ASDA Ca’ Mandato Pinot Grigio Trentino 2016 (£7.48)

Pinot Grigio the way it should be. This is none of the weak insipid unripe stuff that unfortunately fills most our supermarket shelves. In the mountainous regions of Trentino and Alto Adige in northern Italy winemakers know how to produce good quality Pinot Grigio. This has a floral and white peach nose, medium body, and lovely stone fruit and ripe red apple on the palate. Finish is dry and fairly long. This is really nice stuff and good value for money. Paired with tagliatelle with cream, mushrooms, and panfried chicken, which was a very nice combination.

ASDA Wine Atlas Grillo 2016 (£5.68)

ASDA’s Wine Atlas range offer tremendous value. These are often sourced from cooperatives operating in lesser known areas producing wines from relatively obscure grape varieties. Grillo is such an example. This hybrid between Catarratto and Moscato di Alessandria hails from Sicily and has only since the 1990’s been vinified as a dry single varietal wine. Historically Grillo was a mainly used for the production of the fortified sweet Marsala.

I am not going to claim this is tremendously complex wine, but that cannot be expected at around £5. What you do get is wine with a slightly grapey and lemony aroma, with bold and refreshing citrus flavours. Perfect wine for summer drinking paired with fish tacos or fish from the bbq.

Trivento Malbec Riserva 2016 (£6.00, normally £7.98. Also at TESCO for £6.50, normally £8.00)

This bordelaise grape has really found its niche in Argentina. This is a very typical example; damson on the nose, plum and sour black cherry flavours, soft round tannins. These wines just need one thing: a big slab of beef. I paired this with fillet steak diane, which worked very well. But it would work with any grilled steak, and even with strong tasting sauces such as chimichurri. Good value too.

Casa Luis Gran Reserva 2012 (£6.98)

Forrest fruit and forest floor/mushroom nose, lovely chewy tannins, cherry and blackcurrant flavour. This unoaked Garnacha/Tempranillo blend is really rather nice and good value too. As this has good fruit I would pair this with spicy pork stews with lots of chorizo in it.

ASDA extra special Gavi 2016 (£6.98)

Wow, this is a really good Gavi. Lemon, pear, and almond are all there. It is quite a full wine for a Gavi, light to medium bodied, but still very refreshing.  Impressively long dry finish with intense grapefruit flavours. I had this on its own, and it works very well as a summer wine for outdoor dining. But it would pair very well with many fish and seafood dishes, such as lemon risotto with scallops.