Want to take full advantage of the latest Lidl Wine Tour?
Well, read on for my recommendations of options that I think really shine.
Although there are regional variations across the UK, the Tour includes reds, whites, roses and a fizz.
The price range is quite tight this time (ranging between £6.49 and £8.99).
Although there is a broad focus on Iberia, this selection also includes wines from France, Germany and the new world.
The objective, however, is unaltered – using small parcels to provide customers with a combination of familiar and little known options united by the good value they represent.
By and large, they continue to do that rather well.
So read on to see picks that meet that aim especially successfully and will give you dependable drinking until the next Wine Tour – and probably beyond.
The images provided should help you to find them in crowded displays but there are no hyperlinks this time.
Starting in Portugal.
2023 Encostas de Caiz (£8.49 at Lidl while stocks last and 12.5% abv):
Vinho Verde made its reputation with light, refreshing and fun white wines with a bit of carbonation but it has developed more serious wines in recent years without compromising that hallmark freshness.
This is a good example, optimising what two attractive local grape varieties can provide to create a very classy and sophisticated offering. Do try it if you are yet to do so.
This blends alvarinho and loureiro to create white wine that harmoniously combines blossom fragrances with delicate melon, quince and nectarine flavours.
Keeping this fresh and energised is a prickle of grapefruit acidity built into a zesty, but nicely rounded, texture.
Then moving a little north.
2023 Salneval Albariño (£8.49 at Lidl while stocks last and 12.5%):
Once you cross the Minho river from Vinho Verde you are heading into Galicia and wines that differ significantly from those in the rest of Spain.
Indeed, as we have just seen, the principal grape variety of Rias Baixas is also used in Northern Portugal but north of the border has acquired a minor name change – and a major worldwide reputation for quality.
Zesty yet nicely ripe, this example delights us with rounded melon, peach and mango flavours.
All those components are housed within a syrup style texture and a lingering finish, but the package gets liveliness from an underlying pink grapefruit centred acidic lift.
Now for a Rosé
2023 Cabriz Colheita Selectionada Rosé (£6.49 at Lidl while stocks last and 12.5%):
South and slightly east of Portugal’s Vinho Verde country, we find the Dao region – once largely home to burly red wines but now producing subtle whites and rosés, especially in its higher altitude vineyards.
While not completely dry, this is anything but an old fashioned “drink anytime” option that carries too much residual sugar.
Dark pink in colour but attractively floral, it is centred on ripe, red cherry, Victoria plum and red currant flavours.
Completing the picture come a medium bodied savoury texture and acidity to add vibrancy.
Now onto to a quartet of reds.
2022 Eje Monastrell (£7.49 at Lidl while stocks last and 14%):
To me, this Tour is strong on good value, sound reds and this guy from Spain’s Alicante region is a particularly good example.
Probably better known by its French name (mourvedre), monastrell – nevertheless- originated in Southern Spain.
Wherever it goes though, given sufficient sunshine, it produces bold, rich, full-bodied and slightly rustic red wines – and this is no exception.
Smooth with sweet aromas, it delivers full, well-defined blackcurrant and damson flavours with appealing acidic freshness.
Accompanying constituents include firm tannin and suggestions of baking spice, espresso and lavender.
Next to the other side of the world
2023 Kinvale Cabernet Sauvignon (£7.49 at Lidl while stocks last and 13%):
While the Barossa Valley and shiraz are inextricably linked to one another, other parts of South Australia have acquired a justified reputation for the cabernet sauvignon produced there.
Many such wines are intense and full but this is only just above medium bodied but that actually suits its overall structure rather well.
Opening with cabernet’s classic minty aromas, it follows through with medium bodied and long raspberry, cherry and blackcurrant flavours.
Embellishing that foundation, you will find gentle tannin, but firm acidity, partnered by menthol, milk chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon elements.
Meanwhile back in Europe
2020 5 Oros Rioja Crianza (£7.99 at Lidl while stocks last and 14%):
I praised the 2018 vintage of this red but, in my view, this is superior (helped by better weather and less vine disease in the region than in 2018).
It preserves the lighter texture of that earlier vintage but – like that one – has benefited from a little extra maturation (2020 crianzas could have been released as early as Christmas 2022).
Dark with enticing fragrances, the result’s principal features are grouped around soft cherry, loganberry and plum flavours.
These are enhanced and given balance by sharp acidity (but gentle tannin) and hints of herbs, cocoa, clove and cedar.
Finally, back where we started – in Portugal
2021 Almocreve Alentejano Reserva (£7.49 at Lidl while stocks last and 13.5%):
Hours of sunshine and limited rain in Alentejo mean that ripening grapes is not a problem – but the downside is that the resulting wines can be heavy and high in alcohol.
Investment in modern winemaking has lessened those problems leading to balanced wines with poise like this.
In fact, it vies with the Rioja as my top choice from this edition of the Wine Tour.
Inky coloured with caramel aromas, it exhibits smooth plum, bramble and mulberry flavours.
Adding to the joys it brings, are lively acidity and gentle tannin ably supported by hints of chocolate and a mild mineral edge.
My next post (on Monday) urges you to try Top Tips from other retailers but with the same goal – good value wines on which you can rely.
11 responses
Hi Brian
Nice to see three Spanish wines featured, all three I’ve tried but haven’t seen them for a while now, I particularly enjoyed the Monastrell Eje (great looking bottle as well) even though it is, as you say a little rustic, think I last saw it a few years ago. The Salneval Albarino was decent slightly creamy, lots of tropical fruits, and some salinity. Can’t find any notes on the 5 Oros Rioja, but I’m sure I bought a bottle a while back.
Morning Brian …
I was in early for a nose around at the end of January for this new February ’25 Lidl Wine Tour and jumped in quick for a bottle of the Encostas de Caiz Vinho Verde. It scores highest of any bottle this month at 91/100.
As you so prosaically put it its provenance with the added Alvarinho to the Loureiro adds undoubted caché to this blend for maximum quality. It’s terrific and a classy glass. A little spritzy, and a really zesty, refreshing guzzler when well chilled, that’s a bit dangerous when drunk as an aperitif. Now we have it-now we don’t! So I showed restraint after a decent sized glass, retired it to the fridge door for the next day … etc … At £8.49 it’s at the more expensive end of such Portuguese whites on supermarket shelves but worth every penny.
I was saying in a previous emailing that Rioja/ tempranillo wasn’t generally high on my list of best-enjoyed wines but here this month is a batch of other interesting Spanish stuff with that Crianza 5 Oros in there waiting for me to change my mind.
I’m never sure when I visit the wooden cases in-store what they think is the Tour but it does seem to be a bit hit and miss with its promo stuff both in print and website and depending on where we live as to what might show up.
For instance their Portuguese Cabriz Rosé is here again but I’d not clocked it in their promo stuff before finding bottles in the crates. Another tasty, satisfying buy that most other supermarkets seem to miss a trick with. The whole Cabriz range on home turf has a very strong following in Portugal. But I’ve only ever seen the rosé over here. I always take a bottle for the ”cellar” when I see it.
Notice no opinion on the inclusion of the Pinot Noir Tradition 2023 Brian? Maybe you weren’t sent a bottle! I’m sure this one was in the Tour mix sometime last year though didn’t cop the vintage back then. It was of course a big ask, good Burgundy PN at an affordable price. I don’t think it delivered. Same old same old I suppose. Off down to Beaujolais then …
Cheers again then Brian for all the info.
Didn’t get to try the pinot noir but, as you suggest, the quest for entry point versions is hard – and, with duty increases, likely to get a whole lot harder.
It’s gone today so no worries. Substituted shall we say, by a Bourgogne Gamay I’ve never seen before. Think maybe I need something more robust than any Gamay anyway to go with an Italian antipasto salami plate tomorrow and an Aldi 40 day rib eye main.! We stayed one time at Sarteano south of Florence down towards Perugia and did all those communes like Montalcino and Montepulciano and the wild countryside around there. Quite workaday compared to charming Bolgheri further west on the Maremma coast. Super Tuscans versus Sangiovese. Sainsbury’s had a TTD representative from all those denominations but now only the TTD Vino Nobile at £13 and the excruciatingly expensive Brunello! I got another Cabriz rose today but tomorrow it will be that TWS Languedoc Domaine Perdiguier 2022 cabernet. Cheers again
What to eat and drink on Valentine’s Day?
Has to be Italian surely, Romeo and Juliet and so on.
Perhaps a home cooked Lasagne with a good level of fat in the mince and a dash of one of these Italian Lidl red wines?
Chianti Riserva. Brian has rightly commended this Tuscan wine previously.
But here is another suggestion- Vino Nobile de Montepulciano £8.49.Disappeared online but may still be in store-I picked up a bottle a few days ago.Confusingly not made of the named grape,but of Sangiovese.
A wine exuding charm- ideal for any romantic occasion.
Hi Paul, I very much enjoyed the 2021 Vino Nobile de Montepulciano, at a tasting. In my local store I found the 2020 and the 2021 vintages. So I guess it was not shown online because they were between vintages? The 2020 had good reviews, so I bought a bottle of that. Will be drinking that shortly because I have been investigating wines from around the Tuscan town of Montepulciano. They also produce a Rosso di Montipulciano which has no requirement for oak, and can be released sooner after harvest. Again it has to have a minimum of (70% I think) of Sangiovese. Not so widely available but have picked up a bottle from Mr Wheeler. Doubly confusing is that the clone of Sangiovese that is used in Montepulciano is called Prugnolo Gentile! I mention this because this name is often shown on the label. So if one grandly announces that Vino Nobile de Montepulciano uses the Sangiovese grape rather than the Montepulciano grape – your audience could look at the bottle label and contradict you!
Montalcino is the neighbouring town to Montepulciano, and their main wine is Brunello di Montalcino. And here Brunello is the local name for the Sangiovese Grosso grape!
Sorry possibly too much information here, I mention it to show that finding your way around the Italian wine scene is complicated!
Yes that is confusing a grape variety and a town of the same name but doesn’t grow it. But, then France has Pouilly Fume and Pouilly Fuisse that use different grapes. For a Valentine wine, what about Beaujolais and St Amour?
Brian, the real confusion is not Fumé/Fuissé – which are after all over 200km apart – but Pouilly Fumé (which of course uses sauvignon blanc) and the few adjacent hectares of Pouilly-sur-Loire, which uses the far less familiar chasselas grape. You almost never see it in the UK, although the Wine Society had an excellent example a couple of years ago. Well worth trying if you’re in the Sancerre/Pouilly area.
Quick update on the supermarket Valentine Meal Deals.
The Asda display covered most or all of the advertised food items, but the only wines available were a rather basic Prosecco and a low alcohol sparkling wine. If I had had time I might have explored the wine aisle to find any of the other wines that were advertised online, and see whether I could include them. (My wife took the Prosecco and will donate to a forthcoming Church Raffle)
The Morrisions display covered most or all of the food and wine items. I picked up the 2021 The Best Organic Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, to include in my deal. (This wine refers to the grape, not the town). I tried this last night and think it was possibly the best example I have tasted. (But my wife was a bit less enthusiastic about it!)
Sainsburys, Waitrose and Tesco were all well stocked. I got the 2023 TtD Rioja rose, 2023 La Gioiosa Asolo Prosecco and 2024 Finest South African Cinsault Rose respectively. Tesco had a very decent DOCG Prosecco available but I wanted to try the Cinsault – I’m sure that it doesn’t deserve the poor customer reviews!
Hi Richard,
It is complicated.What I was clumsily trying to say was that many people,including myself -initially ,would see Montepulciano on the label and assume it referred to the grape and be surprised that “The Nobile Wine of Montepulciano’ is a blend of at least 70% Sangiovese and the clone and 30% other grapes,often canaioli nero according to DOCG regs.
Hopefully between the three of us any such confusion has been clarified.
Correction- The Noble Wine of Montepulciano,although those on the trade do shorten it to the Nobile!