Morrisons really need to up their game when it comes to their budget £5 and under wines. Not only do they lack a co-ordinating range name, unlike Asda’s Nice Drop or Tesco’s Lateral Chilean range, that make them easier to find among the confusion of the wine aisle, their flavours are best described as ordinary.
Yes the wines are pleasant enough with a 3-star rating that shows they are acceptable for the money but when Asda’s Nice Drop Cabernet Sauvignon gets a maximum 5-stars at £3.75 a bottle and Tesco’s Lateral Chilean Merlot gets 5-stars too at £3.99 then you begin to wonder why paying £5 for a Chilean Malbec that lacks a depth of flavour is worth it.
It is if you leave this particular wine to ‘breathe’ and stand un-drunk for an hour or so and the flavours will get better – the cherry and liquorice now seems more enjoyable. Other Morrison wines (see White Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Pinotage and Soave) at this price range are simple tasting and acceptable but could be so much better.
One point in favour of Morrisons own-label under-£5 wines is that they do all have a nifty label design showing a square divided into quarterly triangles but that’s as far as it goes. Which is a shame as although they aren’t the tastiest of wines they do offer a cheaper alternative to Morrisons’ more upmarket The Best wines that sell for the above average bottle price of £7-£10 – double the price of the plain Morrisons labelled wines.
Wineuncorked.co.uk Morrisons under-£5 review
Morrisons Californian White Zinfandel
£4.35 Morrisons
The White Zinfandel is actually a rosé (the confusing name began life as a 1970s marketing ploy to sell a winemaking mistake) and has a low-ish alcohol content of 10.5% making it easy to quaff. Its semi-sweet raspberry ripple ice cream flavours are similar to all other cheap Californian White Zinfandels. So easy to enjoy but not a knock-out.
£4.35 Morrisons
This Chilean Pinot Noir tastes of plum and dark chocolate that gets better the longer you leave the bottle open. Still rather ordinary flavours.
£5 Morrisons
Leave to ‘breathe’ and stand un-drunk for an hour or so and the flavours will get better – the cherry and liquorice now seems more enjoyable.
£4.35 Morrisons
A very simple tasting South African Pinotage that tastes of plum and liquorice plus a noticeable smoke tinge. Interestingly Asda’s similar South African Pinotage (Nice Drop of Pinotage £3.89 3-stars) has a similar smoke taint and I’m left wondering if this a result of wild bush fires that affect hot countries like South Africa (Australia and USA too) and the smoke chemicals have gone through the grape skins into the juice and wine. For a better tasting Pinotage then try Marks and Spencer’s Classic No.16 but it is twice the price at £8 a bottle.
£4.50 Morrisons
Simple and light flavours of fresh pear, creamy apple and lemon.
Related articles
Review: Asda Nice Drop budget wine range
Tesco’s new £3.99 Lateral Chilean wine range
