Pocket Vintages - wine vintage charts and wine information

Torres Vina Sol

Sainsburys has Torres Vina Sol on offer at the moment.  This wine has done enormously well in the UK over the last few years.  Made from the Parellada grape by Torres, one of the biggest and most respected 'retail' producers in Spain, Vina Sol represents excellent value for money for those on a budget.

It is a great summer wine and chilled down makes an excellent aperatif or as a match for fish dishes or chicken salad.

Buy it online from Sainsburys for only £21.03 for a case of 6 bottles.  This works out at only £3.51 a bottle!

Pol Roger Champagne Offer

Berry Bros has a special offer on their range of Pol Roger champagnes - 20% off when you buy 6 bottles or more.

Their range starts at around £21 per bottle (including discount) and goes up to more than double that if you really want to splah out.

More details here.

Bordeaux Special Offer

I had an email from Majestic today featuring some new deals.

The one that caught my eye was Les Cailloux 2000, Pauillac for only £8.99 when you buy two or more.

I consulted my Pocket Vintages booklet and apparently 2000 was an excellent year in Medoc, so I have ordered a case. I will you know what it's like when I open the first bottle in a couple of weeks.  I reckon it is mature enough to drink now but will hopefully keep another 10 years or longer.

You can order it from Majestic here.

Perrier Jouet Grand Brut Champagne

Tesco.com is worth looking at occasionally.  This week they have a great champagne offer - half price Perrier Jouet at only £12.50 per bottle.

You can see the details here.

Only annoyance is that they charge you £5 for delivery, which bumps the price up to £80 for the case of 6, but this is still a good deal.

Wolf Blass Yellow Label Cabernet Sauvignon

I've been scrolling through the Sainsburys June offers today and I have to say that I am not that impressed.  True, they have a lot of very 'affordable' options - mostly under a fiver a bottle, but trust me when I say that you get what you pay for and none of them will leave you gasping for another glass.

One that did catch my eye is an old favourite, the Wolf Blass Cab Sauv 2005.

You can buy it here for just over £6 a bottle when you buy a case of 6, which is 25% off the usual price.

Wolf Blass, an Australian label, has done amazingly well over here in the UK and this is one of its best examples.  Big, chunky and not too tannic, with the blackcurrently sweetness you associate with Cabernet that is grown in a very hot climate.

This wine goes very well with lamb and should credit any summer BBQ.

Pinot Grigio on offer from Majestic

Majestic has 20% off all their Italian wines at the moment and a few are worth a look in.

Pinot Grigio is growing in popularity (although I still think it has a long way to go before it sheds itself of the cheap reputation it acquired in the 90's).

If you are determined to drink it, go for a higher value option - one that caught my eye was Punggle single vineyard - worth trying for the name alone.  It's a heady 14% but the price won't knock your block off with a £2 discount to £7.99 a bottle.

Order it direct from Majestic here.

Tesco Wine Offers

Tesco is well into its second week of the wine festival and has some really good deals.

Two really caught my eye:

The Wolf Blass Yellow Label Cabernet Sauvignon - this is great value at only £5.21 a bottle.  It is very quaffable, smooth and blackcurrenty, but watch out for the alcohol - it packs a punch!

Tesco Finest Chablis - again a steal at £5.22 a bottle.  I've not actually tried this one yet but at this price you can't go far wrong!

Pouilly Fumé Les Chaumes 2005 Loire

This is a very good wine and this is a great deal.  Sainsburys are offering a case of 6 bottles half price for only £34.17 - that's only £5.70 a bottle.

Sainsburys describe it as:
Elegant notes of peach, acacia and flint. Great with seafood.
Delicate floral and mineral aromas.
Food suggestion: Enjoy as an aperitif or with seafood or goats cheese dishes

I would agree - this sums it up nicely.

Get it before stocks run out here.

Cheap Champagne

Majestic Wine has a cracking special offer on Champagne in the run up to to Easter.

50% off some of their best selling Champagnes such as:
Heidsieck Gold Top Vintage 2001
Nicolas Feuillatte 2002

The Canard-Duchêne 2002 is great value at only £15.99 when you buy 2 bottles and the Piper-Heidsieck Brut NV is also worth stocking up on at £18.49 a bottle when you buy 2 - I served this up at my wedding a few years ago  -delicious!

You can get the full Champagne special offer listing here.