An extensive Sainsbury’s promotion is currently under way but I have picked out three wines on offer in the £6-8 range (plus one from their on-going list) that I feel typify what is good about the Taste the Difference range.
Although these discounts end on 6 October, the judgements on the wines themselves should hold good for at least three months from the time of the post.
Click on – and bookmark – any of the bottles shown for an enlarged image that will help you find the wine on a crowded shelf.
A key to good pinot grigio
Trentino on the label is usually a good signal to pinot grigio enthusiasts; the Alpine climate and altitude there holds back ripening and, hence, allows its wines to keep their acidic liveliness.
For example, the typical aromatic, tropical fruit backbone of 2014 Taste the Difference Pinot Grigio Trentino (two for £12 – or £6 a bottle in Scotland – instead of £8) is masterfully counterbalanced by refreshing white peach crispness.
Or for more depth and complexity
Meanwhile, 500 miles further south the delicate but often overlooked greco grape reveals a more mellow and complex side to Italian whites.
The soft (vaguely sweet) apple influences in 2013 Taste the Difference Greco di Tufo (£8 instead of £10) neatly contrast with the wine’s mixture of peach centred depth, tangerine based acidity and gentle savoury components.
A red finally gets its podium place
Now head back north to Piemont for a grape variety that, suddenly, the world has started to love – as its juicy, fresh style and versatile food matching capacity becomes more widely recognised.
Enjoy then the smooth and aromatic 2013 Taste the Difference Barbera d’Asti (£6 instead of £8) with its ripe, red currant and red cherry fruit, chocolate and vanilla backdrop and minimal tannin.
Classy Oz take on a Bordeaux blend
Leaving Europe behind, let’s see what a veteran winery in Australia’s Barossa Valley – classic shiraz country – does with a Bordeaux blend of merlot and both main cabernets.
Silky – yet with graphite depth – 2013 Taste the Difference Chateau Tanunda Barossa Blend (£10 and not currently on offer) superimposes nutty, mocha and spice layers upon the wine’s central bramble and damson fruit and lively blackcurrant acidity.
