Each year Waitrose tends to help customers with the difficult task of choosing a decent wine to accompany Christmas dinner by offering a number of fine wine options prominently displayed at an attractively discounted price. This year is turning out to be no different with the now customary small selection of bottles still priced at £10 representing a very generous discount on the RRP and significantly undercutting the price of Masi Campofiorin, Rosso del Veronese which is still being sold at a significantly higher price by more than one national competitor. Of course, in the interests of research I felt it was important to undertake an early December tasting in order to confirm the wine is as good as its reputation leads us to believe.
It's a wine made by the Masi winery in the Veneto region of Italy, one of the longest established and respected producers in the area. This is a winery that has been in the same family for centuries and is currently headed by sixth generation Sandro Boscaini, a pioneer in modern ripasso and appassimento production methods. These wine making processes were originally associated with Valpolicella wines in the Veneto although are now used more widely across Italy and beyond. Essentially they involve a double fermentation whereby the new wine is refermented on partially dried gape skins as a means of producing fuller more concentrated wines.
This red Masi Campofiorin is an appassimento wine made from traditional Valpolicella grape varieties Corvina (72%), Rondinella (23%), and Molinari (5%). Medium to full bodied and ruby red it has intense ripe cherry and plum flavours with hints of cinnamon spice and tobacco. A period of aging in Slavonian and French oak barrels prior to bottling has softened the tannins resulting in an attractive rounded classic Italian red.
Having now sampled this wine (albeit with pork sausages and then finishing the bottle the following day with a tomato-y chicken risotto) my conclusion is that this is definitely a worthy contender for a place on the Christmas table. But if you're still interested in the full range of Waitrose £10 Christmas fine wine selection 2024 follow the link HERE. The Prince Alexandre Crémant de Loire has garnered some good reviews but I also wouldn't mind trying the Montecillo Rioja Reserva. The discounts run until New Year's Day.
However, should you prefer to go the whole hog to a top-level Valpolicella Amarone for which the Masi winery is justly famous, you can currently save £10 at Waitrose (again until 1 Jan 2025) on the Masi Costasera Amarone Classico. This seriously rich, bold and elegant wine would never disappoint at £27.99 against a RRP of £37.99.
Comments
Post a Comment