Hard on the heels of my look at the latest Lidl Wine Tour, I turn my attention today to wines from Aldi.
A large part of their range was refreshed in September and, last month, I commended no fewer than eight red wines from those offerings.
This time I have selected five white wine that also clear the MidWeek Wines “great quality and excellent value” hurdle.
All are under £10 and one is astonishingly generously priced at £5.99.
So let’s begin our examination of the white section of what the Aldi hierarchy justifiably contend are “fantastic quality wines at accessible price points”.
The images and hyperlinks provided should help you to find them in crowded displays.
New Vintage Australian Sauvignon
2023 Specially Selected Kooliburra Sauvignon Blanc (£9.99 at Aldi and 13% abv):
For a change from the traditional boldness and assertiveness of New Zealand sauvignon blanc, try this more restrained option from Western Australia’s Margaret River.
That region’s latitude and warmth seem to account for this greater softness because ripening can be quicker and more extensive and, thus, seeming to leave less acidity in the grapes.
Despite limited initial texture, this wine slowly builds up its pear, melon and green pepper flavours.
Those evolving features are nicely complemented by firm lime acidity and a suspicion of menthol and herb influences.
An Odd Couple
2022 Kooliburra Chardonnay Grüner Veltliner (£9.99 at Aldi and 11%):
Here is an unexpected partnership.
While chardonnay is plentiful in Australia, gruner veltliner is very much a niche variety and putting them together would never have crossed my mind.
However, this does work well with the tropical fruit elements and oak aging potential of chardonnay blending with the green fruit and white pepper characteristics of its partner.
Full and golden in colour, the resulting wine’s foundation is soft red apple, peach and mango flavours.
Sherbet centred acidity (probably gruner derived) follows on, along with a touch of vanilla.
Back to Europe now
2022 Specially Selected Marsanne (£7.49 at Aldi and 13%):
While still way behind the region’s red wine grape varieties in popularity, offerings using traditional Rhȏne Valley white wine grapes are slowly gaining a following.
This example is actually from Languedoc – a region that uses a similar cocktail of grapes for white wine blends and where marsanne can often be used.
That variety has a long history of use in Southern France probably because of the texture it adds to wine and its suitability for blending.
Here, though, it flies solo to offer us wine with a fragrant and textured quince, pineapple and orange centrepiece.
Those flavours are partnered by nuttiness, firm acidity, savoury twists and suggestions of grapefruit pith and contrasting hints of sweetness.
And a mystery blend
2022 Specially Selected Cawkscrew Blend (£8.99 at Aldi and 12.5%):
This is billed simply as a “white blend” and – given the innovative winemakers now prevalent in South Africa’s Swartland region – almost anything is possible.
Taste buds, however, suggest that chenin blanc plays a major role here, possibly with a tickle or three of sauvignon to turbo-charge its acidity, but do try to work it out for yourselves.
Imbued with honey traces and a lingering finish, the result delivers soft red apple and passion fruit flavours.
It also has slightly sweet aromas and lively tangerine acidity accompanied by orange and lemon curd elements and a savoury finish.
Finally, back to France
2022 Pierre Jaurant French Viognier (£5.99 at Aldi and 12.5%):
Once the preserve of a small corner of the Northern Rhȏne, viognier is now quite widely produced (even with an excellent enclave in South Australia).
Great value versions come from Languedoc, but this is a “Vin de France” wine making geographic precision difficult – so concentrate on the brilliant price rather than its place of origin.
Relish, too, the engaging aromatic freshness, it brings to the party along with its elaborate nectarine and ripe melon flavours.
All this is embellished by balanced mandarin acidity and a smooth, viscous edge of sweetness.
More Price Reductions at Aldi
MidWeeker Graham has alerted me to Aldi’s revival of the weekly wine offers it introduced last year to cover the run-up to Christmas.
Gavi at £4.99 until Sunday (normally £7.99) seems to be this week’s featured wine but do check that the promotion is in force in your local store.
Meanwhile, I will provide more details as they emerge.
More News from Eddie
“Sainsbury’s are currently offering a variation on their usual 25% discounting theme.
They have 25% off BUY 3 bottles, or more, but limited to particular bottles, this time their slightly more expensive Taste The Difference range.
It runs until Monday November 13th.
Noticeable that almost all of this range is currently being offered at its usual full price so double-dipping is almost non-existent. The trade-off being we can buy a minimum of three bottles of what we prefer, and not have to go to six!
For those less concerned about the worthyness of Prosecco as a cheaper-end populist fizz this rosé version seems to agree with the Sainsbury’s clientel judging by online reviews. Everyone to their own there … we like it in this house …
Sainsbury’s Prosecco Rose, Taste the Difference 75cl | Sainsbury’s (sainsburys.co.uk)
But best-of-the-bubbles deal would seem to be the Pignoletto spoken about favourably earlier this week here at MWW that comes in at £6. Looks to be a steal.
Sainsbury’s Pignoletto Brut, Taste the Difference 75cl | Sainsbury’s (sainsburys.co.uk)
The TTD Barbera D’Asti, very agreeable to myself is £6.56, and their own take on a very popular style Portuguese red, Lisboa, is £5.62.”
[Thanks again Eddie … Ed]
My next post (on Monday) contains terrific recommendations from two of the range of retailers that appear regularly in my weekly Top Tips feature.
