Want to know what Sainsbury’s reds are good to go for around a fiver. Recently, I went on a shopping expedition to find out what I could buy from Sainsbury’s for around a fiver and here are two that I picked up.

With the cost of living beginning to hit the prices on the shelves, I was keen to see these wines. I expected the wines to be sweetened up. I expected that these wines would have some blunt oak, and some confected aromas. They did indeed.

What I did not expect was that a £4.50 house label Pinot Noir would be end up being my choice of the two? I mean… a Pinot Noir? For £4.50?

Here is why?

Sainsbury’s Reds Wine 1:

Caminada Malbec (£5.50)

Caminada certainly has an easy to remember label and really, an Argentinian Malbec is an easy drinking choice.  There are plenty of them on the shelves, and of course, Mendoza’s reputation for Malbec is solid and reliable.

This one is fuller in body and higher in acid but has plenty of complexity. Not just the typical cherry fruit but there is a garni bouquet herbal edge, liquorice and pepper. This fruit character was underlined with blunt, and somewhat charry oak that became sweeter on the finish. The sweep of fruit finished with some bitter coffee leaving enough of an impression to notice on the finish.

Sainsbury’s Reds Wine 2:

Sainsbury’s ‘House by’ Pinot Noir (£4.50)

Pinot Noir is notoriously a difficult grape to produce a consistent quality wine that still retains its typicity and elegance. It is not as difficult to produce a version that looks like an undefined dry red wine. However, this Chilean Pinot is easy to pick as a Pinot.

The berry fruit, strawberry and raspberry, is ripe, almost confectionary ripe. It wasn’t quite in the ‘jam’ category. Some toasty oak aromas waft from the glass. The wine is drier and has the hallmark higher acid but it is surprisingly balanced across the palate. It finishes with the notes of cherry and vanilla cola.

There is sweetness there, but it remains to the end unlike the Malbec which had a bitter finish. For £4.50 per bottle, there was some love to be found there.

This was a wine that I could probably do a second glass of whereas the Caminada’s oak was just too overwhelming the fruit.

If you like this review, you might like to read about:
Ten wines under a tenner

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