One product occupying more shelf space in supermarkets recently is the wine miniature, or mini. You see a lot of them in stores at railway stations, especially, but rarely on the actual trains: I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen many people in coach D, swigging chianti or claret with their Big Mac.
As you’d expect, smaller bottles appeal mainly to singles, especially health-conscious under-35s and older consumers who want to treat themselves, much as they might with a box of chocolates. The ranges are pretty limited, though – retailers clearly take a “greatest hits” approach to wines in this size – nor are they particularly cheap, pro rata: a 25cl bottle of Marks & Spencer Petit Chablis, say, will set you back £5, while the standard 75cl bottle is only £10. But, continuing last week’s theme, they are a good way to limit your alcohol intake, in a similar way to a calorie-counted ready-meal.
The two main players on the mini front are Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s, whose sales have risen 25% in the past year. Sainsbury’s generally does the better job, with more variety and a bottle size (187ml) that keeps us women under our recommended maximum units per day. M&S favours 250ml bottles, which seem to work on the assumption you’ll dutifully drink half the bottle and save the rest for the next day. I doubt that’s going to happen in most instances.
I tasted a selection the other week, and it was nowhere near as dispiriting a task as I’d feared. From Sainsbury’s, I’d happily – well, fairly happily – buy the smooth, mellow Taste the Difference Vinedos Barrihuelo Rioja 2009 (£2.25, 13.5% abv, 2.5 units per bottle) and the dark, brambly Taste the Difference Primitivo Salento 2013 (£2.25, 13% abv, 2.4 units), while Marks’s smooth, creamy White Burgundy (£3.50, 12.5% abv, 3.1 units) would hit the spot with ready-made fish pie.
Both prosecco and champagne look particularly dinky in mini bottles, but they do not work out cheap, in the case of champagne in particular. I’d balk at paying M&S £8 for a 20cl bottle of Desroches when the full-size bottle is £19 at the moment (down from £28).
Brands on the whole don’t do much in the way of minis, but Concha y Toro’s ripe, blackcurranty Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 (13.5% abv) and passionfruit-streaked Sauvignon Blanc 2014 (13% abv) actually make rather good drinking – both come in 185ml bottles and cost around £2.25 in selected branches of Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s. If nothing else, that’s proof one shouldn’t pre-judge big brands.
- Fiona has been voted International Wine and Spirit Competition Blogger of the Year 2014 for her website matchingfoodandwine.com
