Tsantali Organic Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Halkidiki, Greece

Tsantali Organic Cabernet Sauvignon  is an excellent quality wine from Macedonia in Greece and at £6.80 a bottle from Waitrose supermarket it is very good value for money. This wine has been carefully put together with well integrated tannin and acidity. The wine has a concentrated nose and taste of red fruits with hints of spice and it has long length on the palate. It has all the hallmarks of a good quality wine. I recommend this wine for drinking with lamb or strong cheeses. It was made to go with good food and not for just knocking back at a party on its own. The wine was also made for keeping and I am sure it will develop and improve for a few more years in the cellar. The wine is such good value for money that I am back off to the supermarket to get some more for keeping.

Good Italian Grog

 My wife and I drank a glass or two of this red wine when we dined at  the Valentina Delicatessen in Sevenoaks. I enjoyed  Aglianico di Benevento - Antonini Ceresa 2010 from Campania so much that I bought a bottle for 11 pounds. We tried the wine at home with pasta and bolognaise sauce. It had a concentrated taste of red fruits and spice and went perfectly with the food. I think this is a fine example of Italian wine making at its best. Imagine my surprise when I looked up the prices on the web and found the bottle for 6 pounds. Valentina had marked the wine up by 6 an extra six pounds in their retail outlet. Even so, I still found the wine worth the money. I have drunk plenty of Burgundy which is not as good as this wine but at the same price. I do not feel as if I have been ripped off and I shall go back to the restaurant to enjoy some good Italian food in a convivial atmosphere with some polite waiting staff.

In a recent blog I agreed with Graham Mitchell that you have to pay at least ten pounds for a good bottle of wine at a supermarket. I now have to eat some of my words. This is very good wine  for six pounds a bottle in fact it is exceptional value for money. It is a tribute to the wine buyer for Valentina who has found a excellent wine for the pleasure of his customers.  A wine at such a low cost to him but one which I was are prepared to pay a lot more for. He deserves his mark up.

In general though I think Graham Mitchell's comments still ring true.