Tesco's Finest deserves its name
2000 Tesco Finest Ribera del Duero Gran Reserva, Limited Edition, Spain (£14.99, selected Tesco).
Tesco is celebrating ten years of its 'Finest' own-label wine series. I sat through an enlightening lecture given by Dan Jago, director of beers, wines and spirits for the supermarket, the other day and he waxed lyrical about the passion behind all of the Finest brands and how they over-delivered and made customers feel loved-up etc.
Propaganda aside, the truth is that the Finest wine range is more hit than miss and for this reason this massive supermarket chain can feel justifiably smug about its achievements.
A new limited edition of wines is in store now and they are all ten years old – from the great 2000 vintage. They all look outstanding in their anniversary livery and the best of the bunch is this staggeringly serious Ribera del Duero. If you've heard of Vega Sicilia, but can't find a spare £200 or £300 to drop on a bottle, then this wine will do nicely.
Think suave claret feel with Spanish flair and you will be very close to the flavour of this beauty. Don't dilly dally though because there is only a finite stock of this tinto and it is only in 100 stores, so get your skates on because it is extraordinary value for money.
• Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (
www.matthewjukes.com
).