The Finest example is all vibrant strawberry the Santa Tresa Cerasuolo di Vittoria 2010 (£12, /wine) blend with nero d'avola is fragrant and fluent with the sweet-sour taste and acidity of cherries. There's a delicious nod, too, to Sicily's ongoing renaissance with a pair of luminous reds both of which use one of my favourite red grape varieties, frappato. It's great to see a big supermarket acknowledging the quality coming out of Slovenia with the brisk and pure new dry white Finest Slovenian Sauvignon Furmint 2012 blend (£7.99) – it stood out a mile among the raft me-too New World sauvignon blancs and would go down a "storm" with Nigel's fish soup. While I wish Tesco would send the likes of Apothic back whence they came (according to the press release that accompanied its launch in the UK, it has already "taken the US and Canada by storm"), there's quite a lot to enjoy among its recent new additions. Tesco Finest Frappato, Sicily, Italy 2012 (£7.99) Still, credit where it's due. That it's both dramatically overpriced and has been enthusiastically listed by three major supermarkets rather than something with a less lavish marketing budget that tastes like, well, wine, is, however, not funny at all. Trouble is, Apothic Red is such a grotesque and clumsy caricature of the stereotype of sweet, candy-like, oak-flavoured Californian wine, it actually made me laugh when I tasted it at a line-up of Tesco's range. All of which suggests I should at least tolerate Apothic Red, the latest sweet red outpouring from the vast Californian E&J Gallo vinous-industrial complex. When it comes to booze, too, a shot of Bailey's or Malibu can induce a certain sugary shudder of nostalgia for my teenage years. Apothic Red, California 2011 (£9.99, Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's ) As someone who's been known to enjoy the odd can of coke and munch Haribo sweets by the handful in times of stress, I can see how industrially produced synthetic food and drink products have a certain appeal in the right place and time.
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