Decent red wine for a tenner? (better than Barossa Ink)

[richard at home]

Broke my own rules (>£10) to try a bottle of Tesco's Amarone. Never heard of it before. Italian Valpolicella made with dried grapes. Very strong, very dark. A lot more going on than the alcho ribena wines.

The bottle didn't last long! Very nice.

Not a quaffing wine though and I suspect that at £17 a bottle, this is probably a very cheap Amarone.

Tried Diabolo too. Very nice, so thats on the list for buying again, along with Ravenswood.

[andyA700]

richard at home said:

Broke my own rules (>£10) to try a bottle of Tesco's Amarone. Never heard of it before. Italian Valpolicella made with dried grapes. Very strong, very dark. A lot more going on than the alcho ribena wines.

The bottle didn't last long! Very nice.

Not a quaffing wine though and I suspect that at £17 a bottle, this is probably a very cheap Amarone.

Tried Diabolo too. Very nice, so thats on the list for buying again, along with Ravenswood.

I tend to buy Amarone at Christmas, as a treat. All of the ones I have tried have been sub £20 and they have all had the desired complexity, where you have hints of spice, raisins and figs, very unique, very nice.

[andyA700]

This is pretty good IMHO.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/red-wine/monte-plogar-car...

[S6PNJ]

I thought I'd give the Jam Shed a go, so have bought a few bottles, but before I crack the first one open - how are you drinking yours? Sainsburys suggests chilling it but I was wondering what the consensus was on here? Drink chilled from the fridge (5-7 degrees) or room temp
which is quite warm at the moment - circa 23 deg C.
https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/jam-sh...

Sainsburys web site said:

This wine is best served slightly chilled, over ice or as the perfect base for a Jam Shed mulled wine. Whichever way you drink it, you are sure to love it.

Or what does 'slightly chilled' mean? A quick Google - https://www.decanter.com/learn/red-wine-serving-te... suggests 12-13 deg C so maybe at the top of the fridge then?

[andy ted]

andyA700 said:

richard at home said:

Broke my own rules (>£10) to try a bottle of Tesco's Amarone. Never heard of it before. Italian Valpolicella made with dried grapes. Very strong, very dark. A lot more going on than the alcho ribena wines.

The bottle didn't last long! Very nice.

Not a quaffing wine though and I suspect that at £17 a bottle, this is probably a very cheap Amarone.

Tried Diabolo too. Very nice, so thats on the list for buying again, along with Ravenswood.

I tend to buy Amarone at Christmas, as a treat. All of the ones I have tried have been sub £20 and they have all had the desired complexity, where you have hints of spice, raisins and figs, very unique, very nice.

You should both deffo give this a go then

https://www.majestic.co.uk/wines/valpolicella-supe...

Eta it’s often on offer but not at the moment it seems!

[PT1984]

Da Original Whyayedee said:

I am surprised the Guv'nor hasn't been mentioned from Majestic, I still find that for the money a very hard thing to beat. Good to see lots of Porta 6 fans too, there are always some on the shelf.

These two for me. Or any Douro from Aldi.

[2gins]

I'm chilling reds at the moment, they just need to get down to 15 ish do an hour in the fridge before game time

[andyA700]

andy ted said:

andyA700 said:

richard at home said:

Broke my own rules (>£10) to try a bottle of Tesco's Amarone. Never heard of it before. Italian Valpolicella made with dried grapes. Very strong, very dark. A lot more going on than the alcho ribena wines.

The bottle didn't last long! Very nice.

Not a quaffing wine though and I suspect that at £17 a bottle, this is probably a very cheap Amarone.

Tried Diabolo too. Very nice, so thats on the list for buying again, along with Ravenswood.

I tend to buy Amarone at Christmas, as a treat. All of the ones I have tried have been sub £20 and they have all had the desired complexity, where you have hints of spice, raisins and figs, very unique, very nice.

You should both deffo give this a go then

https://www.majestic.co.uk/wines/valpolicella-supe...

Eta it’s often on offer but not at the moment it seems!

That sounds really good, would make a nice Autumn/Winter wine.

[andyA700]

2gins said:

I'm chilling reds at the moment, they just need to get down to 15 ish do an hour in the fridge before game time

The first time I had chilled red wine was in 1998 in Grenoble, a Cru Beaujolais - Brouilly, which went nicely with BBQ'd lamb.

[otolith]

andyA700 said:

I tend to buy Amarone at Christmas, as a treat. All of the ones I have tried have been sub £20 and they have all had the desired complexity, where you have hints of spice, raisins and figs, very unique, very nice.

You can get them cheaper, but when I have tried them they’ve been barely recognisable as such.

[Da Original Whyayedee]

Chris Stott said:

The Guv’nor is blended from all the Tempranillo that’s left over when they finish making Rioja… the stuff that doesn’t meet Rioja DOCa.

How the fk do Majestic get away with charging £6.99/£8.99 for it? It’s €2.50 a bottle in my local Mercadona.

Well I really enjoy it? Usually prefer a Tempranillo so that’s probably why. Unfortunately a local Mercadona isn’t that convineint in South West England…. Majestic is just up the road though

[S6PNJ]

andyA700 said:

2gins said:

I'm chilling reds at the moment, they just need to get down to 15 ish do an hour in the fridge before game time

The first time I had chilled red wine was in 1998 in Grenoble, a Cru Beaujolais - Brouilly, which went nicely with BBQ'd lamb.

What's the view on chilling Jam Shed? Yay or nay?

[Chris Stott]

Beaujolais, Fleurie or a cheap Pino are ok chilled if that’s your thing, but you wouldn’t typically chill a shyrah (Jam
She’d grape variety).

However, Jam Shed is described as ‘sweet’, so may be ok given sweet Sherry is lovely slightly chilled.

[andyA700]

I'll tell you what does taste nice when chilled down - sparkling shiraz.

[popegregory]

ambuletz said:

I bought this from asda. £6. a little on the sweet side. It seems i've been buying the wrong wines all along as i quite like this.


i do also like aphotic red, and the barossa mentioned here. seems like i've been buying the wrong stuff from aldi.. anyone know which ones in aldi are more jammy/sweeter/bolder?

I bought a bottle of this today. Never had a red go down so easily!

[SpydieNut]

Porta 6 is on offer at Sainsburys at the moment for £6.50 - and this weekend they have 25% off 6 bottles or more.

[richard at home]

Tried Diabolo Black and Bellingham Pinotage. Both very nice, added to my list!

[M11rph]

BeyersKloof Pinotage is always drinkable at the budget end of the spectrum. Currently under £7 at Iceland.



I do like a trudge around Majestics, but it's worth joining The Wine Society if you get through a bit! [Costs £40 for life, but you get £20 off the first order].
Good selection, rarely beaten on price and good delivery which is usually free. Their budget Aussies (Victory Hotel blends) are entirely drinkable, which can't be said for many sub-£7 UK Retail wines.

Happy drinking anyway. I'm off to lightly chill something to accompany tonight's grilled Partridge...

[SD_1]

Tried the Barossa Ink tonight for the first time, have to say I'm seriously impressed. Don't know much about wine, but this ticks all the boxes I'm looking for. Shall seek out some of the others recommended here as well

[ambuletz]

I tried the asda ES barossa shiraz. for £5.63 it's pretty good. not jammy like jam shed or yellowtail. similar to that barossa ink. worth a go.