A bargain Rioja from the Co-op

published 13 November 2015

2009 C.V.N.E., Imperial Rioja Reserva, Spain (£14.99, sold in 163 Co-op stores, for more details please call the customer care line on 0800-0686 727).

I am not sure what's going on at TheCo-operative. I attended a winterpress tasting the other day and the"hit rate" of bottles passing theJukesy approval score of 18/20 was immense. In fact, it is way higher than that of all the other high street retailers this year!

I taste everything on the shelves in the run up to Christmas in order to furnish my Daily Mail column with buckets of seriouslywell made, but inexpensive wines. This job has become increasingly difficult over the last 15 years as prices have risen and value for money has sagged. In the last nine years as your wine commentator, the Co-op has enjoyed only three write-ups, but given its latest volley of epic wines this is set to change.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

My featured, delicious, ultra-classy Rioja is five to ten quid cheaper at the Co-op than at any other store I can find. It is made by one of the most historic wineries in Spain, and is such a beloved wine in the UK market that it used to be shipped in pint-sized bottles. It is very simple phone the customer care line, find out your nearest store and raid the shelves.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.