It's wine time

Cheap wine. My parents drink it, I drink it, you drink it, but are there any hidden gems?

The other week I did a scientific test on biodynamic wine and after re-reading it today, I've decided it was a bit too intellectual. I've also been giving advice and suggestions on more expensive wines. So, the plan: buy a bunch of cheap wines (sub £3) and see if they're any good. The caveats: They can't be on offer as that's cheating and my rules, my opinion. After last week's wine-less blog, this week is a veritable wine-fest.

I'll probably just swing by some supermarkets and see what I come across, no brain power necessary.

So after a trip to Tesco, I came back with Tesco Value Spanish wine, in a 750ml tetra-pak, red and white both £3.30 each (30p over budget, there were some at £2.99 but they sounded so hideous I couldn't even bring myself to buy them, yet alone drink them).

Right, here we go. Now a slight confession, I've had the value red before. Now before you stop reading my blog anymore, I decided a while back to get 'Any 4 x 185cl bottles for £5' on offer just to try a few and threw this one in for interest. The red is thin, watery, tastes pretty much like watered down wine, (the other 185cl bottles that time tasted like cheap wine too) Still, it's only 11% abv and if you can get past the fact that you're drinking wine from a tetra-pak, well, I'd have to say that this wine really isn't too awful. It is pretty bad, but it tastes too fruity rather than disgusting. Something to glug at, and not savoured. Luckily enough it was a similar affair with the white, fruity and drinkable, refreshing but certainly not interesting. I'd say for both of these, they get away with being OK because they're both 11% abv, so slightly under fermented and keeping a little sweetness to them gives them that over fruity character. If I went for a run and ran out of water I could drink either of these instead.

Holy Flip Batman! Sainsbury's, you've outdone yourself on the cheap wine. They have a Sainbury's House Wines section. Amazing. There is a Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Soave, Chardonnay, Generic Medium, Generic Sweet, Generic Rose all at £3.49 each, and if you're really treating yourself there's a range of French AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) House Wines including Generic Claret, Rhone and Beaujolais, a Rioja and a Chianti for £3.99. An absolute bargain. I didn't try all of them but on the whole, fairly obvious examples of some popular grapes and regions.

Well done Sainsbury's, I'm totally impressed with the gusto you've put into peddling super cheap wine on to the masses. Helping them avoid quality in exchange for the obvious. However, you do have a massive range of wine and are only employing the obvious supply and demand reaction to uneducated penniless consumers. Luckily everyone else, I'm here to help you navigate the myriad of the supermarket shelves.

Turns out then, that you get what you pay for. Time to answer the question “Are there any hidden gems?”. No, there isn't.

Buy this instead: La Gioiosa Merlot 2007, £6.50, Northern Italy, nice and plumy.

Moving on.

A few weeks ago I mentioned Hungary, and their wines. Now, I said I'd emailed a merchant called Mephisto Wines (www.meohistowines.com) asking for some samples and guess what, they sent me some. Well, these wines aren't cheap, they all retail about £7-£10 which I don't think is too bad for the quality of wine your getting and for the leap of faith your taking with opting for a Hungarian wine. Well, let's take that leap off the table because I'm gonna tell you what 3 of them are like. Great. I actually mean they're great tasting.

The Nyakas, now Mephisto sent me this wine and I can't find it on their website, great. Anyway, a wholly unpronounceable white grape variety called Irsai Olivér, similar in style to viognier and in genetics to muscat, so it tasted pretty. Quite syrupy look about it in the glass with a light gold hue in colour. Tasted and smelled floral, lavender and possibly herby with a hay field feel. Weird really, off dry and unusual, my mum liked it.

The second white was Malatinszky's Noblesse Serena, 2009. (Nobless...Brilliant. Where's my sensible hat?) Anyway, it's another pretty, but not as floral as the Nyakas, blend of 50% Chardonnay with Reisling and Muscat Ottonel. So similarly straw like in colour and it swings pretty syrupy in the glass too. Fresh and fruity, with a clean long finish, just not my type of thing. Not enough acidity and a little too weighty for me, I prefer a crisp refreshing style of white.

Now, the red Takler Kékfrankos, (Kékfrankos being another indigenous grape of Hungary, no I can't pronounce this one either) was more my type of thing. Deep red in colour with tawny notes, low in tannins. Excellent full, concentrated flavours with cinnamon, dried fruit and blackcurrants. A proportion of the wine is aged in steel vats and a small amount is aged for 6 months in oak and that brings through a small amount of spice, but there's an unusual aftertaste, sort of aniseed feel to it, definitely not unpleasant, but a little unexpected, I guess that comes from trying something new. I could quite happily sink a few glasses.

Thanks Mephisto, you rule.

That's it for now, you can follow me on twitter @danprobert and you can come and see me in-store at the Adnams Cellar & Kitchen Store in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Should you wish.