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Tesco Wine Fair
Bristol
Tasted September 25, 2016 by chatters with 380 views
Introduction
Off on a day trip to Bristol to the old station convention centre to try Tesco's wine selection.
Flight 1 - Bracket one - whites (20 notes)
not much of merit here in the charddy department: probably the Chablis 1er Cru the pick of that bunch but the wine of the bracket was that German Riesling. Very impressive
White
2015 La Marinière Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie
Lemon yoghurt...more of the same on the palate with slight sour lemon lozenge notes as well.
White
2015 Tesco Finest Chardonnay Del Rios
slightly candied tropical fruit - pineapple chunks, butter, quite rich and worked.
White
2014 Wolf Blass Chardonnay Silver Label
butter, toast, oak, jubey tropical fruit…broad on the plate, rich, worked, bit of a show wine.
White
2015 Tesco Finest Chilean Chardonnay
Medium minus intensity, slight lemon notes and quite bitter. Nah
White
White
2015 Bellingham Chardonnay
Rubber and funky notes on the nose with an almost reductive closed element. More jubey on the palate. Nah.
White
White
2014 Dark Horse Wines Chardonnay The Original Dark Horse
Rich and butter, peachy and ripe…flabby, alcoholically warm…bit old school Yankee
White
2013 Ghost Pines Chardonnay Winemaker's Blend
Richer and more buttery and jubey than the dark horse (I didn't think this was possible). It also finishes a touch bitter.
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White
2014 Blossom Hill Chardonnay
fruity but forgettable…mass produced plonk
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White
2013 Kingsland Chardonnay Jacktone Ranch Reserve
Peach and apricot, mineral notes but also some butter…it's quite fleshy and juicy on the palate - fresh in fact. In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king. this is rather nice.
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White
2015 Tesco Finest Chablis Union des Viticulteurs de Chablis
Green apple, bit dusty as well, fresh, quaffable, simple.
White
2014 Tesco Finest Denbies English Wine
Quite rich, butter, apple and herbaceous notes…touches of green almond on the palate
White
2013 Tesco Finest Finest Chablis Grande Cuvée
Cream, butter, touches of gun smoke, apple tending to peach. Pretty good.
White
2015 Tesco Finest Torrontés
Lychee, rose petal…quite dense and broad on the palate. A very Gewurztraminer Torrontes if you will and surprisingly enjoyable.
White
2015 Bellingham Chenin Blanc The Bernard Series Old Vine
Very slightly oxidised, lanolin, butter, slight citrus notes but quite flabby on the palate.
White
2015 Tesco Finest Riesling Steillage
lemon zest, wet stone, juicy and fresh with crisp ripe apple joining the lemon notes on the palate. Rather nice.
Flight 2 - Bracket 2 - Pinot Noir (8 notes)
Hmm...
Red
2015 Brancott Estate Pinot Noir Letter Series "T"
Cream, cherry, over raspberry, oak; sweet spice. A little sour on the palate
Red
2014 Brancott Estate Pinot Noir Terroir Series Awatere Valley Marlborough
Sweet spice, muted red cherry fruit. Juicy, fleshy but a little short and warm.
Red
2015 Mud House Wines Pinot Noir
More black than red fruit spectrum with very slight stalk notes. Interesting.
Red
2015 Nederburg Pinot Noir 56Hundred
Funky, dirty, rubbery, stalks. Slight gag reflex on the palate. Awful
Red
2014 Tesco Finest Pinot Noir
Rubber bands and smoke. Exceedingly tart and unpleasant.
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Red
2013 Bridlewood Estate Winery Pinot Noir
Muted black cherry fruit, slight toast and gun smoke…bit of tannic grip that dries the little fruit present away. Meh
Red
2014 Kingsland Pinot Noir Jacktone Ranch Reserve
Cream, butter, plums, cherries and a pomegranate note. Big structure and weight on the palate. Not a very Pinot Pinot for me. Nah
Red
2015 Törley Pinot Noir I Heart
slight cherry but a bit unripe, more in the red currant spectrum on the palate. Not very nice.
Flight 3 - Bracket three - Tempranillo (9 notes)
the Tesco finest Rioja was a nicely made wine
Red
2011 Lagunilla Rioja Reserva
medium minus intensity aromas of red berry. Bit thin and weedy with light tannins. Nah
Red
2011 Bodegas Palacio Rioja Glorioso Reserva
strawberry and vanilla, spice…strawberries and red berries, medium plus length
Red
2008 Lagunilla Rioja Gran Reserva
slightly oxidative note, sour red berry, spicy and juicy but not for me though not bad
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Red
2011 Viña Mayor Ribera del Duero Reserva
Perfumed red berry…juicy, slight berry then firm tannic grip.
Red
2013 Tesco Finest Tempranillo Ribera del Duero Reserva
slightly funky and meaty but this blows off with a bit of time to reveal a perfumed wine with red berries, spice and slight vanilla notes. Okay
Red
2013 Tesco Finest Rioja Crianza Viña del Cura
Red berries, slight spice…spicy fruit, quite lightweight.
Red
2011 Tesco Finest Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Mara
Vanilla, red berries, tobacco, cream, spice. Easy, nice, clean Rioja Reserva results in first swallow of the day!
Red
2010 Campo Viejo Rioja Gran Reserva
Rich, red berry, vanilla, slight tobacco, dense, almost chocolate notes here. It's kind of mass produced and obvious...Hmm
Flight 4 - bracket 4 - Merlot & Merlot based (5 notes)
Nothing to write home about here really
Red
2015 Tesco Finest Merlot
Red plums, spice, enough residual sugar to create the illusion of off dryness. Nope
Red
2013 Tesco Finest Montagne-St. Émilion
Plummy & juicy with almost peppery spice and plentiful front of mouth grip. Hmm
Flight 5 - Last bracket - Various bits and pieces (9 notes)
I was impressed by both of the Barolo's, especially the Tesco's finest
Red
2010 Producteurs Plaimont Madiran Cimes Pireneus
Musty and quite soft for a Madiran - I feel the hand of the wine maker (reaching for the micro ox). Annoying more than anything else - I was hoping for a tannic beast
Red
2015 Tesco Finest Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Red berry, spice, quite dense and spicy on the palate with red berry fruit and drying tannins. Not bad.
Red
2014 Tesco Finest Médoc
Funky and muted with sweet fruit, drying tannins. Fleshy and juicy. Medium length. Meh
Red
2012 Ricossa Barbaresco
boiled sweets, plums…juicy and tannic but clean and modern with more confected notes on the palate. Not for me but well made and clean.
Red
2012 Tesco Finest Barolo
Oxidised, funky, dried herbs and slight orange peel. More of the same on the plate. Quite traditional, for me, with massive drying tannins. Good.
Red
2012 Tesco Finest Barolo
Black plums, a little brooding, meaty, slight baked earth & dried herbs…juicy and tannic and really very nice. Lovely mouth feel. Very impressive
White - Fortified
N.V. Tesco Finest Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Fino
Slightly oxidised (which is a worry for a fino) and there is a little sweetness here as well. Nah.
White - Fortified
N.V. Gonzalez-Byass Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Tio Pepe
Saline; briny, almonds, slight burr on the mid palate. A criticism would be it's relative shortness but it's tasty.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2011 St. Stephan's Crown Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos
smells like a lightweight tokay which, for me, means figs, raisins, apples and pears. Quite luscious with reasonable balance of acidity against the sugar levels. It is, perhaps, a little short, but pleasant none the less.
Closing
It was a lovely day out in Bristol and the journey back (train, cheese, Amarone Valpolicella) was equally pleasant. Wine of the day was probably the Tesco Finest Riesling or Barolo which were, for me, both very impressive.