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

[richard at home]

otolith said:

Personally, I am more frequently disappointed with wines from France than from anywhere else. They make some wonderful wines, and an awful lot of overpriced crap. But one man's "austere and elegant" is another man's "thin and sour", and as the French say (while urinating into the vats headed for British supermarkets) "chacun à son goût"

100% agree. French=thin and miserable. (or what we get to drink in the UK)

However, I have just drunk half a bottle of Cellier des Dauphins Merlot Grenache from Waitrose, well under budget and while a bit light compared to the broadside of Barossa Ink, and other Aussie Shiraz wines, its not bad.

I am a great believer in decent 'cheap' wine, but we just don't get it over here. I once bought a giant bottle of Italian table wine from a tiny grocery shop in Sienna. In our group there was a cerified wine snob (£300 a bottle purchases) and guess what he was piling into? Yes, the very cheap table plonk. After a few glasses, its hard to tell what you're drinking!

[LooneyTunes]

oddman said:

They will have been subjected to trickery such as late harvesting to maximise sugar, addition of sugar if required and reverse osmosis.

Some higher end producers will also uses these techniques (where permitted) but not usually taken to extremes. Another approach that can be used is Saignee (bleeding off juice to increase concentration). If you want even more extreme trickery, have a Google for “mega purple”!

richard at home said:

otolith said:

Personally, I am more frequently disappointed with wines from France than from anywhere else. They make some wonderful wines, and an awful lot of overpriced crap. But one man's "austere and elegant" is another man's "thin and sour", and as the French say (while urinating into the vats headed for British supermarkets) "chacun à son goût"

100% agree. French=thin and miserable. (or what we get to drink in the UK)

However, I have just drunk half a bottle of Cellier des Dauphins Merlot Grenache from Waitrose, well under budget and while a bit light compared to the broadside of Barossa Ink, and other Aussie Shiraz wines, its not bad.

I am a great believer in decent 'cheap' wine, but we just don't get it over here. I once bought a giant bottle of Italian table wine from a tiny grocery shop in Sienna. In our group there was a cerified wine snob (£300 a bottle purchases) and guess what he was piling into? Yes, the very cheap table plonk. After a few glasses, its hard to tell what you're drinking!

Here’s why! As you go cheaper the amount of money that can actually be spent on the juice gets much lower. Stepping up from £7.50 to £10 nearly doubles what can be allocated to the wine itself.

(Taken from https://www.bibendum-wine.co.uk/news-stories/artic...

Ultimately it’s about finding wines you like at a price you’re willing to pay.

[2gins]

I'm going to come in with the Ravenswood Zin. Over budget at 11.99 in Tesco at the moment, prices were around the 9 mark but the fx rates I guess did for it. I'll grab a few bottles while it's there, it's usually nearer 15 these days.

Beronia rioja good too, and we like the Cafayate malbec which is in Sainsbury's now. It's unusual in being from Salta, even higher altitude than the Mendoza malbecs. Goes better with a well seared fatty ribeye

Edited by 2gins on Friday 13th May 21:23

[richard at home]

2gins said:

I'm going to come in with the Ravenswood Zin. Over budget at 11.99 in Tesco at the moment, prices were around the 9 mark but the fx rates I guess did for it. I'll grab a few bottles while it's there, it's usually nearer 15 these days.

Beronia rioja good too, and we like the Cafayate malbec which is in Sainsbury's now. It's unusual in being from Salta, even higher altitude than the Mendoza malbecs. Goes better with a well seared fatty ribeye

Edited by 2gins on Friday 13th May 21:23

Think I can stretch to 12 quid!
I like Zinfandels so I will check out the Ravenswood.

[oddman]

richard at home said:

Think I can stretch to 12 quid!
I like Zinfandels so I will check out the Ravenswood.

Do it. Ravenswood is a proper character Zin. In the Venn diagram intersect between my tastes and everyone else

[matchmaker]

Riley Blue said:

Evoluzione said:

Yellowtail Shiraz or Merlot.

For extreme fruitiness try their Jammy Red Roo, £7 or less.

Prefer their Malbec. Normally £7 in Tesco or Sainsbury.

[popegregory]

M22s said:

Porta6 is my go to

Picked up a bottle of this today when I saw it for £6.50, going to enjoy it next weekend

[popegregory]

otherman said:

Given the fine selection of wines mentioned so far, I'm surprised there's no love for Diablo. The dark red is our favourite although the cab sav is also very good.

Yes, their Malbec and merlot are very pleasant

[2gins]

Popped in today and bought a couple of Ravenswoods, and while at it a bottle of the barossa ink which is new to me. Also to please our resident Jilly gouldon wine buff, a couple of sw Frenchies. A cahors malbec for 7.50 which went well with a slice of grilled cow, a 14.5% CDR villages and for those in the mood for a bit of white, a Tesco torrontes which is a bit of a go-to for me for Asian stuff.

[richard at home]

2gins said:

Popped in today and bought a couple of Ravenswoods, and while at it a bottle of the barossa ink which is new to me. Also to please our resident Jilly gouldon wine buff, a couple of sw Frenchies. A cahors malbec for 7.50 which went well with a slice of grilled cow, a 14.5% CDR villages and for those in the mood for a bit of white, a Tesco torrontes which is a bit of a go-to for me for Asian stuff.

Please report back on your opinion of Ink vs Ravenswoods.

[s2kjock]

Echo the Cabalie as mentioned above - my father has been buying it as part of a wine club recently and it's lovely.

My own favourite is this organic primitivo from Waitrose at £9.99. Used to be often be discounted, but not seen it reduced recently.



My biggest gripe?

Being Scottish I can't be trusted to use any Waitrose money off offer towards an order of it

[croyde]

richard at home said:

I love a bottle of Barossa Ink, very fruity, smooth and very drinkable. Hangover free too.

I'm struggling to find anything better for around a tenner a bottle.

Any suggestions for a good quaffing wine?

I like full bodied, fruity wines with little tannins.

Already tried Carnivor Zinfandel, Apothic (yeah, its super sweet) and Dark Horse Cab. Sauv.

Cheers!

Thanks for the heads up on the Ink. Just opened a bottle, very nice.

[richard at home]

croyde said:

Thanks for the heads up on the Ink. Just opened a bottle, very nice.

Nah Worries Mate!

[richard at home]

Been having a browse of Laithwaites.

Cabalie gets a lot of mentions and is compared to a lot of other wines.

The annoying website orders by rating giving a single 5 star a better rating than a wine with 3000 reviews of 4.5...

Interesting that some of the popular wines get reviewed as 5/5 and 1/5. The 1/5 reviews nearly always say it's too sweet, like cheap supermarket wine etc etc.

I'll give the Cabalie a try and see if I can pick out one or two others to try...

[Sideways Tim]

Barossa is a favourite of mine, but this is my current winner. Less than a tenner and hits the spot for me.

[addz86]

My favourite, quite often on offer at £8 in Asda

[Tyre Smoke]

I might be biased, but this is very hard to beat.



Often on offer, currently £8.50 in Sainsburys.

[richard at home]

OK, let the tasting commence...

Edited by richard at home on Friday 20th May 23:45

No idea why this shows upside down...

Edited by richard at home on Friday 20th May 23:45

[Bacon Is Proof]

popegregory said:

M22s said:

Porta6 is my go to

Picked up a bottle of this today when I saw it for 6.50, going to enjoy it next weekend

Also thanks.
Not bad at all.

[richard at home]

2gins said:

I'm going to come in with the Ravenswood Zin. Over budget at 11.99 in Tesco at the moment, prices were around the 9 mark but the fx rates I guess did for it. I'll grab a few bottles while it's there, it's usually nearer 15 these days.

Beronia rioja good too, and we like the Cafayate malbec which is in Sainsbury's now. It's unusual in being from Salta, even higher altitude than the Mendoza malbecs. Goes better with a well seared fatty ribeye

Edited by 2gins on Friday 13th May 21:23

Well the Ravenswood went down well. I'd rate it up there with Barossa Ink. Thanks for the tip.