The good, the bad and the cheap

WINE:What kind of wine does €8 buy you these days? A very drinkable one, if you know where to look

HOW MUCH DO you spend on a bottle of wine? On average, the Irish consumer now hands over €8.07 each time he or she buys a bottle. This is an increase of 14 cent from this time last year, but since duty and VAT were increased in November and December by around 50 cents, we are spending a little less on average. How good are the cheaper wines? I know that many of you get quite exercised about half-priced wines and dubious special promotions – we shall return to those in the future. But does €8 buy you a decent bottle of wine?

Trade magazine Meininger's Wine Business Internationalrecently held a blind tasting of 188 wines priced at under £4 in the various UK supermarkets, this being the average price of a bottle of wine in the UK. The assembled tasters were not asked to score, but judge the wines as good, adequate and poor. Upmarket Waitrose, not present in Ireland, came first with a rating of 67 per cent adequate, 33 per cent good and no poor wines. They were followed closely by Lidl and then Aldi, leaving Tesco in their wake.

Given that I have been frequently been left cold by both German discounters, I decided to try doing a more modest version of this blind tasting myself. I asked eight of our multiples to each select six wines (three red, three white) for the tasting.

The only criteria was that they retail at under €8 at all times (so no half-price wines, or other promotions) and they include examples from both old and new world. Surprisingly, most of the wines submitted were under €7, and some even under €6. Some of the multiples seemed to have difficulty meeting the criteria, sending in too few, the wrong colour, or all new world wines. However, I managed to put together six samples from each retailer.

As has been well-documented, the Government will pocket around half of that €8, so if the supermarket buys direct, they can share around €4 per bottle with the producer. Allowing the supermarket a generous 30 per cent margin, a bottle of wine selling at €8 would cost around €2.10 at source. That may seem cheap to you, but in buying terms that should buy a decent wine.

As with the Meiningersurvey, I tasted blind, and marked each wine good, acceptable or poor. As the figures illustrate, the majority of wines fell into the acceptable category – decent well-made wines that had no faults, but lacked a bit of concentration – a little bit watery in other words. There were very few faulty wines, possibly because most were under screw-cap or plastic cork, but some of those marked poor had fairly nasty confected flavours, wines that I would find difficult to drink. Others were simply a little tired. On the upside, over 25 per cent of those tasted came up trumps. There are some very tasty wines to be had at an affordable price.

I do not wish to become a walking advert for Marks Spencer, but their selection came out with a perfect score. The top-rated MS wines, in addition to the one featured in Wines of the Week, were Vin de Pays du Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 (€7.99); Vinalta Chardonnay, Mendoza, 2008 (€6.99); Soleado Sauvignon Blanc, Central Valley 2008 (€6.29); Vin de Pays Ardèche Gamay, 2008 (€6.49), and Vinalta Malbec, Mendoza 2008 (€6.99).

Dunnes Stores also deserve credit, with a good consistent range.

jwilson@irishtimes.com

Wines of the week

Acon Cagua Sauvignon, Central Valley, Chile 2008, 13%, €6.49.

Dunnes did well; plenty of decent wines, and one star, too. Light and crisp, with some Sauvignon character and a deceptively long finish. Good summer drinking with or without food. Stockist:Dunnes Stores.

Wally's Hut Verdelho, South East Australia 2008, 13.5%, €6.99.I wasn't quite sure what to make of this wine; it isn't my style, but if you are a Yellow Tail drinker, it will be right up your street. Intense tropical aromas, bucket loads of bananas and custard on the palate, with a sweetish finish. To be drunk on its own. Stockist:Supervalu, Centra.

Mâcon-Villages Henri de Lorgére 2008, 12.5%, €7.69.Was I unfair to Aldi? I don't think so; most scored at the higher level of acceptable, but lacked that spark to be classed as good. Decent well-made wine with light, but pleasant green apple fruits. A good all-rounder, best with plain fish dishes. Stockist:Aldi.

Santa Helena Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé 2008, 13%, €7.49.Both the Sauvignon and rosé from Saint Helena did very well; the rosé is a very decent grown-up wine with plenty of ripe redcurrants, cut through with some mouth-watering acidity. The finish is dry. This would do very nicely with summer lunches and light suppers. Stockists: Spar, Eurospar, Mace.

Cimarosa Pinotage, Paarl, South Africa 2008, 14%, €5.25.Very ripe, jammy, easy damson and soft cassis fruits, and a rounded finish. Unlike any Pinotage I have tasted, should do the trick for barbecues. Stockist:Lidl.

Tesco Shiraz, South Eastern Australia, 12.5%, €6.99.Seemed a little sweet, but otherwise very gluggable wine, with plenty of soft ripe damsons and cassis, a bit of power, and a sprinkle of spicy oak. Stockist:Tesco

Popolino IGT Siciliana 2008, 13%, €6.99.Very moreish light cherry aromas and fruit on the palate; a nice squeeze of acidity, too, making this the perfect wine to drink with all kinds of pasta and pizzas. Stockist:M&S

Classic Collection Côtes du Rhône 2007, 14%, €7.Superquinn let themselves down a bit by submitting a few jaded white wines from the 2007 vintage. I suspect fresher wines would have seen them score higher. But this was the wine of the tasting, and one of the best-value wines I have tasted all year. Rich, supple, rounded dark cherry and liquorice fruits that explode in the mouth. A steal at €7. Stockist:Superquinn.