Waitrose will be featuring 13 specially sourced small parcel wines from a wide range of less well-known appellations like Quincy, Bergerac, Provence and Lirac and the [...]]]> The French Wine Festival at Waitrose (online and in its stores) runs from 26 March to 27 April 2008 and will feature a total of 48 wines.

Waitrose will be featuring 13 specially sourced small parcel wines from a wide range of less well-known appellations like Quincy, Bergerac, Provence and Lirac and the wonderfully unusual Pierre Boniface Domaine des Rocailles Apremont de Savoie 2007 and La Bastide Blanche Bandol 2005 Provence.

Some highlights:

Champagne Taittinger Rose NV, save £7, £38.99 – £31.99 (A delightfully fresh and youthful pink champagne with mouth-wateringly delicate flavours of crushed wild raspberries and red cherries, perfect forearly summer as an aperitif or with strawberries. )

Vouvray AC Champteloup Vieux Vauvert 2006/07 Vouvray, 20% off, £5.99 – £4.79 (A fine, medium Chenin from the tuffeau terroir properties around the towns of Vouvray and Rochecorbon, famous for the production of these deliciously soft-textured, waxy wines.)

Bergerac AC Domaine des Eyssards Bergerac Rouge 2005 25% off, £5.99 – £4.49 (Another brilliant wine from Pascal Cuisset of Domaine des Eyssards in Bergerac. A traditional Merlot / Cabernet Franc blend yet with a soft,almost modern generosity in the mid-palate.)

Mercurey AC Blanc 2006, Philippe Hardi, 20% off, £13.99- £10.99 (A Burgundy Chardonnay using a combination of modern cool-ferment vinification followed by malolactic in barrel where the wine stays for a year, with regular lees stirring, to achieve theunmistakeable classic Burgundy signature with some modern fruit expression.)

Quincy AC (Loire) Domaine de la Pierre qui Danse 2006 Quincy, 20% off, £8.99 – £7.19. (Simple delicate, grassy style from this Domaine with its pretty name, the land of the dancing stones.)

Apremont de Savoie AC Pierre Boniface Domaine des Rocailles 2007, 20% off, £7.49 – £5.99 (a refreshing citrus acidity and a light grapefruit flavour.)

Lirac AC Domaine du Joncier 2005 Rhône, save 1/3, £8.99 – £5.99 (The Domaine is run by the charming Marine Roussell, who featured last year in Oz and James’ Great Wine Adventure. The wine is dense and beefy, with a good deal of brooding rich fruit and great concentration.)

Bandol AC La Bastide Blanche 2005 Provence, 25% off, £11.99 – £8.99 (Hugely impressive example of this most remarkable of appellations using the traditional Mourvedre grape as the backbone to the wine. …it encompasses the spice and complexities of Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan as well as the black, damson fruit of Mourvedre andSyrah.)

Minervois AC Château Maris Organic Syrah 2006, 25% off, £7.99 – £5.99 (An extremely lively Syrah from the irrepressible Bertie Eden at his Biodynamic estate in the Minervois. This is full of bright and peppery raspberry fruit, with a twist of liquorice and is a highly drinkable style.)

Waitrose Wine Direct

Initially, Sainsbury’s will offer two own label wines in the new PET bottle: A New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and an Australian Rosé which, if successful, will be rolled out to other [...]]]> Sainsbury’s is trialling its own label PET wine bottle in a project supported by the government funded Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

Initially, Sainsbury’s will offer two own label wines in the new PET bottle: A New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and an Australian Rosé which, if successful, will be rolled out to other wines. The new wine bottle looks exactly the same as a glass bottle, holds the same amount of liquid but where a regular glass wine bottle weighs 400 grams this new bottle is just 54 grams.

While many wine aficionados prefer estate-bottled wine these two are bottled in the UK. Bulk shipping reduces the environmental impact of transportation, which again will reduce the impact of carbon emissions. Moving wine bottles from glass to PET could significantly contribute to Sainsbury’s new target of reducing CO2 emissions by 25% by 2012; outlined along with other tough targets in its ‘corporate responsibility report’.

Sainsbury’s PET New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc will be priced at £4.99 and Australian Rose at £3.99 and will be available from early August.

Shuttle is a single-serve 25cl wine bottle in which the plastic wine glass also serves as the screwcap closure for the bottle. Initially launched in Australia its popularity was such that Hardys took the decision to launch [...]]]> The innovative single-serve ‘Shuttle’, first mentioned over on Spittoon last December will soon be available from Sainsbury’s.

Shuttle is a single-serve 25cl wine bottle in which the plastic wine glass also serves as the screwcap closure for the bottle. Initially launched in Australia its popularity was such that Hardys took the decision to launch it in the UK. The Hardys Shuttle will be available exclusively at Sainsbury’s from 11th April 2007.

Michelle Smith, Sainsbury’s wine buyer says: “all good things come is small packaging and this is no exception. These little self contained bottles are perfect for picnics and festivals. I imagine they will do very well this summer”.

The Hardys Shuttle will initially be in available two styles, Hardys Stamp of Australia Semillon Chardonnay and Hardys Stamp of Australia Shiraz Cabernet and will retail for £2.49.

The Which? tasting saw own-label Champagnes beating the big names brands, including bestsellers Moët & Chandon. Sainsbury’s [...]]]> After appearing as the Which? Best Buy Champagne in December sales of Sainbury’s Taste the Difference Vintage Champagne grew by 3000 per cent! Sales were so high that half a years stock has already been sold.

The Which? tasting saw own-label Champagnes beating the big names brands, including bestsellers Moët & Chandon. Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Premier Cru Vintage 2000 was praised for its ‘elegance and class’ by the six professional tasters.

Somerfield’s Prince William Premier Cru won the award for Exceptional Value and was one of the top-ranked champagnes, noted for its ‘maturity’ and ‘elegance’. Six of the top ten Champagnes were supermarket own labels; Tesco Premier Cru, which came top in the last survey in 2002, came seventh this time round. Big-name brands Lanson Black Label and Veuve Clicquot gained respectable fourth and joint fifth positions.

Sainsbury’s currently list the Taste the Difference Premier Cru Vintage 2000 at £21.84 a bottle (online).

One user claims to have had his bill reduced from £448.52 down to just £182.52.

Sainsbury’s has gotten wind of the scam – this is a scam rather than [...]]]> The Mirror has reported on some ‘special’ code released on the internet that allows users of Sainsbury’s website to gain huge discounts off drink prices.

One user claims to have had his bill reduced from £448.52 down to just £182.52.

Sainsbury’s has gotten wind of the scam – this is a scam rather than a controlled marketing action – and has made adjustments stating that it was blocking future purchases using multiple voucher codes and freezing any orders that have not already been delivered.

The Mirror reporter,Ruki Sayid, Consumer Editor, obviously hasn’t really got his finger on the pulse claiming that “Two weeks ago secret codes for 40 per cent savings at off-licence chain Thresher were leaked on to the net.”

don’t feel you have to buy big-name champagnes if you want a good drinking experience. But also don’t feel you have to buy champagne if you are making a ‘champagne cocktail’ like buck’s fizz or kir royale because the taste will be lost – a [...]]]> According to Which? the message is simple –

don’t feel you have to buy big-name champagnes if you want a good drinking experience. But also don’t feel you have to buy champagne if you are making a ‘champagne cocktail’ like buck’s fizz or kir royale because the taste will be lost – a sparkling wine will do. Unless, of course, you want to have the cachet of champagne, in which case it is another matter.

A tasting of 32 Champagnes and sparkling wines – ranging from Moet & Chandon NV down to a cheap supermarket cava – saw Sainsbury’s Premier Cru vintage 2000, (£22.99 on offer at £17.99 until 12 December) soaring above the rest. The judges praised the own-label offering for its “elegance and class” and “biscuity complexity”.

Poor old Moet came in at the 20th position.

Somerfield’s 2 Prince William Premier Cru Champagne NV (£14.99) was second, Pierre Gimonnet & Fils 1er Cru ‘Gastronome’ (£19.99 Oddbins) third and, surprisingly because I have always disliked it, Lanson Black Label NV was fourth.

If you are making use of the Threshers 40% Off Voucher then their Radcliffes de Brissar Champagne NV at £24.99 may be a good purchase, coming in at fifth.

The top 20 can be viewed on the Independent.

Red Heart, an Australian wine, is the first to be sold extolling its medicinal qualities. Info abounds on the role that antioxidants play and those found in red wine are often cited as [...]]]> From Friday a new wine will be available from Sainsbury’s; it’s unique selling point is that it is a ‘healthy wine’.

Red Heart, an Australian wine, is the first to be sold extolling its medicinal qualities. Info abounds on the role that antioxidants play and those found in red wine are often cited as offering significant health benefits, especially to the heart.

This particular bottle has be formed to contain 32% more of antioxidants than is found in the average red wine. Initially Sainsbury’s will be listing it at £3.99 a bottle, rising to £4.99 in the new year.

The supermarket said,

Our body produces antioxidants, which remove these free radicals, however, to be more effective they need to be supplemented by antioxidants from our diet. This is why moderate consumption of red wine and a healthy diet can improve our health and increase longevity.

It is not yet listed on the Sainsbury’s website.

Sainsbury’s Champagne Blanc de Noirs, Sainsbury’s £13.99 Clocktower Pinot Noir, New Zealand, Marks & Spencer £9.99 Katnook Cabernet, Australia Waitrose £13.99 Jadot Côte [...]]]> New magazine, Fine Wine, has pubished an article on supermarket wines. They nominate Marks and Spencer as Best Supermarket and list four wines as ‘Excellent Wines Representing Good Value For Money’:

Sainsbury’s Champagne Blanc de Noirs, Sainsbury’s £13.99
Clocktower Pinot Noir, New Zealand, Marks & Spencer £9.99
Katnook Cabernet, Australia Waitrose £13.99
Jadot Côte de Beaune Villages, Waitrose £9.99

There are also four wine marked as ‘Notable Wines For Less Than £6.50′:

Tupungato Chardonnay, Argentina, Marks & Spencer £6.49
Montes Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Chile, Tesco £5.99
Secano Estate Pinot Noir, Chile, Marks & Spencer, £4.99
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, Sainsbury’s £4.99