Is it worth gambling on supermarket wine bargains?

Rich men often look out for bargains. I suppose that is why they are rich. But there can be problems. Occasionally bargains fail to live up to their name. It would not be easy to find a single bottle of le Montrachet for £600, yet a friend of mine once bought a whole case for that sum. He forgot the wise old adage: ‘If something sounds too good to be true, it is probably neither.’ Not one of his 12 bottles turned out to be drinkable.

On a lesser scale, my friend Geoffrey fell victim to Waitrose. He and Louise invited me to lunch and the pièce de résistance was boeuf bourguignon. Before that, there was a brief tasting. ‘Try this,’ he said, proffering a glass as I arrived. Judging by his tone, it was not going to be a treat. The nose suggested thinness, and that was not misleading. The wine was insipid. In fact, it took the ‘sip’ out of insipid. Trying to be as complimentary as possible, I said that it was wine, not vinegar — but barely drinkable. Geoffrey concurred and sentenced the bottle to clean the sink pipes.

‘Cost three quid at Waitrose,’ I was told. ‘At that price, I felt I had to try it, especially as they call it “Good ordinary claret”.’ That is cheek, because Berry Bros also markets a good ordinary claret, for rather more than three pounds. But it drinks up to its name. If you never have a worse glass of wine, consider yourself spoiled.

These days, supermarkets’ wines are usually reliable. They employ expert buyers and drive hard bargains with the producers, giving them large orders, but not allowing much of a profit margin. They also use wine as a marketing device, seducing customers by offering low prices. The other year, Tesco’s had a St Joseph for £4.95.