The 2023 edition of the SuperValu French Wine Sale is upon us. As last year, some German wines are included, specifically those from producer Albert Glas. This post will cover five of the white wines which are among the 40 included in the sale which kicks off on Friday 1st September. They hail from the Loire Valley, Burgundy and the Pfalz.
Albert Glas Black Label Riesling 2022
Weingut Albert Glas was founded in Essingen (in the Pzalf, around 30km north of Alsace) by Herr Albert Glass in 1958. It remains a small family winery run by Albert’s grandson Dominik. Dominik uses his grandfather’s traditional techniques wherever possible as they have proven effective for quality winemaking for several decades.
The Black Label indicates the firm’s top quality level. The grapes for this Riesling are hand picked from two westerly facing vineyards on loess and loam soils. An eight hour cold soak lets a few of the phenolics into the juice. Fermentation and maturation take place in a mix of stainless steel and barrels made from Pfalz oak.
Unistakeably Riesling on the nose, this radiates lime and floral notes. The palate is juicy and fruity, with citrus joined by yellow fruits. There’s plenty of texture, too. While this would be a versatile food wine, it’s damned delicious on its own.
- ABV: 12.5 %
- RS: 5.1 g/L
- RRP: €12 down from €20
- Source: sample
- Stockists: SuperValu stores
La Perrière Coteaux du Giennois 2022
Coteaux du Giennois is a lesser-known AOC from the Central Loire Valley. Whites are made from Sauvignon Blanc and reds from Pinot Noir and Gamay, and like other below-the-radar appellations the wines often represent good value for money. The trip from Gien to Saget La Perrière’s HQ in Poilly-sur-Loire takes around 45 minutes by car but double that in a truck; 90 minutes would be too long for grapes to be easily transported without spoiling so they are pressed at a facility close to the vineyard and the must travels down in a tanker.
The wine is pale in the glass, with striking varietal aromatics: white flowers, grass and gooseberry. The palate adds grapefruit to the mix and a good dose of acidity – it’s tangy and fresh. This is an easy drinking wine that would keep for a few years if necessary. Serve with a goat’s cheese salad or nibbles at apero time.
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- ABV: 13.5%
- RRP: €12 down from €16.89
- Source: sample
- Stockists: SuperValu stores
La Perrière “Mégalithe” Sancerre 2017
So now we have a wine from the most prestigious appellation in the Loire Valley, and one which is the original spiritual home of Sauvignon Blanc: Sancerre. But this is not just any Sancerre, it’s the flagship white wine from La Perrière. They have three levels of Sancerre; firstly the classic – in white, rosé and red – made with grapes from all three Sancerre terroirs. Above that are specific parcels from specific soil types, Silex (flint) and Caillottes (pebbles).
Mégalithe is made from the best grapes available from south-east facing sites on silex soil. All harvesting is by hand and pesticides and herbicides are kept to a minimum. After pressing, 40% of the juice is fermented in new 300 litre Allier oak barrels and 60% in stainless steel. Vinification lasts eight to ten months, with regular lees stirring, after which the wines are bottled and stored in La Perrière’s limestone caves for around two more years.
The aim is to make a concentrated, gastronomic wine that can easily age a decade. At the Prowein wine fair earlier this year the team showed Mégalithe 2003 which was still fighting fit, despite being from a very warm year. Production amounts to only 3,000 to 4,000 bottles per year.
So how is this mega wine? Right now this 2017 is à point. It pours lemon in the glass with perhaps a little more depth of colour that is associated with Sauvignon. The nose has citrus but also a touch of leesy funk and stony notes. It’s a real pleasure on the nose but the palate is where the action is really act. This is a tangy, generous and complex wine. It’s worth the normal €33 but at the offer price of €25 it’s worth trading up if you don’t normally spend this much.
- ABV: 13.0%
- RRP: €25 down from €32.99
- Source: sample
- Stockists: SuperValu stores
André Goichot Saint-Bris 2022
André Goichot entered the wine trade just after World War II. Something of an opportunist / entrepreneur, in a time when glass bottles were in very short supply, Monsieur Goichot collected empty wine bottles from wherever he could, then washed and refilled them. The firm has expanded and evolved over the decades, and in 2017 stopped buying wine in bulk and instead buying grapes and must. It has also bought its own vineyards, including 35 hectares in the Côte Chalonnaise in 2016.
A third Sauvignon Blanc, but this time from Burgundy. Wait, Burgundy? Yes, in the north of the region, close to Chablis, the village of Saint-Bris has long been a Sauvignon stronghold. In a similar situation to the Coteaux du Giennois above, the grapes for this wine are pressed in Saint-Bris and the must is transported by tanker for vinification in Beaune. 2022 saw both frost and hail in Burgundy, battering yields. Demand remains high, so everything is selling out quickly.
Whereas the Giennois is very green, this Saint-Bris adds some softer fruits to the mid palate. There’s some texture, too, after eight to ten months spent ageing on fine lees. There’s a light bitterness too, adding a savoury edge and keeping the fruit in check. For me this really needs food at this stage, though it might have softened up after another six months in bottle.
- ABV: 13.0%
- RRP: €10 down from €18
- Source: sample
- Stockists: SuperValu stores
André Goichot Chablis 2021
Chablis is such a distinctive style that it’s regularly showered with praise by those who aren’t even fans of “Chardonnay”. Most AOC Chablis is unoaked, with varying amounts of oak used for Premier and Grand Cru wines according to the tastes of the producer. This is the case here, with stainless steel used for fermentation and ageing. Bàtonnage was performed over seven months to add structure and texture.
The 2021 vintage was devastated by frost which hit in early April; up to 85% of production was lost, though the white grapes which did survive made some good wines. This bottle proves that wisdom. It has the usual Chablis characteristics of citrus and flintiness, but added to that is a restrained ripeness which can be lacking in the Yonne. Now, we’re still not talking about Meursault here, and the regulation bright acidity is present and correct, but riper orchard fruits add another layer. I’ve been lucky to taste Goichot Chablis many times over the years, and I think this is the best vintage I’ve tried.
- ABV: 13.0 %
- RRP: €16 down from €24.99
- Source: sample
- Stockists: SuperValu stores
Conclusion
There are no bad wines in this group, but there are clear winners: the Albert Glas Riesling at €12, the André Goichot Chablis at €16 and the Mégalithe at €25. I will be heading to my nearest SuperValu store to snag a few of each…and perhaps a few of the other Albert Glas wines which are also in the sale.
The IGP Coteaux de Béziers is in the Languedoc’s Hérault department and up until 2015 was known as Coteaux-du-Libron, the change effected for better name recognition. The IGP regulations are very wide in terms of permitted grape varieties, but the three used here are among the most well known: 50% Syrah, 25%Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a fruit forward wine with very 
