Almost 90% of Aldi’s current range of 145 wines are priced under £10 – no wonder they were crowned ‘cheapest supermarket of the year’ for 2024.
Not to brag, but I attend Aldi’s Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter press wine tastings every year and can confidently say that this is their most affordable and extensive range yet. The downside is that we’ve only got another couple of months to taste our way through it.
Come March, the Aldi team will be showcasing their Spring/Summer selection, all snappy rosés, quenchsome whites and crunchy reds, or so I’d imagine, as I haven’t seen the range yet. It’s an exciting time of year, when all the supermarkets are showing their new collections. Until then, we should be unearthing (they actually have a range called ‘unearthed’) Aldi’s triumphant winter range of plush whites, velveteen reds and more snappy rosés.
Look, my admiration for Aldi’s wine range is no secret. Me, and every other wine journalist out there. What I appreciate most is Aldi’s ability to keep their range fresh, exciting and cheeky. Their buyers, Josh Heley (still wines) and Lucy Pemberton (sparkling, fortified and low/no alcohol) have the precarious job of balancing the variety of wine with keeping the prices low.
They do everything from taking small parcels of wine made from lesser-known grapes and regions, to working with big winemaking cooperatives and are even supplied by some known-name wine producers.
What I can’t get enough of, though, is Aldi’s own-brand versions of high profile wines. It tickles me. They make the labels look similar to the great wines of Sassicaia and Penfolds, even Kylie’s and Snoop Dogg’s wines, but not too similar.
It’s shows a sense of playfulness, and is great content for me. Hence, I’ve included some in my recommendations below, obviously.
A word to the wise, in 2023 Aldi made the decision to halt its online operation, so this range is only available in store.
Specially Selected Côtes de Provence Blanc, France, £3.21
I know I said I’d never recommend wines under £6 again, but have you seen the price of this wine? Fun fact, 80% of the wine produced in Provence is rosé, 15% red and only 5% is white. This white wine is in that tiny percentage, so it’s not only the price that’s making us thirsty. Taste-wise, it’s a dry, herbaceous, pear-like blend similar to the light pink rosés we mainline over the summer.
Castellore Italian Pecorino, Italy, £6.19
Pecorino is a smart grape selection for anyone who thinks they don’t like Sauvignon Blanc. The name means ‘little sheep’ as those peckish animals love to munch on them. Don’t get it confused with the eponymous ewe’s milk; they taste nothing alike. That said, these nutty wines do have a lovely creaminess to them, along with peach, fennel and dried herbs.
Specially Selected Vouvray, France, £7.49
Annoyingly, this would have been ideal for Christmas Day, or with Boxing Day leftovers. Whoops. Moving on, anyone who likes super generous levels of fruit and a touch of off-dry sweetness will go doo-lally for this white. It hails from the Loire and is made with the Chenin Blanc grape. It’s all candied lemon, blossom and honeycomb flavours, and I’m here for it.
Unearthed Beira Interior, Spain, £8.49
I love that supermarkets have ranges dedicated to lesser-known grapes and wine regions. Waitrose have ‘Loved and Found’, Majestic ‘Discover’, M&S ‘Found’ and the Aldi equivalent is ‘Unearthed’. It’s a top way of trialling wines you wouldn’t usually run into. Take Portugal’s Beira Interior, one of the oldest and highest-altitude wine regions in the country. The wines are zesty with a white peach and blossomy character.
Specially Selected Sous le Mers, France, £9.99
This white is made by Languedoc-based, Jean Claude Mas, you may have heard me banging on about him. Aside having great hair, he makes wines for so many of the major supermarkets, I can’t keep up. A blend of Grenache Blanc and Gris, this is a dry, textured guzzler with ripe nectarine and yuzu flavours.
Chassaux et Fils Cotes de Provence Rosé, France, £7.99
Kylie wine fans probably won’t be able to get this one out of their heads – I certainly can’t get enough of it. I haven’t tasted Kylie’s for a while, but this one has all the textbook, lip-smacking peaches and cream flavours you need in your life, for a killer price.
Pierre Jaurant Bordeaux, France, £4.99
I’ve mentioned this before, and I’ll probably do it again. It’s the red wine people were comparing to the £3K bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild that David Beckham drinks. There’s no contest, but this is an approachable wine for immediate drinking, delivering attractive plums, damsons and herbaceous hedgerow fruit flavours.
Castellore Specially Selected Toscana Rosso, Italy, £7.69
Another wine that launched a thousand comparisons, well, one at least. This time to a famous Italian SuperTuscan, Tignanello by Antinori, which retails for a casual £150 a bottle. Like its ‘twin’, the blend is dominated by the Sangiovese grape, accompanied by Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It’s all cherry and liquorice notes in flavour, as it should be. I believe it also used to be £9.99 at one point…
Specially Selected Australian Shiraz, £6.99
The cheeky Aldi team have used a similar name style to Penfolds. Tsk, tsk. Who the heck cares though, when you’re sipping such a richly-textured wine with a disproportionately high flavour-to-buck ratio. Think blackberry, chocolate, and wild damsons with dark chocolate and black pepper. Talk about genuinely extraordinary value for money.
Specially Selected Cairanne, France, £8.49
You’ll have seen this one doing the rounds on social media last year, where it went viral. Helped by the fact that the price was slashed to £3.49, no wonder it sold out in four days. Cairanne is a smart option for those who like Châteauneuf-du-Pape but don’t want to sell their furniture. It’s a subregion of the Rhone Valley where they use the same grapes, led by Grenache and Syrah, with a similar black cherry, choco-mocha, black pepper effect.
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