M&S Found Refosco, Veneto, Italy 2022, £7.50, Marks & Spencer M&S has had its ups and downs for years now, always seemingly teetering on the edge of irrelevance but never quite losing its grip to follow such big names as Debenhams and BHS into the depths of the widening high-street abyss. It’s been through what sounds like a pretty brutal restructuring over the past five years, with jobs lost and stores closed, but it does seem to be safe for now: the company recently returned to the FTSE 100 after a four-year absence and a 75% rise in its share price. That renewed sense of confidence seems to be reflected in its wine range, which has had something of a spruce up over the past couple of years, and which, on the strength of a recent tasting put on by the retailer, is in very fine form at the moment. Its Found range of lesser-spotted grape varieties and regions is a fertile source of good-value wines, such as this tangy, crunchy refreshing red from northeastern Italy.
M&S Etna Rosso, Etna, Sicily, Italy 2020, £12, Marks & Spencer Italy has clearly been a focus for the M&S buying team, and the retailer has added numerous new lines from the country which are well worth seeking out. On the red side, I was particularly taken by a pair from one of Italy’s rising-star regions, Sicily, both of which make full use of the island’s stock of distinctive local grape varieties. The first, M&S Bella Verità Organic Nero d’Avola 2022 (£8) is a wonderfully juicy expression of nero d’avola’s mix of dark cherry and plum with just a touch of pepper and plum-skin rasp to go with tomato pasta. M&S Etna Rosso, although £4 more, is arguably even better value given that it’s rare to find good-quality examples of the fashionable wines made from nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio on the slopes of the active volcano for much less than £20. This version sings with berries, cherries and blood orange in a deft, lightly structured, refreshing southern alternative for fans of pinot noir.
M&S Expressions Roero Arneis, Piedmont, Italy 2022, £9, Marks & Spencer The M&S wine risorgimento was even more active with white wines, with a total of 11 new vini bianchi joining the ranks, covering numerous regions and grape varieties. For value, it’s hard to beat the M&S Expressions Ribolla Gialla 2022 (£7) from Friuli in the far north-east of Italy on the border with Slovenia and Austria, which has a juicy, mouthfilling, fresh orchard-fruited quality, underscored with a zesty-pithy citrus brightness, although the golden glow and tang of ripe yellow apples and plums in M&S Found Manzoni Bianco 2022 from the Veneto (£7.50) and the pristine subtle lime, juicy pear and clean lines of M&S Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico 2022 (£7.50) from Le Marche in Central Italy both run close. Moving up in price a little, I enjoyed the soft apple and pear, subtle white floral tones and stream of soft acidity in the M&S Expressions Roero Arneis 2022, which would sit very nicely with a plate of the classic veal and tuna Piedmontese dish, vitello tonnato.
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