Red Wine bargain in Phuket

[JetsetBkk]

5 hours ago, xylophone said:

16 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

 

Also in Phuket's Villa Market, Chalong - same price. I just had a bottle and am surprised I can type this report.   

Must go tomorrow and get a few more. 

Yes, not a bad drop for the price and I occasionally buy it from Promphan.

 

A friend gave me a bottle of Mouton Cadet a few weeks ago. I can't remember what type, other than "red". I'd called him because an important looking letter arrived for him at his address over the road which he'd vacated a couple of years ago. But the wine was really not what I liked - strong, but sharp or bitter. I still drank it of course, but I'm just saying that I prefered the much cheaper J.J.McW Shiraz.

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

 

A friend gave me a bottle of Mouton Cadet a few weeks ago. I can't remember what type, other than "red". I'd called him because an important looking letter arrived for him at his address over the road which he'd vacated a couple of years ago. But the wine was really not what I liked - strong, but sharp or bitter. I still drank it of course, but I'm just saying that I prefered the much cheaper J.J.McW Shiraz.

That was very generous of him, and I'm not sure of the price over here, but it would be in the 800 baht category I would think, if not more?

 

It is a standard Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and was once considered the "everyday Bordeaux" for the Englishman, rather than anything special, although it is from the Baron Philippe Rothschild stable.

 

I have drunk much of it in my time (youth) but in my case, the problem is that once I have gotten used to the more full-bodied, fruit driven Aussie type wines, it's very hard to go back to the old style which I was used to. 

 

Come to that there are some lovely US wines of the same ilk, not to mention those from Chile as well, so you can understand why France is getting a lot of competition. Italian wines I put in a slightly different category because they can be quite a bit drier, but the well-made ones are worth hanging onto.

[JetsetBkk]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

4 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

 

A friend gave me a bottle of Mouton Cadet a few weeks ago. I can't remember what type, other than "red". I'd called him because an important looking letter arrived for him at his address over the road which he'd vacated a couple of years ago. But the wine was really not what I liked - strong, but sharp or bitter. I still drank it of course, but I'm just saying that I prefered the much cheaper J.J.McW Shiraz.

That was very generous of him, and I'm not sure of the price over here, but it would be in the 800 baht category I would think, if not more?

 

It is a standard Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and was once considered the "everyday Bordeaux" for the Englishman, rather than anything special, although it is from the Baron Philippe Rothschild stable.

 

I have drunk much of it in my time (youth) but in my case, the problem is that once I have gotten used to the more full-bodied, fruit driven Aussie type wines, it's very hard to go back to the old style which I was used to. 

 

Come to that there are some lovely US wines of the same ilk, not to mention those from Chile as well, so you can understand why France is getting a lot of competition. Italian wines I put in a slightly different category because they can be quite a bit drier, but the well-made ones are worth hanging onto.

 

Yes, very generous! It was in a red "Wine Gallery" carrier bag with a rope handle - very smart! I too Googled the price and found it to be around 800 baht. So, if you're reading this mate, thanks very much and if I call you about another letter, please try to get the JJMcWilliams Shiraz. ????

[madmitch]

I may be wrong but judging by the lack of Tesco products from the UK in Chalong Tesco Lotus, I'd guess that CP have severed their relationship with UK Tesco altogether so we won't be seeing Tesco Finest wines for much longer.

 

Hence I've just bought a Chilean Carmenere at 449 baht and a Marlborough Pinot Noir for 469 baht from that particular range. Prices seem good as generally they are pretty good quality but the overall wine range in that store has gone downhill recently and will probably reach rock bottom soon.

 

 

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

I may be wrong but judging by the lack of Tesco products from the UK in Chalong Tesco Lotus, I'd guess that CP have severed their relationship with UK Tesco altogether so we won't be seeing Tesco Finest wines for much longer.

 

Hence I've just bought a Chilean Carmenere at 449 baht and a Marlborough Pinot Noir for 469 baht from that particular range. Prices seem good as generally they are pretty good quality but the overall wine range in that store has gone downhill recently and will probably reach rock bottom soon.

 

 

You are spot on MM, and they started selling some wines off a few months ago, along with their Tesco finest EV Olive oil, of which I bought about 10 bottles, as well as the Tesco finest balsamic vinegar, of which I bought about eight bottles.

 

Picked up the Carmenere last week and it was okay, although it wasn't the best expression of this grape I've ever tasted, and I won't touch the NZ Pinot Noir because to me it's in the category of lolly water, despite what many Kiwis seem to say about it.

 

Sad thing is that I wanted to get some late bottled vintage port, but alas cannot see it anywhere, so if you come across it in your travels, perhaps you would let me know.

 

Luckily enough I have got a couple of suppliers/distributors from whom I buy these days, as well as getting a few bottles from Promphan, so I can still be well supplied when I want to.

 

Just recently I managed to pick up some Australian Salisbury "1848" Cabernet Sauvignon for around 380 baht a bottle, so can't complain.

[madmitch]

8 minutes ago, xylophone said:

 

 

Picked up the Carmenere last week and it was okay, although it wasn't the best expression of this grape I've ever tasted, and I won't touch the NZ Pinot Noir because to me it's in the category of lolly water, despite what many Kiwis seem to say about it.

 

Sad thing is that I wanted to get some late bottled vintage port, but alas cannot see it anywhere, so if you come across it in your travels, perhaps you would let me know.

 

 

I'll let you know what I think of the two wines. Bought a Hardys VR Cabernet Sauvignon for 349 baht in Makro this week. Their bottom of the range series so wasn't expecting much and I was right. Very light-bodied and pretty characterless.

 

Pretty sure we've missed the boat with the LBV!

[madmitch]

On 4/10/2021 at 5:27 PM, xylophone said:

 

 

Picked up the Carmenere last week and it was okay, although it wasn't the best expression of this grape I've ever tasted, and I won't touch the NZ Pinot Noir because to me it's in the category of lolly water, despite what many Kiwis seem to say about it.

 

 

I see what you mean about the Pinot Noir. I wouldn't be as blunt as to call it lolly water but it both looked like and had the texture of over-diluted Ribena! Too acidic for me with a slightly smoky flavour. Drinkable but not to my taste at all. I'll stick to white from the Marlborough region in future!

 

Carmenere report to come when it's open but I have a couple of Hopes End and some weissbier that will take precedence.

[xylophone]

20 minutes ago, madmitch said:

I see what you mean about the Pinot Noir. I wouldn't be as blunt as to call it lolly water but it both looked like and had the texture of over-diluted Ribena! Too acidic for me with a slightly smoky flavour. Drinkable but not to my taste at all. I'll stick to white from the Marlborough region in future!

 

Carmenere report to come when it's open but I have a couple of Hopes End and some weissbier that will take precedence.

Yes, many NZ'ers rave about their Pinot Noirs (not me) but they have obviously never tasted a good French PN!!

 

I thought the Carmenere was ok, but have tasted better from this grape.

[sirocco]

If it is a pinot noir from Alsace, it is an excellent wine that is drunk with any dish or cheese.
Fresh in the mouth, its alcohol content and its acidity do not invade your tongue, palate or throat.
You swallow it with pleasure, but in moderation.
A wine is made to taste it, to appreciate it with each sip and not to drink it greedily.
I have never found one in Thailand.

[xylophone]

2 minutes ago, sirocco said:

If it is a pinot noir from Alsace, it is an excellent wine that is drunk with any dish or cheese.
Fresh in the mouth, its alcohol content and its acidity do not invade your tongue, palate or throat.
You swallow it with pleasure, but in moderation.
A wine is made to taste it, to appreciate it with each sip and not to drink it greedily.
I have never found one in Thailand.

Initially we were talking about a Pinot Noir from New Zealand, however I mentioned one from France, when I should have said Burgundy.

 

I had some magnificent Burgundies in my collections over the years, however I am very wary of any Burgundies available here as the few I have tasted, and one of which was around 2000 baht a bottle, have been very disappointing indeed, and is probably due to several factors, being shipping, storage and heat in the main.
 

[sirocco]

I looked at the price of Burgundy "pinot noir"
Basically, it's 18 euros in France.
We are far from 2000 BT.
With the frosts of these nights, in the vineyards, the price of wine will do a good one.

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, sirocco said:

I looked at the price of Burgundy "pinot noir"
Basically, it's 18 euros in France.
We are far from 2000 BT.
With the frosts of these nights, in the vineyards, the price of wine will do a good one.

Personally I don't ever try the everyday "Bourgogne Pinot Noir" here, as I have been used to drinking the quality stuff (no not a snob, but I like it and could afford it, so I drank it).

 

And as I said, I paid 2000 baht for a very average bottle here, just to give it a try, and for my palate, it was a waste of time and money.
 

[sirocco]

Exactly, without putting such a sum of money, except of course during parties, exceptional meals or an acquaintance coming to visit us and who has a fine palate, we can find very good quality wine for our meals. daily.
We drink less but with pleasure.

[xylophone]

On 4/10/2021 at 3:33 PM, madmitch said:

I may be wrong but judging by the lack of Tesco products from the UK in Chalong Tesco Lotus, I'd guess that CP have severed their relationship with UK Tesco altogether so we won't be seeing Tesco Finest wines for much longer.

Picking up on your point about CP severing their relationship with UK Tesco, I went hunting around in the Phuket big Tesco Lotus (as it was) and was originally looking for some of their Chateauneuf du Pape, to see if I had reduced in price, because they had a lot of it.

Couldn't see anything of it until I looked on the top shelf of the main display and there were a few bottles, and I had tasted it a few years previously, but couldn't really remember much about it (whether it was good or not) and I was tempted to buy the whole lot, which was about 10 bottles, but erred on the side of caution and just bought four of them to try.

 

They had been reduced from about 1600 baht down to 870 baht, so I thought it was worth the gamble.

 

Tried one last night and was very disappointed because it was nothing like the CNDPs that I had loved in previous years, especially if the wine had been subjected to oak treatment, whereas I couldn't find any trace of oak in this particular wine, sad to say.

 

I've got three bottles left which will be used up, but I won't buy any more, so for those folks out there who might like a lighter style CNDP, there were a few bottles left on the very top shelf of the wine section.

[paddypower]

On 4/10/2021 at 5:42 PM, madmitch said:

I'll let you know what I think of the two wines. Bought a Hardys VR Cabernet Sauvignon for 349 baht in Makro this week. Their bottom of the range series so wasn't expecting much and I was right. Very light-bodied and pretty characterless.

 

Pretty sure we've missed the boat with the LBV!

off topic, but I am in a quandry. I bought 1 kilo GTM Huse Salami, when visiting Makro Phuket last week. Lost the bill. As I am selling 1/2 does anyone have any idea what the 1 kilo roll costs.? Many Thanks

[madmitch]

On 4/15/2021 at 1:24 PM, xylophone said:

 

 

I thought the Carmenere was ok, but have tasted better from this grape.

I liked the Carmenere, particularly at the price I paid. Good body, texture and taste. My only gripe was that I drank a glass on day one, which was good, another on day two and by the third glass on day three it had lost some of its character and there was a mild sherry taste about it. Still drinkable though. Note to self...Must drink in two days if I buy it again.

[stevenl]

3 hours ago, paddypower said:

off topic, but I am in a quandry. I bought 1 kilo GTM Huse Salami, when visiting Makro Phuket last week. Lost the bill. As I am selling 1/2 does anyone have any idea what the 1 kilo roll costs.? Many Thanks

https://www.siammakro.co.th/en/catalog.php

[churchill]

several of Tesco finest further reduced to about 250 baht , including Medoc , Pinot Noir and   shiraz from Chile .

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, churchill said:

several of Tesco finest further reduced to about 250 baht , including Medoc , Pinot Noir and   shiraz from Chile .

Thanks for the tip, however unfortunately I had only just stocked up with more than a couple of dozen bottles from different distributors, but I thought this would be worth a look, especially for a friend of mine who is financially strapped at the moment.

 

So I called him and picked him up on the way to Tesco Lotus, only to find that there were only about three bottles, apart from the Pinot Noir at a discounted price, so I paid for them for him, and I did manage to buy some of my sweet moscatel for myself, which was about half its normal price at 250 baht!

 

Amazing how a lot of these wine bargains come together, so I will have to learn to pace myself, not only because of room to store the wine, but also because I seem to be spending on wine like a man with four arms!

[madmitch]

On 5/1/2021 at 1:59 PM, churchill said:

several of Tesco finest further reduced to about 250 baht , including Medoc , Pinot Noir and   shiraz from Chile .

Thanks for the heads up. I managed to get the last Chilean Shiraz and a couple of bottles of Pinot Grigio. Gave the Pinot Noir a miss.

[paddypower]

On 4/25/2021 at 10:26 PM, stevenl said:

https://www.siammakro.co.th/en/catalog.php

thanks for that. amazing detailed. but I could not find 1 kilo of salami. solved the problem by guessing the price plus gave away some to a neighbour.

 

[paddypower]

normal prices reduced: the Berry Estate (incl. fruit) from Oz. was 359; then increased to 399. Now reduced back to 359.

rate it as a table wine.. the while should be seriously chilled. the reds, (merlot and cab) should be allowed to breath. anyone drinking sparkling? getting hooked on it. v. good prices at Supercheep Phuket.

[churchill]

Stocked up on Rioja Gran reserva 2012 .Tesco 315 Baht 

 

https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/spain/northern-spain/tesco-finest-vina-del-cura-gran-reserva-rioja-2012-33511

 

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, churchill said:

Stocked up on Rioja Gran reserva 2012 .Tesco 315 Baht 

 

https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/spain/northern-spain/tesco-finest-vina-del-cura-gran-reserva-rioja-2012-33511

 

Jeez, there was none left when I looked the other day!! Was there much of it left??

[xylophone]

On a separate, but related note, today I went to Wine Pro to have a look at what was on offer and was quite impressed with their selection and the prices, so I bought eight bottles of varying red wines to try.

 

I shall keep a note of the ones I like and stock up as needs be. Good store and very helpful staff.

[churchill]

57 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Jeez, there was none left when I looked the other day!! Was there much of it left??

 

I got a dozen , often the shelves are empty but they are slow to restock . I asked a staff and he check and bought out , he said , the last 6 ... Would not be surprised if there are still a few lying around , I check once a week . 

 

PS I am in Samui 

 

They still have Margaux De Boyd , Grand Vin , 2014 priced at 870 Baht but I was not that impressed .. Still a very good price .. In the UK 22 GBP .

 

https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/france/bordeaux/tesco-finest-margaux-de-boyd-margaux-bordeaux-2014-21902

[xylophone]

1 minute ago, churchill said:

 

I got a dozen , often the shelves are empty but they are slow to restock . I asked a staff and he check and bought out , he said , the last 6 ... Would not be surprised if there are still a few lying around , I check once a week . 

 

PS I am in Samui 

 

They still have Margaux De Boyd , Grand Vin , 2014 priced at 870 Baht but I was not that impressed .. Still a very good price .. In the UK 22 GBP .

 

https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/france/bordeaux/tesco-finest-margaux-de-boyd-margaux-bordeaux-2014-21902

 

Thanks for your reply, and I didn't realise you were in Samui, however I might just go and check again in my local Tesco Lotus here, because I did try a bottle of it about three weeks ago and I thought it was pretty good, although we know that because of the process it goes through, there's not going to be a lot of fruit in it, but that's what it is.

 

I had thought about the Margaux de Boyd but was a little put off by the fact it was 2014 and one never knows how these wines are stored, so I thought it might turn out to be a very average wine for a relatively high price.

 

I found the same with their Châteauneuf du Papes, inasmuch as it was reduced by 50%, but was a very average wine and one would have been hard to pick it out from other wines of much lower price in a blind tasting.

 

If I had to pick a lower ranked Bordeaux that Tesco's were selling, I would pick the Château Bel-Air (Gassies) as that is a classy wine for 599 baht, but it's not one of the "Tesco's Finest" range, so don't hold out much hope on getting a discount on that.

[stuarty]

Does anyone really believe Tesco's finest is anyone's finest?  It's a form of marketing tool option, no different from other supermarkets' "basics", but It's just another marketing tool. Wish it wasn't, but it is, and it's a kind of genius what with the fancy looking silver sticker on the bottle. Genius, but still a marketing rip off. Works especially well with gullible expats in locales such as Asia. QED on this forum

[xylophone]

6 minutes ago, stuarty said:

Does anyone really believe Tesco's finest is anyone's finest?  It's a form of marketing tool option, no different from other supermarkets' "basics", but It's just another marketing tool. Wish it wasn't, but it is, and it's a kind of genius what with the fancy looking silver sticker on the bottle. Genius, but still a marketing rip off. Works especially well with gullible expats in locales such as Asia. QED on this forum

No I don't believe they do, because it clearly states it is "Tesco's finest" so in effect what they're basically saying is that it's a good wine from a mass marketing, mid to low range supermarket!

 

I've never had any illusions as to the quality of the wines, but I will say that I've always hoped I would pick up a good wine at a good price, however have been disappointed with their "finest" range to be honest.

[schlog]

14 hours ago, xylophone said:

On a separate, but related note, today I went to Wine Pro to have a look at what was on offer and was quite impressed with their selection and the prices, so I bought eight bottles of varying red wines to try.

 

I shall keep a note of the ones I like and stock up as needs be. Good store and very helpful staff.

 

I also really like winepro and need to go again. Would be great xylo if you could name your top 3 red wines from winepro after your testing.