I decided to seek out something out of the ordinary at my local Sainsbury recently. I came across this “Taste the Difference” (a Sainsbury own label range) German Pinot Noir Rheinhessen Qualitatswein. German red is quite a bit rarer than white and Pinot Noir is not a grape that I would normally associate with Germany – I was hoping for a treat.

It is on special offer at the moment at £6.00 (usual price £7.00 per 75 cl).

Bottled by Niersteiner Weingenossenschaft.

Vintage 2015

Alcohol 12.5%

Colour: Very thin colouration – browny red illustrating that this one won’t last very long and may be past its best soon despite only being 2015.

Bouquet/Smell: mild whiskey odour then very mild red fruit.

Taste/Palate: very faint whiskey taste (honest) leading to red berry fruit again. Not very strong flavours at all. Like inexpensive summer fruits squash.

Finish: didn’t last at all.

Overall, a rather watery wine which did a good job of washing cheese down but little else. Quite pleasant and unchallenging but I was a bit disappointed that it was so watery. At £6.00, I think that it was a little over priced – you might do better with the 2014 which has a higher alcohol level at 13% – it may have got a bit more sun.

Link to their 2014 version