Puccini Memoro. Vino Rosso Italy

Inky and black at the core - promising.
Rich warm fruit and vanilla spice on the nose, again promising.
Tasting - Rich chocolate, red fruits and a hint of coffee to start, but the best was had, and from there on it fell away and lacked depth, character and real quality oh what a shame. A fun wine for glugging but not going to be remembered for long, though at just over £5 on special offer at Tesco's how dare I complain! A bargain and delightful to start with.
On investigation this wine is made in a New World style, grapes from different regions and different vintages, a first for this type of Italian wine I feel, and on second thoughts would I have thought it was Italian if tasted blind - absolutely not!
Score : 78

Brown Brothers Brut NV King Valley, Victoria

Brown Brothers Brut NV Sparkling wine from the Malawa vineyard in the  King Valley, Victoria. It has aromas reminiscant of apricot, grapefruit and shortbread biscuits, it has fresh zesty acidity and quite a silky texture though the bubbles were large and fierce, flavours of apricot and apple come through on the palate, the length is quite short with a biscuity finish which is pleasant.
It is available from Slurp at a cost of £14.85.
Score : 79

Cellier des Dauphine NV France

Cellier des Dauphine NV  is a red wine from the Côtes du Rhone that is NV - which is Non Vintage, the grapes come from more than one year/vintage, this again is something that is quite 'New World', it is something that only Big Brands can manage to do successfully. The problem is that as soon as anyone sees the NV on a label they think low quality, mass produced...... In this case Cellier des Dauphine is a large producer and this is a good quality mass produced wine! This 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.
On the nose the aromas of baked fruits ( black and red cherry with a hint of blackcurrant) are of medium intensity, and this wine has seen no oak, the fruit aromas are fairly simple - baked and fresh and juicy.
On the palate the wine is dry, but has a slight 'fizz' on the tongue - dissolved CO2, used by many producers  just before bottling to preserve their wines. There is good fresh acidity, warming but well integrated alcohol , silky texture and chalky soft ripe tannins. The length is short and the finish is red pithy fruits - this is after the initial black fruit start. Overall a young fresh wine that is for drinking now, it has been made well, but remember it is a NV wine, mixed grapes produced in bulk in a hot area, and the selling price for this wine is £4.49 from Sainsbury's.
Score : 80