Two Tesco Whites for National White Wine Day

Two Tesco Wines for National White Wine Day

National [insert name here] days are either vacuous PR puffery, a bit of harmless fun or a cynical marketing exercise depending on your point of view.

I tend towards the view that they are a good thing: no-one is forced to do anything they don't want, it provides an excuse to try something that is perhaps different and if brings new grapes and wines to the attention of people who might not otherwise have tried them, then so much the better.

Here are two Tesco wines for National White Wine Day.

Chenin's spiritual home is the Loire where it makes everything from crisp fizz to dessert wines and all points in between. The grape has also found a new home in South Africa; it is the most widely-planted grape there and has been cultivated since 1655.

The Loire is also Sauvignon's spiritual home and Sancerre can be seen as Atlantic France's answer to Chablis; a cool-climate white that is all about texture and and structure. Like Chablis, the wines are unique - and therefore carry something of a premium.

Bellingham The Bernard Series Chenin Blanc, 13.5% abv, £10.00 

yellow stone fruits, musky melonskin, and florality; lemon-lime and orchard fruits, sweet spices, savouriness and complex white pepper spice; full, supple and mineral and savoury.

Very Good and Good Value.

A versatile food wine, match with roasted pork belly slices

Tesco Finest Sancerre, 13% abv, £14.00

elderflower, citrus and florality with tropical fruits;  orchard and white stone fruits with grapefruit and zippy lime; supple and mineral.

Good.

Fresh enough for an aperitif; a versatile match with goat's cheese, salads or summery foods.