With their palates on the line, three merchants participate in a blind tasting of big-selling wines from the multiple grocers with a couple of entry-level indie outliers thrown in. 

Our tasters: Jez Greenspan, The Wine Twit; Liam Plowman, Wild + Lees; and Sunny Hodge, Diogenes the Dog, all in south London

By Jacob Stokes

Barefoot Pinot Grigio, £8

Barefoot is a brand owned by the world’s largest single producer of wine, E&J Gallo, which accounts for nearly 3% of the globe’s entire production.

Jez: To me this just screams supermarket Pinot Grigio; being brutally honest, it’s quite dull and boring. There’s nothing wrong with it but there’s nothing great about it.

Liam: This is inoffensive. There’s no complexity to it but it’s perfectly drinkable.

Sunny: It’s a perfect supermarket wine in the sense that it’s crisp, fresh and aromatic. But it’s very linear, one-dimensional and concise. 

Yellow Tail Chardonnay, £7.75

Yellow Tail has been named the International Wine & Spirit Record’s most powerful wine brand in the world for seven years in a row. It tops Australia’s exports by brand. 

Sunny: Much more going on here. I’d be pleasantly surprised if I got that from a supermarket, but I feel like this wouldn’t be in a supermarket. The residual sugar is pointing me to Riesling.

Jez: I’d quite happily take that home and drink that. 

Liam: Feels a little bit confected, with a touch of oak and something a little bit funky, which is welcomed. I think this is a Chardonnay. It feels like a very dumbed-down Montrachet assembled inexpensively. Pretty nice job. 

Safe to say the reveal of this wine shook the room. 

Tesco’s Finest Trentino Pinot Grigio, £8

Grocery private labels have become increasingly dominant on supermarket shelves. They suggest a higher quality wine to the consumer as well as offering a bigger margin for the supermarkets. 

Sunny: Again, this is very linear and one dimensional. It’s very generic. Just white wine. 

Liam: It’s just so neutral, I can’t even take a stab at the variety because it just doesn’t taste of much. 

Jez: Just like the first wine: dull, boring and uninteresting. 

Indie White, £10.81

A white field blend from La Mancha, Spain. Made in a fresh, unoaked style. 

Jez: That is horrid. If it wasn’t white, I’d maybe

think this is an orange wine because of the   astringency and bitterness. Vile. 

Sunny: Overly confected and weirdly candied. It reminds me of the yellow diacetyl liquid that runs from split cream. Not enjoyable. 

Liam: Very sharp. Green and mineral but not in a good way. 

Oyster Bay, £10.50

Known for producing archetypal Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Oyster Bay sits at the more premium end of supermarket offerings.  

Liam: Decent for a supermarket wine. Loads of grapefruit and gooseberry; not my cup of tea, but I can see why people drink it. 

Sunny: Exactly what people would expect. Does what it says on the tin but still one dimensional. 

Jez: It’s not a bad bottle. Bit of tropical fruit and a lively acidity. By no means the worst Sauvignon Blanc in the world. 

La Vielle Ferme Rosé, £8.50

Made by the famous Famille Perrin, producer of the legendary Château de Beaucastel and modern icon Miraval Rosé. 

Jez: Is this the chicken wine [La Vielle Ferme]?

Liam: This is exactly what the wider public want. Super pale, dry and slightly sharp. 

Sunny: I think the tannic grip here is quite surprising. It’s slightly off kilter and feels as though it’s been acidified. 

Campo Viejo Rioja, £8.75 

Currently owned by French conglomerate Pernod Ricard but set to be sold to Australia’s Accolade by the end of 2025. 

Sunny: This is overripe, stewed and over-extracted. Wouldn’t surprise me if this was a supermarket wine. Feels quite oxidatively produced. 

Jez: A little bit hot with the alcohol. Not sure what it is. Doesn’t really tell you anything. I’d be very disappointed with this. 

Liam: Seems to be lacking fruit: just loads of damp tannins. 

Trivento Private Reserve Malbec, £10 

A subsidiary of Chilean giant Concha y Toro. Trivento is often critically acclaimed: Tim Atkin MW gave the 2021 Private Reserve Malbec 93 points in his Argentina 2022 report. 

Sunny: This is not bad. Nice and restrained on the nose with some little touches of greenness. If I bought that I’d be happy. Reminds me of a young Bordeaux: well managed oak, bit of pepper. Decent. This could be between £10 and £12. 

Liam: The leafy element at least makes it interesting. It’s nice to have something that tastes like it is the result of a plant. 

Jez: I’m not keen on this. The vegetal character is not for me.  

Indie Spanish GSM, £11.99 

From Valencia, aged in old 500-litre French oak vats for four months. Fermented with indigenous yeasts.

 Jez: Very drinkable. A little bit of tannin and grip, nice acidity, lovely fruit. Slightly confected finish.

Sunny: Plums and blueberries. A little bit linear compared to the previous wine. Feels more manufactured. Tastes like how I’d expect a supermarket wine to taste. Not a lot going on.

Liam: Tannins are pretty good. Nice to have some grip. It has a Malbec vibe to it.

Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon, £8

The most recognised brand of Concha y Toro. Part of a wider portfolio ranging from supermarket wines to some of the finest wines of the world. 

Liam: Some Cabernet influence here. A bit of blackcurrant with some leafiness. 

Sunny: I’m thinking Coonawarra Cabernet. So much eucalyptus and bell pepper. 

Jez: It’s not bad at all. Little bit of grip and slightly short on the finish. Not loads going on but it’s decent. If that’s £9 I’d be happy with that. 

19 Crimes Red Wine, £9.50

A label from Australia’s largest wine producer, Treasury Wine Estates, 19 Crimes has seen rapid growth since its launch in 2015. Treasury also owns Penfolds, Stags Leap and Blossom Hill. 

Sunny: I’m struggling with that. Very candied, overdone and stewed. So hard to place. I would hope that was cheap as hell. 

Liam: It’s got so much residual sweetness. Mass appeal, sweet, easy and not very nice. I’d have a scorching hangover drinking this. 

Jez: I’d be taking this back. 

Jam Shed Shiraz, £8 

Established in 2017 by one of the world’s largest wine companies, Accolade. Framed in many ways as an anti-wine establishment brand. Straplines include “more banter less decanter” and “life’s complicated, wine doesn’t have to be”.

Jez: That is vile. Wow. No. 

Liam: Doesn’t smell of anything. Just sugar on the palate. 

Sunny: I’d struggle to even call that red wine. Somehow worse than the last wine. All jam. 

Yellow Tail Shiraz, £7.75

Brand owner Casella Family Brands claims that almost 2 million glasses of Yellow Tail are enjoyed around the world every day. 

Liam: Less egregious than the last two but not good. Tastes like laundry detergent. 

Sunny: Alcohol is too hot, and the tannins are out of kilter. Impossible to place. Maybe good enough for cooking. 

Jez: The eucalyptus makes me think of Australia. The finish falls away immediately. Very confected and jammy. 

SO. WHAT DID WE LEARN?

Jez: It’s interesting to taste some supermarket wines because I never do. It has made me grateful that I’m not selling wines that occupy these price points because if I was selling them, god knows what quality they would be compared to those. 

Liam: I’d say that some of the supermarket wines were better than could be expected at the price, but they should certainly bring back the death penalty for 19 Crimes.

Sunny: There were a few shockers, which was great, and the take home is that some lines are certainly closing the gap in quality between indies and supermarket, though those lines are sporadic, almost “unicorn” supermarket wines.

• Thanks to Jeroboams in Walton Street, London, for hosting us and to Moët Hennessy for kindly supplying Ruinart Champagne to cleanse our palates. We have chosen not to name the indie wines in the tasting to spare embarrassment and because the UK importer was not involved in organising the tasting and did not nominate the wines.