THE festive season set the seal on what appears to have been a 12 month period of spectacular prosperity in the wine trade. News is coming in from both importers and retailers that figures for Christmas and New Year are up by anything from 20 to a whopping 100 per cent. No wonder so many are whizzing down expensive slopes in France to celebrate.
The boom has to do with more than the extra cash we're all supposed to have had over the last few months. It also reflects a swing from spirits to wine off licence proprietors report. The virtual abandonment, at last, of our bad habits of drinking and driving has helped wine merchants as much as taxi drivers, with more entertaining at home and more inclination to enjoy the occasional quiet night in with a bite to eat and a special bottle.
If we've drunk so much more wine over Christmas, we're hardly going to forfeit the pleasure of it just because it's mean, miserable January. Nor, unless a major miracle occurs, is our government going to forfeit much of the revenue it earns from its foolishly exorbitant excise duty on wine. The only solution, then, is to ferret out a good selection of what a friend of mine calls "nice little Tuesday night wines" unassuming but eminently palatable stuff, in other words.
The most depressing discovery I've made recently is the extent to which the monster brands still dominate the lower price end of the market - Jacob's Creek and Pedrotti, Piat d'Or and E & J Gallo, B&G and Blossom Hill. I don't believe these basic wines with their bland, sometimes slightly synthetic flavours, offer good value when there are many far more interesting, flavoursome bottles to be had often from smaller producers with a commitment to quality and personality rather than volume.
And, as mentioned before, it's worth paying a pound or two more if you can. Remember the value of the wine in a £5.99 bottle is almost three times greater than in one at £4.50. Usually, the taste is three times better, too.
Special offers are the obvious exception to this rule. The supermarkets have promotions from time to time and many of the wines to be found knocked down to around a fiver are astonishing value. Quinnsworth has up to 10 wines on promotion all the time.
The list below includes some new discoveries with a couple of old favourites and there's nothing at more than £6.99. A modest enough pleasure, even for January.
