U.K Private Label Wines Score Well

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August 24, 2010

Before tasting his way through 80 wines under Tesco’s Finest store brand label, wine critic David Williams was skeptical and ultimately surprised to find some very good wines.

Tesco's Finest wines.

“Not every wine was great or even good, let alone the ‘finest’ of their type. But there were a number of very good wines, and there were grape varieties and styles that you wouldn’t expect to find in a risk-averse supermarket wine range,” he wrote in his column in the The Observer (U.K.)

He was most surprised by the Limited Edition Vintage 2000 line of 10 wines that Tesco rolled out to 150 stores in July to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Finest wine label. Williams characterized some of the wines as “terrific,” including Pessac Léognan from Château Smith-Haut Lafite in Bordeaux ($35.40); a bright, focused vintage champagne from Chanoine Frères ($38.50); and a gorgeous, velvety vintage port from the Symington Family ($15, 375ml).

He was also impressed with Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s “consistently good” wines. However, he did identify some losers.

“Having a strong upmarket own-label brand is a good way, too, of giving otherwise ordinary products a patina of quality, and adding a couple of quid to the price,” he wrote. “I’m thinking here of wines like Morrisons’ The Best Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and Tesco Finest Vin de Pays de Gascogne, neither of which seem to me to be any better than much cheaper basic own-labels in the same range.”

Read These Related Articles:

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• Tesco Dramatically Expands Store Brand Wines
• Global Price Roll Backs: H-E-B and Asda Follow Other Retailers With Price Cuts
• Store Brands Contain Less Sodium than National Brands
• Tesco and Sainsbury's Expand Private Label Beverages

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