The wines at Asda continue to amaze me. In spite of the chain's utilitarian image, with the emphasis so much on value, the range of reds, whites, rosés and sparklers is easily as deep and diverse as those of its giant rivals. It's true that the choice varies widely according to the size of the branch you happen to be shopping in, but even the (relatively) small stores I have been visiting in the last year have had a pretty fair selection.
At the 2010 tasting, out of 120 wines I swirled, sniffed and sipped, six have won unhesitating top scores and 17 have scored nine. More than half the wines tasted have made it into this edition, which is a long way above the average.
How do they do it? Much of the credit must go to Philippa Carr, Asda's Wine Selection Manager and a Master of Wine - the qualification that seems to have become a sine qua non for those running the licensed side of any major chain's operation. In the last few years Philippa has transformed what was a rather ordinary brand-dominated range into a proper spectrum of all the world's vineyard regions, many represented by newly introduced own-label wines of impressive quality.
Prices, unsurprisingly, are competitive, and Philippa continues to find bargain wines of real quality in spite of punitive taxation (I never tire of reporting that UK wine duty is the highest not just in Europe, but in the Western world) and sterling's long, steep decline against key currencies such as the US and Australian dollars as well as the euro. We might now be in a long, slow recovery period, but the exchange benefits to consumers, if any, cannot be expected to kick in overnight.
There is a decent choice of wines under £4, and some excellent buys below a fiver. But the real excitement at Asda is to be found just a bit higher up the scale, particularly among the 'Extra Special' own labels around £6 to £8.
Online, Asda does not run a dedicated wine service of the kind thoroughly mastered by Tesco, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, but you can buy some of the wines for home delivery in the same way as any other groceries. The wine promotions are a mystery to me. Besides occasional multibuy deals, there seems no regular programme of discounting. Arguably, prices are so tight that there's no need.
Red wines
Argentina
8 Asda Argentinian Malbec 2009 £4.28
Soft and yielding, unlike most leathery 'entry-level' Mendoza Malbecs, this has slurpy black fruit and a keen price.
8 Camden Park Argentinian Malbec 2009 £6.97
Big, muscular, inky, grippy-spicy but friendly oaked fruit bomb with an apposite illustration of a prize bull on the label.
9 Vinalba Patagonian Malbec Syrah 2006 £7.62
'Reassuringly competent,' I wrote, mysteriously, in the note on this dense, delectably poised, mature silky-rich 80/20 blend with 14.5% alcohol.
Australia
7 Asda Australian Cabernet Shiraz 2009 £4.28
Straight oaked hedgerow Cabernet with grip but not harsh is 14% alcohol, and cheap.
10 Extra Special Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 £6.78
Dense browning colour, spirity nose, relishable coffee-and-fruitcake, mature discreetly oaked Coonawarra classic has lush, slurpy fruit and 14% alcohol.
8 Extra Special McLaren Vale Shiraz 2008 £8.18
Near-black colour and correspondingly roasted flavours to this huge oaked winter red with savoury fruit and spicy middle, with 14.5% alcohol.
Chile
8 Asda Chilean Merlot 2009 £3.28
Simple morello-cherry slurper with buses on the label.
8 Asda Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 £3.31
Cheery ripe, well-developed and healthy blackcurrant bargain; I even like the red pick-up truck label.
9 Casillero del Diablo Carmenère 2009 £7.37
From Concha y Toro's ubiquitous (and regularly discounted) range of varietals I particularly like this toothsome, ripe, pure-fruit-juice bomb from the enigmatic Carmenère grape.
8 Errazuriz Merlot 2009 £7.98
Stock brand is seriously chewy and long with ripe summer fruit highlights.
8 Mayu Syrah Reserva 2007 £8.97
Minty perfume draws you into this lush and toasty blackberry food wine with 14% alcohol and a fetching silkiness.
10 Santa Helena Selección del Directorio Pinot Noir 2008 £9.98
Selected by the Director himself, no less, but ignore the grandiosity and thrill to the sweet, amicable, plump, juicy raspberry-cherry creamy classic flavours of a fabulous wine, with 14.5% alcohol. A thoroughly approachable and seductive Pinot.
France
8 Extra Special Côtes du Rhône Villages 2009 £5.11
Big, purple, raisiny young wine will come round nicely.
7 Red Burgundy Pinot Noir 2008 £5.12
Pale, spare, likeable Cave de Lugny (Mâcon) fresh red with a lemon twist to drink cool.
8 Kiwi Cuvée Pinot Noir 2008 £6.04
From Corsica, a tilty deep-purple wine with a nice briary whiff and proper earthy-cherry Pinot fruit.
8 Extra Special Minervois 2008 £6.97
Profound purple Syrah-based pepper-briar Mediterranean red.
9 La Vieille Ferme 2009 £7.07
Rather grand Rhône (Côtes du Ventoux) is silky and seductive with red-fruit grip and spice. Made by Perrin family of Châteauneuf fame, and it shows.
7 La Forge Paul Mas Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 £7.74
This vin de pays d'Oc pretends to grandeur with its long, dense, toasty-oak style, but it probably needs time.
9 Château Puicheric Cuvée Les Clots 2007 £7.97
Endearingly named long, smooth, dark and spicy Minervois, mostly Syrah, with satisfying weight and good balance.
8 Extra Special Châteauneuf du Pape 2008 £14.47
Immature but already attractive, a nuanced, complex mélange with cigar-box whiff, plums, blackberries and spice in a rich texture with 14% alcohol.
Italy
8 Asda Valpolicella £3.98
Mixed-vintage wine from good Cantina Valpantena is cherry bright but substantial and authentic.
8 Casa Lella Nero d'Avola 2009 £4.98
Indigenous Sicilian has lurid mauve colour, near-jammy ripeness but a nicely balanced mouthfeel with a hint of spicy bitter chocolate and nutskin-dry finish.
9 Extra Special Valpolicella Ripasso 2008 £6.48
I'm a sucker for these reinforced Valpols, including this nicely weighted marzipan-cherry plumpster with its hint of white pepper.
9 Extra Special Barbera D'Asti 2007 £6.98
It's like biting into a giant plum, so juicy and healthily thick-skinned is this bumper purple bouncer, made by respectable Araldica and with a very ripe 14% alcohol and rich oak contact.
8 Extra Special Primitivo 2007 £6.98
Deep red solid Puglia wine by Girelli of 'Canaletto' fame is rather rich and velvety with a dark heart and a nice tang at the edge.
10 Extra Special Chianti Classico Riserva 2005 £7.98
There's a lot of Chianti in the supermarkets, much of it good but expensive. This one is cheap for what it is - a deep, de luxe, raspberry-plum, nutty, dry, mature, pure-Sangiovese classically flavoured wine with, weirdly, a screwcap.
New Zealand
9 Extra Special New Zealand Pinot Noir 2008 £9.20
Crisply fresh and bright cherry style, very pale in colour but firm in delicious definition of Pinot fruit, by Wither Hills winery - bit of a bargain, this.
Portugal
9 Asda Portuguese Red £3.87
It's partly the price, but this dark charmer with its generous cloves-and-cinnamon-spiced minty-blackberry fruit is thoroughly distinctive and forthcoming. An outstanding anonymous Lisbon-region wine, true to the Portuguese style.
South Africa
8 Hope's Garden Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 £6.41
Blood coloured and splendidly soupy blackberry-and-bitumen wine with vanilla richness and 14.5% alcohol.
Spain
9 Asda Marques del Norte Rioja 2009 £4.06
Hefty, young-tasting, unoaked, modern, vigorously fruity Rioja of stalwart character and 14% alcohol - and cheap.
8 The Pilgrimage Mazuelo 2008 £7.07
Intense purple cherry-prune oaked Extramadura red with long, clean-edged fruit and 14% alcohol.
9 Castillo de Albai Reserva 2005 £8.72
A pure Tempranillo 'exclusively from the best plots located in La Rioja Alta', it's grand stuff with a sweet vanilla nose and smooth, rounded and beguiling black fruit.
USA
8 Ravenswood Zinfandel Vintners Blend 2007 £7.48
Easy-to-like liquorice and sweet black cherry smoothie.
Pink wines
Chile
9 Santa Helena Solar Rosé 2009 £6.14
Coral colour to this pure Cabernet Sauvignon with firm, crisp expressive flavour; defined, refreshing, delicious.
8 Extra Special Chilean Shiraz Rosé 2009 £6.27
Lurid intense colour, assertive summer-pudding fruit including apple, but brisk and crunchy. A big food wine, recognisably Shiraz.
France
8 Extra Special Languedoc Rosé 2009 £6.37
Delicately pale colour but a forcefully strawberry-sweet aroma, then crisp dry freshness. Likeable Syrah-based Mediterranean pink.
Spain
8 Pleyades Garnacha Rosada 2009 £5.16
This Carinena rosé has it all: gaudy label, bright shocking-pink colour, bubblegum nose, healthy spare briar fruit; good food wine.
8 Murviedro Rosé 2009 £5.98
Magenta wine from Valencia tastes as its Garnacha-Cabernet blend should, with crunchy freshness and dry finish.
White Wines
Argentina
8 Asda Argentinian Torrontes 2009 £4.47
Friendly, exotic, Muscat-like dry indigenous white with a nutty finish. Do try it as an aperitif.
9 Extra Special Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2008 £7.98
Gold, rich, old-fashioned, buttered-toast and apple-pie oaked Chardy with 14% alcohol retains stony freshness and even elegance. It grows on you.
Australia
10 Extra Special Clare Valley Riesling 2008 £8.18
This is the same wine that scored 10/10 in last year's edition: 'succulent, powerful Riesling constructed on the nectarine model...', but inexplicably it hasn't sold out. Age has not wearied its appeal, so buy now.
8 Zilzie Viognier 2009 £8.18
People must be drinking Viognier if supermarkets keep stocking it, but it's mostly rubbish; this yellow, exotic, near-oxidised marzipan-and-apricot variation is well above the average.
Chile
7 Chilean Chardonnay 2009 £3.38
Peary but respectable unoaked clean bargain.
9 Extra Special Chilean Sauvignon Blanc 2009 £6.27
A jolly giant by Errazuriz featuring asparagus, grass and nettles and providing ample refreshment and stimulation at modest expense.
8 Palo Alto Sauvignon Blanc 2009 £7.81
Popular brand is grassy, tangy and lively with a lemon rim - convincing competition for the Kiwi market leaders.
8 Errazuriz Chardonnay 2009 £8.07
Rich, ripe opening flavour, closing citrus-brisk with coconutty oak influence in between. Fun.
France
9 Asda Vin de Pays d'Oc Marsanne 2009 £3.98
Understated, beautifully balanced, fresh dry white evoking blanched almonds and citrus fruit, all at a bargain price.
8 Château Salmonière Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie 2009 £6.07
Authentic briny Loire white with plenty of grass and tang. The definitive match for moules marinières.
9 Asda Petit Chablis 2007 £7.07
Proper gold-coloured gunflint Chablis abounding with lush Chardonnay fruit and just 11.5% alcohol.
8 Extra Special Gewürztraminer 2008 £7.07
Big ripe Alsace wine with trademark lychee nose and exotic fruit.
8 Extra Special Chablis 2008 £8.97
Mineral, tangy style is bracing and stimulating. For adults, from respected Jean Marc Brocard.
Germany
10 Dr L Riesling 2009 £6.98
Flagbearer for pure Moselle Riesling is apple-crisp, nearly spritzy, so mineral and racy and uniquely stimulating, and just 8.5% alcohol. Why isn't this the bestselling white wine in Britain?
Italy
8 Asda Soave 2009 £3.28
Easy-drinking, extremely cheap but genuine Soave is bright, fresh and crisp, and 11.5% alcohol.
9 Casa Lella Cataratto 2009 £4.98
Interesting herbaceous, nutty aromatic Sicilian dry-but-rich, lemon-edged wine to match cured meats, creamy pasta dishes and fish.
9 Extra Special Fiano 2009 £5.98
From Sicilian jumbo-co-op Settesoli, a fine lemon-gold, sweetly aromatic orchard-almond dry white of great character.
8 Extra Special Pinot Grigio 2009 £6.08
Made by distinguished Trentino outfit Alois Lageder, a brightly fresh and attractively exotic variation on the eternal theme.
8 Church Mouse Falanghina 2009 £6.98
Mystifying name, but there is much to intrigue in the depth and savour of this long-flavoured, grassy-lush Puglian food wine. Fish and poultry.
8 Extra Special Gavi 2009 £7.24
Flavour starts pleasingly green, then turns lush and dimensional in that nutty-brassica way of Gavi. Interesting and likeable.
New Zealand
8 Montana Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2009 £8.98
Big-brand Kiwi is as generously expressive as ever with its vivid nettles-and-grass zingy lushness and long, long flavours.
South Africa
8 Fairhills Rawsonville Chenin Chardonnay 2009 £5.44
Seductive honey whiff from this crowd-pleasing oaked blend made by 'the largest Fairtrade project in the world'.
Spain
8 Asda Moscatel de Valencia £3.58
For sweet-wine lovers, a real treat: yellow colour, ambrosial grapy richness, easy weight and 15% alcohol.
8 Torres Viña Sol 2009 £5.97
Another bright and zesty vintage from the ubiquitous and consistent Penedès brand; good value, even without the frequent discounting.
Sparkling wines
France
10 Extra Special Vintage Champagne Brut 2002 £19.07
Still on sale, I ranked this 10/10 last year and it's every bit as good on retasting - gold colour, generous toasty flavours mellowed with maturity, and the price is lower than before, in spite of big duty increases.
9 Asda Rosé Champagne £19.12
Onion-skin colour and billowing strawberry nose are followed up by the most enticing and vivid flavours with creamy richness but crisp finish. Outstandingly good, and it actually tastes pink.
8 Dubois Caron Champagne £24.21
New one to me, with lemony twang finishing extravagant yeasty fruit. Look out for this one on discount.
Italy
7 Asda Asti £4.78
Very pale and sweet, short of sticky, gently foaming, and 7.5% alcohol.
Spain
8 Asda Cava Demi Sec £4.26
Soft rather than sweet, a rather charming contrivance with lively mousse, balancing acidity and 11.5% alcohol.