Chez Pierre Blanc 2011 France M&S

Chez Pierre Blanc 2011 is a wine that falls under the new designation of Vin de France ( Vin de Table with no Geographic Indication!) It is a new category which has to be made in France ( anywhere and may have mixed grapes from different region) and can have the variety on the label. It is a way that France sees that it can compete on the wider stage of the New World competative market.
It is supplied by M&S at £5.99 is a blend of 65% Ugni Blanc, 20% Colombard, 10% Gros Manseng and 5% Chardonnay , all this comes in at 11.5% abv. This wine has seen no oak so is fresh, bright and fruity, and this is obvious on both looking at the wine and on the nose, low aromas of pear, apricot, green apple, and honeysuckle with a hint of pea shoots, on the palate this is dry, with tangy acidity and flavours echoed what is on the nose, the length is quite short with a lemony finish. This is a fresh simple wine that lacks real complexity, it has been produced in large volumes and won a bronze at the IWSC .
Score : 80

St. Emilion Taste the Difference from Sainsbury Supermarkets 2009

This Bordeaux St Emilion wine is made for Sainsbury's at the Palais Rohan and is one of the Taste the Difference range, it won a silver medal at the IWSC 2011 ( International Wine Challenge ), a competition which is judged blind by many wine professionals. It costs £9.49 but can sometimes be found on special offer - so watch out for it.
It is a medium ruby and on swirling it the wine forms slow legs - and it just tempts you in with its lovely aromas of smokey vanilla supported by red and black berry fruits and cherry, there is a hint of florality, but it merely hovers on the edge.
On the palate, the fruits are juicy, fresh and clean, the sweet spices from the oak are well integrated but add extra complexity to the silky smooth, ripe tannins, the acidity is bang on and the alcohol really well balanced, there but well stitched in, a great wine at this price, smooth, elegant and juicy fresh!
The finish has a lovely savoury twist to it and the length is OK. After the first few mouthfuls - and believe me there were alot taken of this, a chalky texture became apparent, not unpleasant - just noted! A great wine at the price - well worth a try, and if it is on special offer - a steal!

Quintas das Amoras 2007 Vinho Regional Portugal

Quintas das Amoras 2007 Vinho Regional from Estremadura in Portugal is a white wine made from various grapes that include Arinto and Chardonnay, but Portugese other varieties as well. It has pronounced aromas of apricot, elderflower and ripe apples and a florality to it that was very attractive. It was a dry wine with warming alcohol (though only 12.5%) which was slightly out of balance requiring more acidity to refresh it enough . The silky texture was in line with the full body of the wine  and flavours of apple, apricot and pithy grapefruit were in line with the aromas, but  there was a chemical metallic streak which did not feel in character. Overall a wine from a hot area that had managed to retain the fruity aromatics but needed more acidity to keep it fresh. This wine won a bronze medal at both the 2007 and 2008 International Wine Challenges.

Freemans Bay Pinot Noir 2011 from New Zealand

Freemans Bay Pinot Noir 2011 from both Marlborough and Central Otago in New Zealand, this wine comes from Aldi Supermarkets and at the price of £6.99 it is good value - where can you buy a Pinot from NZ for less that £10? New Zealand has 3 main Pint producing areas, Marlborough ( North end of South Island), Martinborough ( south end of North Island) and Central Otago ( near the south of South Island ), for me - I prefer Martinborough Pinot to the other 2, but Central Otago has a great reputation - I think watch this space.
Now onto the wine - is it good?  It is very, very pale and infact it could nearly be termed a Rose, but on the nose I would recognise it as a Pinot Noir, expressive strawberry, plum with a little vanilla and slightly vegetal, positive I thought. On the palate, good acidity, slightly spirity on the alcohol front ( it is 14%) and not well integrated - but it is young..... maybe with a little time it will integrate better. It has a silky texture, the body feels in the right place and sweet fruits come through beautifully as well as a little licquorice but an out of kilter bitter, nearly pithy finish, so this was the only minor disappointment and maybe this is due to oak usage which again may improve with age. Even so at the price - this is a good quaffing, party wine that will not let you down! And it is an IWSC silver medal winner - tasted blind by a large panel of wine experts - would they have awarded it the medal if they had not tasted it blind, Aldi labelling may have interferred with their judgement. But a cracking wine - BUY, BUY, BUY !

Toro Loco Tempranillo 2011 from the Utiel-Requena DOP Spain from ALDI.

Aldi has done it again !
This wine, Toro Loco Tempranillo 2011 is an IWSC silver medal ( International Wine and Spirits Challange - all wines tasted blind ) winner - and beat many wines 10 times its price, and what was the price - £3.59, and an absolute bargain! Many who have never been to Aldi, and have been put off by the thought of 'pile it high, sell it cheap' and cannot shop without 'brands' need to think again, yes it is cheap, but Aldi now use shelves not boxes on the floor, and they also do have some brands...... but..... I would say alot of the own branded ( or names you have never heard of) items are stunning quality, not all and I am sure they are always working towards perfection, and you can now do most of a weekly shop here at about half the price you pay in many other supermarkets! I tend to go to Aldi for the main items and then Waitrose for the specials - the system works well and I save alot of money and occasionally you come across a stunner at Aldi - such as this Toro Loco Tempranillo 2011 from the Utiel-Requena DOP Spain. Another wine worth trying is the Sparkling wine from the Jura.
Tempranillo is a grape variety that we associate with Rioja and Ribera del Duero, it produces some lovely red fruited, juicy wines,  and wow can it age well, often needing other grapes to help it on its way! This wine is from much further south in the Utiel-Requena region and I had expected it to have a high alcohol content, but it was only 12.5% - so bonus points there too!
Pop your nose in the glass and ripe red fruits hit you which include cherry and raspberry, but also crushed cranberry and some toasty spices, all these come through on the palate, bolstered by some black juicy fruits and vanilla. The finish is long and juicy red fruits with a slight bitter citrus edge - which keeps it fresh and clean and interesting. The savoury, tasty tannins remain intact and ripe, the acidity keeps the fruit fresh and the alcohol merely supports the clever structure of this wine - thankyou Aldi!

Tesco's Finest Douro DOC 2010 Portugal

Tesco's Finest Douro DOC 2010 is a wine that we bought after a Tesco wine tasting in London, I had failed to get round to tasting it there, and ordered a case from them because I quite fancied a slurp...... it was only after I ordered that I realised that it had been discounted and then got another discount from the tasting..... so ended up only paying £3.02 a bottle (instead of around £7 per bottle), I will try to stop this clouding my judgement slightly!

Anyway, to get to the wine itself, it is deep ruby and has black glints at the rim which is wide. On the nose it has a jammy black fruit character wrapped in warm spices, not unpleasant but warning that this is a young wine from a hot area I felt. When I tasted it the influence of the jamminess continues on the palate, cherry and blackcurrants in abundance and chunky oak spiciness, the fresh acidity supplys a happy lift to the wine and the alcohol does not feel over warm. The tannins are quite green and chalky, drying on the mouth. Overall I did not find the wine unenjoyable, but it felt a little disjointed, chunky oak, jammy fruit and a slightly hollow mid palate, but at this price - who am I to complain! Maybe it will improve with time - if I let it......
The wine maker is Antonia Barbosa and this is a wine that has won quite a few awards, IWSC and Decanter so go forth and enjoy.

Loredona Pinot Noir 2007 USA

Loredona, Monterey Pinot Noir 2007 made by the Delicato family - they have been in the business of making wine for 80+ years now in their 3rd generation of wine making and  committed to environmentally sensitive and sustainable agricultural farming practices, and this wine was amazing at the price ( we paid £7 for it, no idea where we got it from, but online no doubt). They were U.S. Winery of the Year in 2006, 2002 and 2001- International Wine & Spirit Competition, so they have pedigree and understand their pinots.
The wine had more colour than some Pinot Noirs I have tasted, but the ruby core had a slight browning to the rim, showing a little age. The fruit forward aromas of cherry and ripe plums had a good mix of sweet spices as well as a hint at licquorice and smokey tobacco, it invited you in for your first taste.
Sweet red and black fruits enrobed by tobacco and sweet spices are supported by well integrated (13.5%) alcohol and kept fresh by the swish acidity, the tannins are velvet smooth and ripe - tasty, lovely textural wine in the mouth. The length was long, sweet spices and liquorice dominate - but good to the end! The alcohol on the finish is slightly warm, but adds structure - a lovely wine even at double the money - thanks to the Dedicato family!