Sainsbury's Soave > Reviews (4)

Hmmmm, I think I’ve left a suitable little interlude between wines…..writing about them that is, not drinking them!

Ever on the hunt for a bargain bottle (strict budget you understand – there’s only so much wine I can buy in a week and unfortunately that doesn’t match what I can drink!) I was trawling the shelves of Sainsbury’s with my hawkeye(s) looking for the special offers again. Ah! There we are! A bottle of dry white wine for only £2.59 – that’ll be the one!

On this occasion it turned out to be Sainsbury’s Soave – an Italian dry white wine. It’s normally priced at £2.99 for a standard 75cl bottle so a clear 40p off isn’t bad. It looks pretty basic – a straight clear bottle with a “no frills” label in tasteful beige simply declaring what it is.

Produced using a blend of Garganega and Trebbiano (yes, really) grapes from the town of Soave near Verona they claim this results in a “crisp, light wine with a delicate, fruity flavour.” My verdict? Well, it is certainly a very dry crisp wine and the “fruity” flavour seems overly citrus to me and it is very acidic. After drinking it I had that warm, burning, acidic feeling in my throat and chest – good for a cold Winter’s night I suppose?! The aroma is quite tart and strong – again a citrus tang – which probably should have given me a clue.

As far as the alcohol content goes this is 11% volume which surprised me as wines this dry and acidic usually weigh in at around 13%. It’s graded at 2 on the dryness scaled widely used by large wine manufacturers these days (1-9 = driest to sweetest) which is about right, although I’d hazard a guess it was bordering on a 1.

Best served chilled, this would make a good accompaniment to poultry, pasta, fish or salad dishes. The label claims it would make a good party drink but I think you would need a strong constitution!

Given the price, I would probably buy it again if it was on offer and my purse was light, but apart from that, I don’t really want my throat burnt out quite yet!