Angela Mount's Top 10 Recommendations From Tesco Wines
This year Tesco have been scooping up the wine gongs, winning both Decanter's Supermarket of the Year award in September, and the International Wine and Spirit Competition Retailer of the Year earlier this month. As well as this, the wine team have just added to the range of Tesco Finest wines with some new, quirky selections, from Slovenia to Southern Italy. With this in mind, I've recently been tasting a selection of their wines, and here is my own top 10 from their Finest selection, including a couple of their new arrivals.
Tesco Finest Prosecco
A worthy winner of a silver medal in the IWSC competition last year, this zippy, fragrant, lively style of Prosecco makes it the perfect, refreshing party drink, or evening pick me up. Styles of Prosecco differ, and this one is on the citrusy side, with a zesty fragrance of sherbet lemons, and a clean, lemon and white peach character on the palate. An upbeat, fresh, gently fruity and very refreshing style, with a delicate stream of bubbles.
Tesco Finest Premier Cru Champagne
I scored this as my best buy last year in my champagne review for the Daily Mail. I chaired the judging panel for the Quality Food and Drink awards, where we gave this the top gong over other supermarket champagnes – so this one really does speak for itself! Silky smooth, with a fine thread of bubbles, it just oozes star quality, with its glorious, toasty flavours, ripe, warm, peachy aromas, and gentle, creamy finish. A supremely well balanced champagne, which knocks the socks off many of the big brands, with its style, verve and elegance. Equally good as a celebration drink, or for the ultimate in indulgence treats – champagne and fish and chips – believe me, it does work!
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Tesco Finest Picpoul De Pinet
Picpoul de Pinet is a relatively new arrival to the wine fashion stakes, and has graced many a terrace bar, barbecue and picnic this summer. But it’s not just a summer white; it has a lovely, zesty freshness, which makes it perfect with seafood all year round. Picpoul is the name of the grape, and it’s grown on the shores of the Mediterranean in Southern France. It’s lively, zippy, and tangy, with vibrant aromas and flavours of freshly cut lemons, green apples, with a hint of fresh fennel on the finish. Bone dry, but with fullness and real character, it’s just the wine for the new oyster season, and for pan fried white fish, or a bowl of steaming mussels.
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Tesco Finest Albarino
From the wet and windy region of Rias Baixas, high in north western Spain, comes this fragrant, full flavoured dry white from the increasingly popular Albarino grape. With its bright, green-gold colour, and ripe aromas of peach, chamomile flowers and lemon peel, it is bone dry, but full in style, with lingering flavours of peach, and ripe pear, ending with a little twist of fresh dill on the finish, and a floral edge. It’s got great character and would be a great match with smoked fish, lightly spiced prawns, fragrant fish stew, spicy tapas, and lemon and herb chicken.
Tesco Finest Pecorino
This is a new addition to the Tesco Finest range, and it’s great to see them introducing some of the lesser known Italian white wines. This is a limpid, textured dry white, with lovely flavours, produced in the rugged hills of the Abruzzo region on the Adriatic coast of Italy, from the Pecorino grape (which is thought to be named after the sheep that graze the hills and eat the grapes!). It has charm and character, with bold, enticing, very fresh aromas of peaches, acacia honey, whilst the flavours are delightful – ripe, fruity, yet very savoury, mingling ripe pear, a touch of white peach and a brush of lemon thyme – very fresh, and I love the vibrant finish with it herbal tang – I’d enjoy this on its own but it’s a superb food wine, particularly, goats cheese salad, garlic and chilli spiked prawns, herb crusted chicken, and creamy seafood linguine.
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Tesco Finest Sauvignon Blanc Furmint
Top marks to Tesco for pushing the boat into unchartered territories and making a stand for quality wine from Slovenia. Produced up in the hills bordering Austria and Croatia, by a family owned company, who only set up 5 years ago, it’s a zesty, fruity delight, with mouth-popping freshness. The blend of internationally renowned Sauvignon, with the fresh, quirky, but undiscovered Furmint is very clever. This is really putting Slovenia back on the wine map, and I urge you to try it – zippy, zesty and lively as a spring lamb, it has a delightful green apple, and greengage freshness to it; it bounces around the palate with bursts of ripe gooseberries, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, a hint of fresh marjoram and a whack of freshly cut granny smith apple! Racy, vibrant, with a refreshing acidity, it will be a delight with crispy salads, pan-fried fish, seafood pasta, goat’s cheese and beetroot, and will also cope beautifully with Thai- inspired dishes. One for my fridge this winter!
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Tesco Finest Frappato
Hats off to Tesco for helping UK wine drinkers discover more and more little-known grape varieties - this latest, joyously fruity red is from the hills in western Sicily, and unlike many of the fuller Sicilian powerhouses, it’s entrancing in its freshness, verve, and juicy liveliness. Produced up in the relative coolness of the hills, from a grape that is not often seen outside Sicily, it’s a real find and a must for those of you who either prefer lighter reds, or don’t think you like reds. Please try this one, it’s just such a cheerful, friendly, approachable mouthful of delicious fruitiness, with no harsh tannins, no big burly oak flavours and at a refreshing 13% alcohol, it’s a more balanced experience altogether. Bursting with juicy strawberry, raspberry and blackberry fruit, with a brush of southern heat and Sicilian herbs, I was thrilled by the ripe cherry flavours and the sheer fresh, juiciness of it all. Try it with vegetable and tomato pasta dishes; Mediterranean chicken stews; and it’s also a great red for meaty fish dishes, such as monkfish, and even better served slightly chilled. Given its proximity to North Africa, it’s also a match made in heaven for fruity tagines.
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Tesco Finest Garnacha
The fresh, bright, juicy berry fruit character that leap out of the glass in this Spanish red, is just great! This is a lively, bold, fruity young red, with rich, yet very soft and vibrant blackberry and cherry fruit, with a dash of damson jam in there too. Made in the northern region of Navarra, from the Spanish Garnacha grape, it’s delightfully fresh, with a brush of herbs and pepper on the finish, and a soft, smooth finish. This would a good wine to try with sausages, chorizo and bean stew, meaty pasta dishes, and would also work well with paprika spiced chicken fajitas.
Tesco Finest Cotes Du Rhone Villages
I love the heady aroma of this wine, so reminiscent of Southern France, with notes of ripe figs, black cherries and the tang of wild herbs. Cotes du Rhone is in southern France, and generally made from a blend of Grenache, Carignan, Syrah and Mourvedre. This wine beckons you in to try it, just from the character that wafts from the glass when you swirl it. There’s loads of ripe, bold black fruit flavours, a twist of black pepper, and lots of savoury thyme, as well as a hint of lavender. I’d love to drink this with thyme and rosemary dusted lamb cutlets, rich, meaty stews, lamb shanks with olives and a rich sauce, or simply with a plate of mature cheese. It delivers a huge amount of flavor at a great price – great character.
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Tesco Finest Chateauneuf Du Pape
A deep, powerful intense red, with a glorious softness and richness all rolled into one, from one of France’s most classic regions. It’s got rich, beguiling aromas of baked plums, cinnamon spiced cherries, and poached figs, with a few sprigs of thyme thrown in. Whilst it’s undoubtedly full-bodied, it has a velvety, smooth texture and flavours of spiced black fruits, spice, licorice and a twist of black pepper on the finish. Lots of flavor is packed in, but the tannins are soft, and the wine has a lovely balance. Ideal with slow cooked roast lamb, rich stews, all manner of game and pot roast beef. It has to be up there on the list of perfect winter reds.
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*This article is showing the prices and stock available on 22/11/2013.