Tesco Westons Cider and Summer Wines Review

Reviewed by Louise Watts

With the world in a very strange place currently and everyone spending more time at home with their family, fathers’ day is going to be even more important this year for many people. Some won’t have seen their Dad’s for weeks; some will have been with their Dad every day. Whichever situation has been ours; we will treasure our Dad’s even more than we did before and want to spoil them on fathers’ day this year.
The big question therefore is what to buy them? Having been on lock down for several weeks already, a lot of Dad’s have already done all the DIY jobs and bought their vital equipment and tools for said jobs. We are currently unable to take our Dad’s out for lunch or out for the day, therefore what would be nicer to spoil our fathers’ than a nice, classy few bottles of alcohol.
I was given the difficult job of tasting and reviewing two bottles of wine – one red and one rose along with a fruit cider from Tesco.
The first one I tried was a bottle of red wine named “Douro”. This red is produced in Portugal on the steep banks of the river Douro and has an alcohol content of 13.5%. Sadly, this wine is currently unavailable from Tesco and I was therefore unable to find an RRP therefore am unable to comment on whether the wine is good value for money or not.
I shared this bottle with my partner one evening during lock down once we had succeeded in getting the kids to bed. We opened the cork – it was nice to have a cork as so often now wines are screw top. It smelled fruity and had an aroma of high-quality wine about it. We poured ourselves a glass and proceeded to taste it. I do not claim to be a wine tasting expert but I have drunk enough of it to know what I enjoy and what I don’t. It tasted lovely, it was full bodied and fruity and left a delicious taste in your mouth. Sometimes, red wine can be too heavy and doesn’t sit comfortably, this was not the case with Douro. It was not watery but was also not too heavy, it sat perfectly with a beef meal that we ate and we enjoyed drinking the bottle between us. An added bonus for this wine is that it is suitable for Vegans.
The bottle itself was simple but pretty in design. There was not too much information on it and it was eye catching due to the beautiful colours on the symbol. As I said I am unsure of the RRP and therefore cannot comment on the value but upon discussion with my partner, we decided that we would pay around the £7-8 mark for this bottle.

The second bottle we tested was “Mountain Vineyards Rose”. Produced in the Western Cape of South Africa, it has an RRP of £5 and an alcohol content of 11.5%
The bottle was absolutely beautiful albeit very girly in my opinion. It has a beautiful design of pink, white and silver and a simple yet captivating design. On opening the bottle and pouring the wine, we were both struck with how much it smelled like a white wine. I am not generally a fan of Rose wine as I find it too sweet, however this had a very crisp, sharp feel about it and I commented to my partner that had I not been able to see that it was a Rose wine, I would have guessed it to be white by the aroma and taste. It was extremely palatable and easy drinking and definitely benefitted from being in the fridge overnight before drinking. We could easily have had another bottle (if we had one). It was refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable to consume.
I would choose to drink this wine with seafood or chicken (or by itself!) With an RRP of only £5, this is an absolute must have bottle and I will certainly be keeping my eyes open for it on my next visit to Tesco.
Our final taster was “Henry Westons Medium Vintage Rose Cider”. As an experienced Cider drinker, I was particularly keen to try this one. I usually drink apple cider through choice as I find the fruity ones a little sickly if having more than one. Henry Westons produce a range of different ciders with the Vintage Rose being a new addition. It retails at £2.20 for a 500ml bottle in Tesco. The range have very similar bottles in design and are very attractive looking; however, the rose flavour is pink in colour and therefore stands out more than some of the other varieties. It was a beautiful pink colour, more pink lemonade looking than sickly sweet pink. Despite being pink, the cider remains an apple-based variety.
I happily poured the bottle into my glass and sat in the garden on a very warm afternoon having spent the afternoon gardening. It was very refreshing and delicious in flavour and not at all dense, which made it easy drinking. That being said, I would not want to spend all evening drinking it. For a one-off refreshing drink, it is perfect. It has an alcohol content of 5.5% and with an RRP of £2.20 I think it is extremely good value for money.

Myself and my partner thoroughly enjoyed being given the opportunity to try these alcoholic beverages. I think they would be perfect for a fathers’ day gift. The pink cider and Rose wine may appear a little girly but if your Dad can get over that, then he is in for a special treat with either of those. The red Douro was a beautiful classic red wine and a must for all wine lovers.
I would thoroughly recommend these as perfect fathers’ day gifts for the special man in your life.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £2.20 – £5

You can buy these products from Tesco here.