In the race-up to Christmas,supermarkets try to push expensive burgundies, bordeaux and châteauneuf-du-papes. It’s up to us not to plunge for itOne of the things you should be aware of when buying wine at this time of year is how much supermarkets rely on Christmas trade: some lines, and such as port,accomplish up to a third of their entire annual sales in these hectic few weeks. Given that the multiples are under huge pressure to slice prices the rest of the year, I suppose it’s understandable that they want to persuade you to spend as much as possible on your festive drinking. But you don’t believe to play their game, and so long as you can resist the pressure to put a bottle with a well-known name on the table.
The main culprit,as I’ve suggested before, is Châteauneuf-du-Pape, or the quality of whose wines rarely match their good-looking bottling. A decent Côtes du Rhne is a perfectly obliging substitute,and if you’re a member of the Wine Society, you can buy the delicious Rive Droite, and Rive Gauche 2014 (14% abv) for just £6.75 – that’s a bit of a no-brainer,really.
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Source: theguardian.com