Good Food Blog

Supermarket wines

Posted at 2:09PM, 13 May 2008 by Sarah Jane Evans - Master of Wine

How much are you prepared to pay for a bottle of wine? My husband's family were great ones for tracking down bargains and my father-in-law was always ringing up to tell us about a very drinkable wine that he had found at Safeway's (remember them?) for £2.99 (remember that price?). What's more, very often they were perfectly drinkable. And they tasted all the more delicious because they were so cheap.

But times have changed. I ask the question about pricing because I have just finished the twice-a-year week of wines tastings laid on for journalists by the supermarkets. The most obvious feature this year of the tastings was the serious hike in prices.

Wine has been too cheap for too long - each time the Chancellor put on the pennies it was the producer and the poor grower who had to shave off the profit. By 2008 there wasn't much left to shave, especially given rising fuels costs, the exchange rate, as well as the Budget. So, take it from me that there are some serious price hikes coming to a store near you.

Open quotationTake it from me, there are some serious price hikes coming to a store near you. Close quotation

As I say, wine did have to get more expensive. But it will be hard now to find a wine under £4.99, and £5.99/£6.49 is where the retailers want us to be. Of course there will always be the wines that are made to be discounted - those sold on too good to be true 'was £7.99 now £3.99' offers. But classics like Spain's Rioja don't really feature until the £8.49 mark.

I'm curious to know how you organise your wine buying. Do you hover around £5 in the weekday so you can trade up to £7.99 at the weekends? Do you trade up to £10 or £15 or beyond? You would pay £25 for wine in a restaurant, but would you pay £25 at home? Rationally it's best to buy wine to drink at home, as it only has the retail mark-up and not the full restaurant mark-up, but it can seem extravagant to spend that much on a bottle.

As readers of Good Food and olive we all enjoy seeking out locally-produced food and seeking out the best ingredients. But I've often found that friends who have splashed out on the finest meat and cheese skimp on the wine. What's your take on the cost of a bottle? When and why are you willing to splash out?

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Comments

  • Binder photo red book
    15 May, 12:14AM

    red book

    Open QuoteI have a question for you...I currently live in Australia and we're moving back in August, what I've noticed here is something they call 'clean skins'. From what I'm told its the same wine from the same wineries but without the label. I bought 5 bottles of clean skins for $20 (£10) the other day. Why haven't I seen anything similar done in the UK, or France for that matter? Just wondered..

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  • Binder photo igglepiggle
    15 May, 10:17AM

    igglepiggle

    Open QuoteYou can get some fairly good rioja for £5.99-£6.99 you just have to look out for the offers. I don`t tend to spend more than £7.00 on a bottle so when I shop I look for a cheaper ones to try (Aldi do some great wines) and the more expensive ones are what we know we like so I don`t take risks on not liking it.

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  • Binder photo Kt G
    15 May, 11:30AM

    Kt G

    Open QuoteI tend to buy a bottle of wine that is on offer, try it and then if it's good then I'll buy a case or so to have for everyday drinking. I have found that the supermarkets are not doing as good deals as a few months ago, so tend to buy most of our wine now at Majestic. You can get 'everyday' wines there for around the £5 mark and then I tend to splash out a bit more if we have friends over for a meal or a special occasion. I would rarely spend over £12 for a bottle (except fizzy) to drink at home, though I would spend £25 for a bottle of wine in a restaurant (which is bizarre when you think that you would get a far better wine if you spent £25 on a bottle to drink when you got home!!).

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  • Binder photo katyrouth
    15 May, 5:21PM

    katyrouth

    Open QuoteI simply can't afford anything more than £5 for everyday wines, which are bought from supermarkets or off-licenses. I do try to look out for the ones on offer - I'm taken in by their offer of more reasonable prices! If I'm going to treat myself we'll go to our wonderful local independent wine merchant, but still only spending up to £15. But we probably only buy around 10 bottles a year like this.

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  • Binder photo Jonathan1
    16 May, 1:18PM

    Jonathan1

    Open QuoteWine clubs are excellent options you get IMO far better wine for a similar price. Also supermarkets churn the same old wines out month after month so you dont get a chance to try different wine.

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  • Binder photo yummy things
    16 May, 11:03PM

    yummy things

    Open QuoteI find I am now spending £6/7 week days and up to £15 when we have guests. I wouldn't buy wines from any of our local shops as they only have the big brands at big prices!! On special occasions I will spend a lot more on wines, bearing in mind that the wine should suit the occasion not be the occasion!! However, when the wine is the occasion I like to keep it a small affair, drink and appreciate!!

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  • Binder photo Munky2007
    17 May, 6:04PM

    Munky2007

    Open QuoteThese days I look for £6 or £7 for everyday wines as I understand alot of the price, as Sarah Jane says, is simply made up of taxes and duty - and the duty on a good bottle is the same as that on a ropey one. I do also look for offers or anything recommended by the daily newspapers or mags like Decanter, Olive or Good Food. For a special occasion I would buy a wine at £10 or more - my husband would easily spend in excess of £15 but I don't think my palate is that sophisticated to tell the difference between something highly priced versus something mid-range. In a restaurant I choose something mid-priced but if I know the place and trust what I'm getting I might chose a house wine if it's not a very upmarket place. I wouldn't pay to have fab wine with middle of the road food....

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  • Binder photo carolel
    18 May, 5:49PM

    carolel

    Open QuoteI tend to buy through Laithwaites as they deliver to my door and have a very good range.I also try supermarkets for special deals

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  • Binder photo Sarah Jane Evans
    20 May, 5:06PM

    Sarah Jane Evans

    Open QuoteHello red book, thanks for the question. 'Clean skins' is the name they give in Australia to surplus wines that big brand names can't sell at full price. They don't want to slash the price as it will damage the reputation of the brand to sell something cheap. So they package it up in a plain label, and sell it as a 'clean skin'. It's a practice you find in a country where there are very strong well-known brands. The supply of cleans skins is drying up because of the continuing drought in Oz. There are some mail order wine merchants in the UK who sell clean skins, but they don't use the word. They'll say 'we have some exciting wines from Australia from a well known company but we can't say who'. Surplus hasn't just been an Aussie problem. In France for instance the big negociants, the merchant houses, are well used to making one-off blends of surplus wines and selling them under made-up names like Chateau Jean or Cuvee Prestige.

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  • Binder photo Lesley
    19 June, 12:14PM

    Lesley

    Open QuoteHaving just returned from Spain where my daughter and family live, she bought some red wine 'in' for me as they are not wine drinkers. She paid the grand sum of 90 cents (not even 1 Euro). Doubtful, we tasted it, as it was also in a box and it was absolutely brilliant - so the 6 boxes we brought back were a bit heavy in the hand luggage but well worth it

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