Tesco South African White - Olifants River

Flippin’ elephants!! What am I doing writing a wine review at 7 O’clock on a Saturday morning?! Couldn’t sleep that’s what, but for those of you who are fleetingly worried about my drinking habits I’m not actually on the wine as I write, strictly coffee for now!

Today’s selection from the wine cellar (my fridge!) is Tesco’s South African White – no fancy name for this! No fancy label or bottle either – just an average shaped dark green glass bottle sporting a pretty basic large white label with sparse lettering and a small stylistic illustration. It doesn’t look expensive and it isn’t! I am currently on a thumping great 1.5 litre bottle which cost £5..89 but first tried the standard 75cl bottle which was £2.99.

This wine originates from the Olifants River region of South Africa, situated north of Cape Town on the west coast of South Africa (so the label tells me, my geography really isn’t that good!) This produces a “fresh, fruity white wine with a crisp dry style” – well, I have tasted crisper and fresher but it is not disappointing considering it is the cheaper end of the market. It has quite a strong fruity aroma which reminds me of apples and elderly women! It is a quite strongly flavoured wine too considering this isn’t usually the case with a drier wine this one is quite notably fruity, apples and grapes, with a very slight synthetic aftertaste for some reason (maybe it’s the stockings of the elderly women?!)

The alcohol content is 13% volume, an average to high content for a white wine of its dryness and grade. I would argue that this is a little sweeter than its suggested dryness but, for me, this is still most definitely a dry wine although those used to drinking drier more expensive wines may find it a little sweet.

As with most white wines this is best served well chilled (also takes the edge off any over-sweetness too) and can be drunk perfectly well on its own or as a party drink but would also accompany light meals such as salads, pasta and poultry nicely. I actually had a couple of glasses with some ham and pineapple pizza and garlic bread and it went very well!

So I would say this is a good option for those on a budget or needing a lot of wine for a party or a get-together but don’t try and pass it off as anything more than it is!