A whistle-stop tour of some of Spar’s new wines for 2018 – more details about them HERE

Villa Cerro Garganega Pinot Grigio 2017, Veneto, Italy (£6.50 Spar)
Simple fresh glugger with hints of citrus fruit and apple, what I call ‘fair enough’ wine. C

Wildflower Pinot Grigio 2017, Romania (£6.50 Spar)
Compared with the above, this manages to be both richer and crisper, with quite plush peachy flesh reined in by sleek lemony freshness. B

Brindle Ridge Chardonnay 2017, Romania (£6.50 Spar)
Too tarted up for me, with little behind the confected vanilla sheen. 0

Tino Pai Sauvignon Blanc 2017, Languedoc, France (£7 Spar)
Dumb initially, then unravels to show herbal freshness, with a bracing, even salty edge to the grassy lemon and lime flavours. B(-)

Villa Cerro Garganega Pinot Grigio Blush 2017, Veneto, Italy (£6.50 Spar)
I prefer this to the white version (above), thanks to its extra peachy weight. Not great but honest. C+

Wildflower Pinot Noir 2017, Romania (£6.50 Spar)
There’s quite pleasant raspberry and cherry fruit here, but there’s also a bitter, stalky note and (again) a false vanilla note. C-

Legendary Malbec 2016, Comté Tolosan, South West France (£7.50 Spar)
Juicy, rugged, plum, cherry and blackcurrant flavours with a crunchy freshness and hints of mint, could maybe be a little more concentrated, and not everyone will like the slightly green edge to the tannins, but would happily drink this with a steak. B-

Brindle Ridge Merlot 2017, Romania (£6.50 Spar)
I like the plump plummy fruit, but there’s more of that vanilla slap plus and a little too much green tannin. And I suspect a touch of residual sugar… C-

Fontaine du Sud Costières De Nîmes 2016, Rhône, France (£8 Spar)
The most grown up of these wines, this starts off a bit shy but then reveals a core of dark plummy berry and spice, with an earthy, herbal edge to the finish. B(+)