White Rioja, not the most prevalent of wines, could be called an alternative to red Rioja for people who distrust supermarket versions of the latter.
Whether it is an acceptable substitute is another matter, but Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Rioja Bianco is perfectly serviceable, if not exactly sensational, correctly priced around the £7 level. It is dry and Spanish, neither much better (taste the difference?) nor much worse than other Spanish whites of its sort which can be found in supermarkets at this price.
Well, perhaps it is slightly above average, and we recently thought it perfectly drinkable when sipped fully chilled on one of Edinburgh’s rare warm days. But somehow we never finished the bottle, though we admit we would not be averse to encountering it in a Barcelona bar.
Much more impressive, however, is Waitrose's latest Gruner Veltliner from Austria, selling at £10.79 but currently available with a 25 per cent discount, which brings it closer to the price of the Rioja.
Produced by Markus Huber, it possesses a lot of Viennese charm and goes nicely with the Glyndebourne performance of Der Rosenkavalier which I have been watching on a newly issued DVD.
5 June 2015
Whether it is an acceptable substitute is another matter, but Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Rioja Bianco is perfectly serviceable, if not exactly sensational, correctly priced around the £7 level. It is dry and Spanish, neither much better (taste the difference?) nor much worse than other Spanish whites of its sort which can be found in supermarkets at this price.
Well, perhaps it is slightly above average, and we recently thought it perfectly drinkable when sipped fully chilled on one of Edinburgh’s rare warm days. But somehow we never finished the bottle, though we admit we would not be averse to encountering it in a Barcelona bar.
Much more impressive, however, is Waitrose's latest Gruner Veltliner from Austria, selling at £10.79 but currently available with a 25 per cent discount, which brings it closer to the price of the Rioja.
Produced by Markus Huber, it possesses a lot of Viennese charm and goes nicely with the Glyndebourne performance of Der Rosenkavalier which I have been watching on a newly issued DVD.
5 June 2015
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