Sainsbury's SO Organic Soave 2006 Review

Typical price:

£4.99

We like:

The elegant colour and fruity promise on the nose; that it's not super-serious; that it's good for sunshine drinking and is an unobtrusive pre-dinner livener

We don't like:

The lack of finish; the pretty bog-standard taste -- there are plenty of non-organic soaves that taste like this

SmartPlanet judgement:

If you're trying to dodge conventional chemicals and just want a light, easy access white wine, this might fit the bill. But there are more enjoyable simple organic whites out there, and while you're drinking this you're not trying those. Any more than £4.99 would be cheek.

Score:

Contact:

Nice Car Company at http://www.sainsburys.co.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)800 636 262

The Sainsbury's SO Organic wine range, which includes a French chardonnay and Chilean sauvignon blanc in the whites and a Chilean merlot and both Australian and French shiraz/syrah, is an easy option for midweek drinking. Realistically, it cuts the wine options down to size; you just chuck it in the trolley and move on.

The newest addition to this easily identified range is an organic, 11.5 per cent volume Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) soave made by a large family wine company, Sartori de Verona. DOC is the second rung of the Italian wine classification system, which means it's produced in a specific area and is also subject to other quality controls. The trebbiano and garganega grapes are grown organically, but very few wines are free of sulphites, which are used as fungicides, and this is no exception.

The wine itself has a pale yellowy-green colour and is light-bodied and unobtrusive. Swirled and sniffed, it has a zesty character and reminded us of really cold Granny Smith apples. The Sainsbury's notes suggest peaches, but they eluded us. The smell isn't really followed up taste-wise; it's acidic and slightly raspy in the throat, and the taste lingers only briefly. It hasn't got much presence in the glass, but then that's why you drink soave. If you like your whites light, refreshing and without a sniff of buttery richness, vanilla or oak, you might find a place for this; if you don't fancy it now, you might change your mind come summer.

Score breakdown:

 

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