It has many similarities to France’s Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée.
Italy, however, has a level above DOC by adding “garantita” – indicating even more rigorous requirements are applied.
They are designed to protect the authenticity of a (usually) prestigious wine and include evaluations by a government-licensed tasting panel.
Consequently, that extra letter (in DOCG) is well worth seeking out.
Obviously, however, it does not guarantee that you will like the wine but it does tip things helpfully in your favour.
Let’s use Prosecco as an example
There are two DOCG regions in the Prosecco area and the best known is Conegliano Valdobbiadene with its elevated vineyards.
Sometimes only one of those names appears on the label but DOCG is the signal you are looking for.
The other (smaller) area is Asolo – just to the south and home to this example.
Frozen Lily Asolo Prosecco (Currently around £11 at Asda – but often on promotion – and 11% abv) is rounded with fresh orchard fruit aromas.
It also features soft melon, pear and peach flavours within a creamy texture.
This is underpinned by sharp acidity and a complexity and subtlety typical of its Asolo DOCG region.
That last part contrasts with the greater vibrancy and crispness of Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG versions.
Now a tip applicable to France.
Within the enormous Côtes du Rhône area, there is a clear hierarchy.
At the basic level, around three quarters of the region’s red wines (from over 170 communes) can be labelled simply as Côtes du Rhône.
However, wines one level up (and in 80 to 90 selected communes) can add “Villages” to that basic CdR label.
Here geographic extents are more tightly controlled and the maximum yields are lower – hence, quality and authenticity tend to be better.
What is less well-known is that there is another (higher) level to the “Villages” category.
A mere 21 communes are entitled to add their own village name after “Villages”.
They have earned that right by a combination of extra restrictions and a reputation for consistently providing enhanced quality.
Some of the names may be familiar (e.g. Côtes du Rhône Plan de Dieu) but just look for something that looks like a village name on the label.
Google it if you want to make sure.
Often these wines are only a pound or so dearer but can be at an appreciably higher level.
And, for the example
Sablet is a commune just to the north of Gigondas and has a reputation for wines that are ready sooner than some of the sturdy options from other communes.
2023 Best Côtes Du Rhône Villages Sablet (£9.75 at Morrisons and 14%) is a powerful and skilfully configured Rhône red with attractive fruit aromas.
Its centre-piece is savoury based damson, cherry and mocha flavours.
These are ably supported by firm tannin and good acidity together with suggestions of mint, aniseed and liquorice.
Now to South America.
I think the name of Mendoza in Argentina is pretty familiar now – especially in relation to malbec.
However, Mendoza is a massive area covering over 500 square miles and, for wine production, containing five sub-regions.
But, one to look out for is the Uco Valley.
It has vineyards at height and that means temperatures are warm, rather than baking hot.
That means that nights can be cool, which also slows ripening processes leaving the grapes with higher levels of acidity – and hence freshness.
They also seem to have thicker skins thereabouts so the wine colour can be darker.
All those things are positives so, to help the selection process among the vast range of malbecs, seek out that three letter word “Uco” on the label.
Onto the final example.
Slightly richer wine than the entry point option (Reserve but not so “private”) this is indeed sourced from Argentina’s Uco Valley.
As hinted at earlier, there, the altitude, low humidity, big temperature variations and water availability from Andean snow melt encourages more concentrated and complex wines.
Dark and quite dense, 2023 Trivento Malbec Private Reserve (£11 at Tesco but may be on promotion elsewhere – and 13.5%) exhibits smooth damson, cherry and raspberry flavours.
Supplementary components include a perfumed opening, espresso and cocoa elements, bold acidity, and a hint of cinnamon but, in line with current consumer preferences, relatively little tannin.
Tune in again on Monday when value at budget price points is, once more, the theme of my latest Top Tips post.
17 responses
Hi Brian
For the past week, Aldi have had a Prosecco Valdobbiadene DOCG as their Wine of the Week. It was reduced from £7.99 to a frankly ridiculous £4.99, for a wine of that quality level
The offer officially ended on Wednesday, but it’s still on the website, so there might be some left in stores
Dave
Occasionally my suppressed artistic/ creative side bubbles uncontrollably to the surface.
Wine labels are a case in point.
Here are a few light-hearted helpful pointers.
I am predisposed to like a wine with a bird on the label.Not an ascending flight of three – too vulgar.But a nice, well drawn colourful birdie-but under no circumstances- a dropping* of pigeons. Which is why I like the very good Vina Zorzal wines. Ornithological wines are top of the tree.
Going down the pecking order to second, has to be- a sheep, this time a flock is better.Gives me a sense of “ hiraeth”**. A crisp, clear Italian pecorino rather than a sodden, cloud covered hillside in Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Third now.A nice flower- can’t go wrong, as long as it is not a naff bouquet. SA wine with the Bird of Paradise flower, bound to be good.
Next to bottom, any label with a celebrity name on it ,or JAMMY.
At rock bottom and an automatic refusal to buy, is any human face- especially one of a fictitious criminal. Ugh!
Totally irrational, I know, but sometimes the right side of the brain wins.
*Collective noun.
* *Hiraeth -very difficult to translate- something like “nostalgia in the present.”
Goats are good too .. the WS used to sell a fine South African Chenin Blanc called “Goats do Roam.”
Love your hierarchical approach! (And “pecking order”)
Thank you! There is a lot of great short-hand guidance packed into one column. I’m memorising it now!
Thanks everyone for a really insightful article, these tips will certainly help clear the confusion .
Picking up on today’s theme the terms “Riserva” (Italian) and “Reserva” (Spanish) are interesting. They are legally defined terms for longer ageing requirements and the assumption is that the wine will be more complex / more nuanced. I’ve bought a few riserva / reserva wines in the past that have disappointed, essentially because they were past their best and somewhat tired. A keenly priced riserva/reserva in a discounter might not be quite the bargain you wished for !
Hi Brian,
Prosecco DOCG has served me after reading your posts and “Val and Deb” come to mind – most probably a twist on your piece but very memorable for me and passed on to friends and family.
I would love to know how Aldi DOCG Prosecco at £3.99 in England is achieved!
Kind regards,
Richard.
During the Great Debate on Morrisons Best Block I mentioned my Aldi trip to get their current week discounts including the WOTW Prosecco DOCG that Brummie Dave also describes. I bought several because for the money it was exceptionally good value for a bottle that would easily give any French crément at twice the price a run for its money.
Similarly the Soave Classico at an astonishing £3.99 was superb value for very pleasant chilled drinking during this last week. OK they looked like lost leaders at the discounted prices but on the basis of we should never look that gift horse in the mouth I was up for spending money … but it turned out not to be a lot of money!
The Bowler and Brolly Pinot Noir rosé was reduced too, to £5.99 that gladdened my taste buds. Now there’s an interesting label that my wife remarked on, posh women playing tennis, bowler-hated city types with umbrellas, bowler-hatted, drawn on the label that Aldi have adopted for their English offerings. Somewhat old-fashione stereotypical of something that is supposed to be very ”English”. Dear me … Beware the White Cuvée though. Too much money at £10.99 when their superior, delicious, Costière de Nîmes is only £7.99.
That’s not to say I avoided an £11 bottle at Asda, (now £11.78), last year when Brian first flagged it up, I indulged in the Aloso Frozen Lily Prosecco and its sister Frozen Rose, waited on a deal as usual and had £3 a bottle off. A real cut above even the best Coneg-Valdob though I know there are those who eschew any enthusiasm for any Prosecco for reasons best known to themselves. Maybe they struggle to indulge in such populist bliss as Prosecco is marketed to the masses. Anyway, they were terrific bottles of bubbles that my wife and me so enjoyed.
As for the appreciation for the superficial pictorial labelling of wine bottles there is much to be understood about where the promotions people are coming from. They know their job after all. If the words are troublesome, they can be the way Brian describes them for sure, then pretty pictures seemingly are not.
So when Porta 6 hit the shelves with its cartoon depiction of a Lisbon tram scene, wow!, wasn’t that striking and Saturday Morning Kitchen was in like a rat up a pipe. Closely followed by Iceland’s Rabo de Gallo that coincidentally was wine from a similar location. Sainsbury’s own Lisboa was more restrained but they were all ”at it”! I buy that Iceland offering btw on a Tuesday, with a 10% old-folks discount card.
Brought up as I was on pen and ink drawings on labels of the Bordeaux Château from whence came the wines, I understand that it’s a bit of a tradition in that locale and represents something of the kudos that estate owners might derive from having their house as the promotional feature. But nevertheless it’s what’s in the bottle that counts more that as we know from ongoing anxieties about problematic cheap but decent claret continues as a vexation.
Here’s a thing though with the French AOC classification and all it represents. it’s missing from a the new style wines punted at us from Languedoc, often not cheap, especially by artisan wine makers who will/can only use the Wine Of France descriptor. I copy and paste from a site called Dis&Dis that gets there succinctly … viz …
”Vin de France literally translates to “Wine of France” and typically indicates basic table wine with the least amount of regulation. Does this mean they’re lesser in quality? Not always. Sometimes, winemakers choose to forego AOC or IGP rules to experiment with unique blends and unconventional grape varieties.
A standout example? The legendary Loire Valley producer, Liber Pater, created a 2015 “Vin de France” wine that broke all AOC rules—and still sold for an eye-watering $5,500 a bottle!”
The French table wine I used to buy 45 years ago was something in the order of 40 pence a bottle. Calvet Rouge was a favourite, a 3-pack for £1. On y va indeed ….
The Trivento Private Reserve Malbec 2023 was at £11.75 today in Sainsbury’s ,but with a nectar card discount of £2.50 ,so down to £9.25.I noticed the wine had 95 IWSC points and 92 from Tim Atkin.
There was a promotion of buy three from selected wines and get 25% off.I don’ t think the Malbec was included.I only had a look at the white wines , but had the impression that prices have shot up, even with 25% off.
Yes, I completely agree that one can be overwhelmed at the wine aisles. And it doesn’t help that some of the long held stereotypes no longer apply – e.g. not all Australian reds are blockbusters or their whites over-oaked, or that Austrian wines are now reliable and consistently good. So the range of viable choices is increasing not decreasing!
Anytime I am in a supermarket I happily browse the shelves and photograph any new or interesting bottles, and later do a bit of research to see if they feature in MWW (the search facility works well) or in other reviews. But I appreciate that not everyone has the time to indulge in such nerdy activities.
But it is surprising how often a friend will mention that a recently drunk wine was really lovely, or perhaps really horrible. “Oh, what was that, I enquire” to which the reply is often that they can’t remember!
So a good idea is to take a picture on your phone of memorable bottles (good or horrible). So you might well start to spot some common themes, and thus narrow your taste preferences. Or, if in an indie wine merchant, or somewhere with knowledgeable staff, e.g. Majestic or Waitrose you can use these to indicate the sort of wines you like. And of course, if a Wine Society member, you can email their dedicated team of advisors – they advise, not sell, so no pressure. I use them occasionally if I am, say, planning a comparative home tasting – e.g. “Could you give some suggestions for less well known fruity, lighter weight red wines, around a £12 price point?” Or if you are planning a formal dinner, say for your in-laws, your boss or an important client, you could send through your proposed menu, and desired wine price points, and any known preferences, and they will send through suggestions. And whatever you choose from their list will be quickly delivered, at no charge. Thus avoiding wine aisle anxiety altogether! Good local Indies should also be able to provide such a service.
Of course if you attend an in-person tasting, you can fast-track finding your personal preferences, and taking phone pictures of bottles at a tasting is accepted etiquette – I do it all the time. The Majestic (free) drop in tasting sessions are pretty informal, and a good starting place for wine tastings.
I also find the wine descriptions and food suitabilities on the back of bottles, especially the supermarket ranges, particularly helpful and generally accurate. So having arrived at a tentative supermarket shortlist, perusal of the back labels will narrow your selection further. Then onto the serious business of looking at the front labels and picking the one with prettiest label, using Paul’s helpful guidelines!
The Trivento Malbec today in Asda was selling at £8.97 down £2 from £10.97.
Sunday is the last day of the Morrisons Block deal at 25% off 6 bottles
Hi Andy et al,
According to John Morris of Morrison’s there are only small stocks of the Block Series wines- enough to last a month or two at most.I do think that Morrisons should be commended as this initiative shows progression and intent.
I have just had the Portuguese Godelho which I have no problem with recommending.More later.
I also have no problem with Morrisons trying to sell me a £20 bottle of wine,if it is worth £20.After all TWS try to sell me a sweet Reisling at £38 and no one bats an eyelid!
Lastly,despite there being no birds,sheep,flowers on the Block wine labels -I do like them,rather classy.And the info on the back is actually useful as opposed to the normal marketing guff!
Hi Paul, I thought of you at the Wine Society’s “Wine Champions” tasting event on Friday.
My favourite wine was a 2023 Vanguardist ‘Oeno” McLaren Vale Grenache, 13.4% ABV. It was just lovely and would very much appeal to lovers of serious Pinot Noirs. AND it had a most elegant label featuring both a plant and bird … Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primose) & Coturnix Pectoralis (Stubble Quail)!
It is just a tad expensive to dwell on here, but there were plenty of other great value wines, sub £10!
Blow the budget!
You have already sold it to me on quality and the label.
Only one tiny improvement is possible and that is perhaps asking too much ,to have an Ovis Aries wandering about on that wonderful label.
However Hugh Hamilton McLaren Vale do a Shiraz called “The Black Sheep” with the engaging tag line “Every family has one”!
First off Brian the Lidl Rosado came through for me. Was well appreciated at chez nous both for its enjoyable characteristics and £6.99 price tag. Sweet fruit, dry finish, some body and length, well chilled it was gone in a flash with a Euro-sliced-meat salad. Hard to fault it really.
Reading your Daily Record piece we seem back to normality today, and not wine stocks with variable distribution and availability and very quickly unachievably available after just a couple of months on the shelf that is hardly progressive customer marketing in my book. And bottles that are not 20 quid a pop that wouldn’t be bought by me when lots of others are, even at a quality specialist retailer like TWS frinstance. whose many bottles are under 10 quid.
The two reds you propose Brian in the Daily Record on Saturday last I’ve had before. I wouldn’t swear to it but the now South African Cinsault World Atlas Series years ago might have been in its first incarnation from the south of France. No matter, for a lighter red to chill a little, this WAS bottle now will always score high with me and get me where I want to be with this cépage.
The Sainsbury’s House bottle Pinot Noir is an interesting one . I had it several years ago when the range arrived, at around £4.75. So no great price hike since then but nevertheless can never feature in a 25% of buy 6.
Cheap enough anyway I suppose, but there are plenty of slightly more expensive reds when discounted on a deal that will be cheaper than the House Pinot Noir. The long gone Marzemino Trentino was a case in point. Full price £8, Nectar price £7 … 25% off and £5.25.
I tried a couple of this Pinot Noir, and the Soave too and didn’t return to either. But I’ll get a bottle of the PN next week when I’m in to see if it might be worth stocking up thinking all about objective application where a wine like this sits.
To have it stored in a cool location to pull out for “just a glass of red”. A bit like TWS French PN in their 2.25l box, cheap enough to have around for what it can deliver when opening an expensive bottle is less appropriate. Aleesha Hansel quoted in Hannah Crosbie’s column in Saturday’s Guardian says as much too, about appropriate chilled reds suitable for summer barbecue’s that do the trick as per such occasions.
To me this House Series might only be about maintaining what first we encounter that satisfies the circumstances and sensibilities that isn’t 20 quid a pop when there’s no deal on.
No single vineyards or vintages here with these House bottles and sometimes of variable quality year on year. Maintaining supplies to fill any bottle with continuing acceptability is problematic. Too often we hear the complaint that regular users recognition of quality becomes compromised where their previous fave is involved when the stuff in the bottle comes from a new supplier. I shall try this latest incarnation of House Pinot and report back.
PS An interesting piece in the Observer from David Williams Sunday past speaking of problematic climate stuff especially relatable to Burgundy down to Languedoc and the domino effect working back-over. Burgundy becoming too hot for Pinot Noir so Gamay Noir moves north and Syrah moves up from the northern Rhône replacing Gamay while Grenache (GSM) from the southern Rhône to replace the Syrah. Conceding it’s not so straightforward as that the ability to grow specific, somewhat temperamental fruit is definitely challenged.
TWS’s own Exhibition Fleurie Beaujolais at £12.50 gets the nod for a weekend treat.