jamie goode's wine blog: Tesco and Roast

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Tesco and Roast


Today was Tesco press tasting day. It was held at the Worx in Parson's Green - a venue that's a bit out of the way but which is absolutely ideal for wine tasting. It's a bright, white, airy space, with plenty of room. Some nice wines on show: I particularly enjoyed the Bollinger Grand Annee 1999, which I drunk several glasses of after last week's Bordeaux event, and the Taittinger Prelude NV. But it wasn't the expensive stuff that was the sole focus: for my purposes, it's great to find really good affordable wines with a wide distribution, and Tesco have quite a few of these. As the most important (in terms of volume) wine retailer in the UK, it's good to see they are putting some effort and thought into their range.

Last night I dined at Roast in Borough Market with Jo and Andre of Wines of South Africa. We did the obligatory Pinotage discussion, and I got into trouble by gently teasing them about the 'variety is in our nature' slogan, but otherwise it was a very productive evening. I'm a big fan of WOSA, who do a great job promoting South African wine. We drank a Raats Chenin Blanc and the 2003 Solitude Shiraz from Fairview (or was it the Beacon?). Both were excellent. Roast slightly disappointed. The food was OK, but not quite as good as I'd hoped. And the cheese selection was rather limited: just four were being offered. But the location, decor and service were spot on.

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5 Comments:

At 9:01 AM, Blogger timmyc said...

Are you going to spill the beans on which wines at Tesco are really great for very little money?

 
At 9:55 AM, Anonymous keith prothero said...

WOSA do a great job it is true Jamie. The problem is that so many wineries here are lazy buggers and expect WOSA to do all the marketing for them,for a relative pittance.

 
At 2:30 PM, Blogger Cru Master said...

Keith you know what I should be shot for not getting hold of you - i am sorry, I owe you a bottle of wine.

But I am arranging a wine bloggers and friends evening and it would be great if you came along - hopefully it will happen soon, I will email you.

With regards to the Tesco tasting: any South African wines that stood out Jamie?

It amazes me that only a very few wine farms here in SA have not turned to or harnessed the power of blogging yet...

 
At 6:25 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

South African selection was mixed - disappointing showing from Mary Le Bow 2004 (£18.99) and the Vergelegen Red 2002 (£19.99), both of which I can't recommend. But the Neil Ellis Chardonnay 2005 was stunningly well balanced and quite complex (£8.99).

 
At 11:36 AM, Anonymous Keith Prothero said...

Cru Master------it is your loss my friend--ha ha Actually going back to the dreaded blighty in a week or so,but will be back in October,so maybe we can get together then.
Jamie---2002 as you know was a very poor vintage for Cape red wine with Meerlust,for example not considering the fruit good enough to release a Rubicon.

 

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