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

[madbadger]

richard at home said:

croyde said:

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

Nah Worries Mate!

Not heard of it. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Zarco]

richard at home said:

Mobile Chicane said:

Pigassou:

Delightfully blackberryish, 14% ABV, light on the tannin. What's not to like.



https://www.laithwaites.co.uk/product/0056320

Another new one to me. Thanks! I'll give it a try.

It's decent. Comes in our 'Big Reds' box from Laithwaites frequently!

From supermarkets my go to is Yellow Tail Shiraz. Not bad for comfortably under a tenner.

[madbadger]

andy ted said:

M22s said:

Porta6 is my go to

The Porta6 is great stuff…

the LB7 that majestic do is also a good Portuguese red

https://www.majestic.co.uk/wines/lb7-lisboa-red-



You can’t beat this one from Aldi for value for money though

https://www.aldi.co.uk/portuguese-douro/p/07572427...




But if you are in majestic for a little bit more though I would say go for this at 13.99

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

The porta 6, lb7 and animus are my go to and the ones I would recommend. Will have a look at the valpolicella.

For a ‘better’ wine I’m a big fan of the villages around Chateau neuf du Pape. Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Laudun in particular.

[Athlon]

This is a cracker for the price. really easy drinking, loads of flavour.

[beedj]

I find the "vivino" app useful - scan the label on the bottle and it gives a rating (in range 1-5), taste notes and review comments, sort of a "TripAdvisor for wine”. I regularly use it in supermarket to help decide what to buy when I want a change from my usual favourites

Also useful on holiday faced with supermarket shelves with nothing you recognise.

Anything c.3.8 or higher is generally good , you start to really notice a difference at c.4.2 or higher (the Cabalie Cuvee I posted earlier in this thread is 4.2)

[madbadger]

Can also scan a wine list on Vivino.

[ambuletz]

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?

[2gins]

richard at home said:

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.

I opened the Ink on friday, after a 3hr train journey with 50 Sunderland fans heading down for their play off match against Wycombe. It was good but I didn't think it any better than the Porta 6 which is my go to for decent red at the £7-8 mark. You get to a point with some of these where it's all fruit and not much else. A bit like a Tesla in ludicrous mode.

I've not had Ravenswood for ages so when the chance comes to crack one of them a comparison will be interesting!

[Evolved]

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?

Jamshed is Devine. Had it the other eve with a steak and loved it! Tried Barossa ink too this evening, a very good wine but think I prefer 19 Crimes and Jam Shed more. A few more samples needed to be sure

[devnull]

Evolved said:

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?

Jamshed is Devine. Had it the other eve with a steak and loved it! Tried Barossa ink too this evening, a very good wine but think I prefer 19 Crimes and Jam Shed more. A few more samples needed to be sure

Yes, this is good stuff (I mentioned it at the start of the thread). I suspect that this is the stuff that the wine bores sneer at, but its probably the most drinkable wine I've had in a very long time (bar the Gevrey-Chambertin Had at xmas). At lot of people discuss red wine as being complex, but the majority of it is just hard work that gives me a headache - and I call myself a snob when it comes to coffee.

[Oilchange]

Bacon Is Proof said:

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.

I like this stuff too but a small tip, if you can't manage the entire bottle in one sitting (sometimes I have to be sensible) it's worth popping the cork back in and enjoying it the following evening when it has breathed a little.
I find it tastes even better

[popegregory]

Oilchange said:

Bacon Is Proof said:

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.

I like this stuff too but a small tip, if you can't manage the entire bottle in one sitting (sometimes I have to be sensible) it's worth popping the cork back in and enjoying it the following evening when it has breathed a little.
I find it tastes even better

I noticed this. A bottle lasts me the weekend, by Sunday it was fabulous

[cavey76]

Bacon Is Proof said:

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.

I pay about a fiver a bottle delivered from Portugal Vineyards. No connection, just a happy customer!

[Zarco]

devnull said:

Evolved said:

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?

Jamshed is Devine. Had it the other eve with a steak and loved it! Tried Barossa ink too this evening, a very good wine but think I prefer 19 Crimes and Jam Shed more. A few more samples needed to be sure

Yes, this is good stuff (I mentioned it at the start of the thread). I suspect that this is the stuff that the wine bores sneer at, but its probably the most drinkable wine I've had in a very long time (bar the Gevrey-Chambertin Had at xmas). At lot of people discuss red wine as being complex, but the majority of it is just hard work that gives me a headache - and I call myself a snob when it comes to coffee.

I think it's revolting. Far too sweet.

Each to their own

[Evolved]

Zarco said:

I think it's revolting. Far too sweet.

Each to their own

Indeed. That’s why I love this thread. Lots of options to try and comparing tastes is interesting.

I did try the Yellow Tail Jammy Red Roo (yes, clearly I’ve a drink problem haha) and that was definitely too sweet for me.

[DaffyT4]

Just a heads up on Porta 6. If you have a Tesco Clubcard it's on offer at £6 a bottle (until Sunday) and if you buy 6 or more there's another 25% off, bringing it down to £4.50 a bottle.

[Oilchange]

Had I known this I wouldn't have got the three other Portuguese that were on offer in Morrisons!

I suspect the Portuguese are trying to increase their market share by pushing great wine for cheap. About time as I always thought they were under represented and better tasting than the usual grog that floods the shelves...

[MKnight702]

garyhun said:

oddman said:

Wine bore alert.

'quaffing', 'smooth', 'easy drinking' are all a bit of a trigger for me. They speak of thoughtless heavy drinking for intoxication rather than taste. How do I know - I'm as guilty as anyone - I keep simple wines like these around if I want to open a second bottle to stop me wasting the good stuff when I've already pickled my palate.

Shamefully these wines are designed for us Brits and our barbaric drinking culture. As one poster put it 'alcoholic ribena'. I would hazard you could make a nice 'wine' to satisfy this craving with a bottle of vodka shaken with a jar of jam diluted appropriately. Decent wine should offer everything it has for a sip not a gulp. They are part of a trend to industrial food and distance the producer from the consumer.

Look at the names and labels of most of what has been posted. They are designed by a marketing team and intended to disguise rather than inform you of what's inside. Most of these wines will have no information about vineyard or wine making practices. Some don't even have vintage statements. They will have been subjected to trickery such as late harvesting to maximise sugar, addition of sugar if required and reverse osmosis. They will have been filtered to within an inch of their lives so that some poor punter doesn't encounter a nasty residue.

I tried a case of Laithwaites wines on special introductory offer and expected great things. They were ludicrously alcoholic, jammy, smooth and characterless. I think The Wine Society is probably the best online source for value wines of character.

There are loads of producers working hard to make wines that express the character of the grape and place they are grown. They tend to be wines that go better with food as the alcohol and fruit is balanced with acidity and tannin which taste less pleasant when food (particularly fat and salt) isn't taken together with the wine.

Rant over - in answer to the question I think you can't go wrong with Rh ne Village wines Cairanne, Vacqueyras, Ventoux and Rasteau. Also supermarket 'Taste the Difference' tyoe wines of the French South West such as Languedoc, Cahors, Pays d'Oc, Catalanes. These are usually 13.5-14.5% full bodied but with balancing tannins and acidity and interesting aromatics.

Reds to swerve a under 10 are Bordeaux, Burgundy and big name Rh nes such as Ch teauneuf, Crozes Hermitage, St Joseph.

Portugal a good call too.

Agreed, a very boring and condescending post

OP asks for a good quaffing wine and gets some good replies. Whether that wine is used for "thoughtless heavy drinking for intoxication" is more down to the imbiber than the specific wine, I would wager.

I love my wine and can happily enjoy a single glass of a 'quaffing' wine as much as I can a bottle of Montrachet. There really are no rules where wine drinking is concerned.

I bet he’s the life and soul of the party.

[madbadger]

Has anyone tried the LB7 GR?

If not I might be tempted to take a hit for the team and have a bottle.

[richard at home]

Tried the Moillard Bourgogne Gamay Red Burgundy 2020 mentioned above a page or two ago. Tastes to much like a French wine for me! Bit thin. OK once you get over taninns but not a quaffing wine. I had 3/4 of a bottle with a big steak.

Next up is Porta-6.