Who knows about wine?

I am nowhere near sophisticated enough to drink wine - I'll stick to beer; however my parents do and I'm there for Christmas.

I thought I'd take them a couple of bottles and that perhaps the good people of fccuk could assist with recommendations. Guidelines are:

- Red
- I can buy it at Tesco/Sainsburys
- They probably wouldn't normally spend much more than £5, so something <£15 would do nicely

Go!

Red or white or something else?

A good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is a quite good aperitif, tangy and citrus/gooseberry-ish.

A red....a decent Rioja is full-bodied, or a Medoc if you can get it at that price. For Italian, a nice Chianti.

Look at the back to see if it's oaked, that'll give it a sort of oily texture but many people like that and it's often a tad stronger.

Too much choice! But spend more for a better result.

Red Shiraz or Pinotage, get any around the £7 and that should be fine.

I like Merlot in red and Sancerre in white - but the choice is massive. At £10 or above, you probably won't wrong on quality just taste.

Agree with Simon on the white. Pinot Gris another lovely white.
Push the boat out for a stonking red.. Southern Rhone...Chateauneuf De Pape. A very big spicey wine.

Rioja about £10 mark possibly a reserve
Failing that a hardys crest but cannot remember my preferred variety there are 2 or 3 I think
French and Italian can be nice but in my opinion only if you buy the dearer wine around £10 plus but I cannot recommend one of the top of my head
Generally anything above £10 should be nicer than the £5 stuff you say they normally drink!
Have fun

Alsace Pinot noir = happy parents

If it wasn't for the price difference this is the one I would have plumped for.

Mmmmm....

Get me a bottle and I'll be happy too!! Difficult to find in the UK unfortunately,and may push the boundaries of the £15 too.

Can't remember how much it was but pretty close to the £15 Aldi had a Margaux last time I was in, that should be a very good wine and is good value in the UK - Aldi wines generally are pretty good.

I don't usually like any red wine, but as some people on here know, I recently tried one that I actually like and still do, above any others I've tried.

Most on here will turn their nose up at my suggestion, but as I know you'll get want to go and get it bought, without the messing around, then I would suggest the Gallo Family Pinot Noir.

This is it: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=272854500

Available in Tesco and Sainsburys for around £6.50 a bottle or if you are near an Asda, it's currently £5.50.

As you know, I'm a unsophisticated beer drinker like you Matt but even if you don't get this for your parents, try it yourself, it's not bad

If you can find a Margaux, I'd share andyps's suggestion, but wines vary in flavour so much that one of your parents might hate it, the other llove it.
My personal bargain favourite at the moment is Hardy's Crest at £5 in Tesco. Big flavour and easy to drink.

Great call. I've got all my Christmas wine from Aldi. They have an award winning Kiwi Pinot Noir which is to die for at less then £7 a bottle.

If it's a White, then their Australian Riesling is wonderful.

But as has already been said, everybody is different...

For easy drinkers (not too heavy etc) try a Cotes du Rhone (Villages or Cru) or a nice Beaujolais.

We recently tried and really enjoyed a Chilean Melbac wine from Tesco, quite smooth and full bodied and only £6 a bottle, a real bargain in my view

Red from Argentina
White from Chile
Red from South Africa
Red from Australia
White from New Zealand

Won't go far wrong with this rule of thumb

Waitrose do a couple of nice Malbecs around the £10-12 mark.

Agree with this comment.

If you can find some reds from Margaret River region of Western Australia, suggest you try one. Vasse Felix Merlot is good and retails here for around $15 (about 7.50 GBP).

If your folks are used to spending a fiver just go and buy any merlot for around a tenner. Merlot is the most rounded - read a bit bland and lacking any distinctive character - so will go down without any offence. For white, Villa Maria sauvignon blanc (big bold flavour - as they're always saying on Masterchef) or a ten quid prosecco. Ten quid proseccos are usually pretty good.

I am drinking an awfully large volume of Argentinian Red at the moment. Nice and big and fruity.

Jim swapped a bottle of Rioja for an Xbox a couple of years ago that was absolutely stunning. Can't remember what it was called though....

It was recommended by a proper expert, but I can't even remember his name, never mind the wine's...

As this thread shows there are wines out there for everyone. I've been a lover of the grape for many a year now, but you don't really need to be an sommelier to appreciate this beverage.

For the eager pupil who wants to sample the varied differences between wines or even just curious, I would recommend going along to Oddbins or Majestic wine tastings or any other tastings that you know of. A cheap & pleasurable way of getting to know about the grape varieties....

At the end of the day it's all down to you & your tastebuds or whoever you are purchasing for.

Just for the record Aldi do for the price some half decent drinkable wines, their Argentinian Malbec ain't half bad, you said your folks prefer red Matt.

Must of been a mighty fine wine then!

As Jim says you cannot go to far wrong with a wine from the Southern Hemisphere including Argentinia!

Just had a glass of Yellow Tail 2015 Shiraz.

A very drinkable young red, enjoy.

I like Chablis

I don't think that's the full story somehow Mike?

Thanks for the recommendations folks - given the variety in feedback, in the end I used my best guessing skills to select two random bottles. One was consumed yesterday; Sainsburys Taste the Difference Barbaresco which seemed to be enjoyed.

The other was/is a Malbec which looks to have been started at some point last night, though no feedback yet....