Easter’s Lidl bargains
It’s Easter week, so thoughts are turning to roast lamb and chocolate. Preferably not together. It’s a ‘mini Christmas’ for the food chains, so they are battling it out in the wine aisles this week, and the two German discounters have new seasonal ranges in their armoury.
It’s definitely worth highlighting a few choice picks from both Lidl and Aldi. Although they can appear very similar with their eclectic range of bargain bananas, half price hedge trimmers and strangely-named snacks (Crusti Croc anyone?), they are actually subtly different when it comes to wine.
Both chains use wine to woo the chattering classes, with quality at a price you wouldn’t expect, but I think they have contrasting strengths: Aldi still has the better core range, while Lidl’s is definitely improving, but the latter trumps it with its extraordinary ‘one off’ bargains.
A fine wine for Easter lunch
Roast Lamb is likely to be on most plates this Sunday lunchtime and it’s not the easiest to wine match, with its strong aromas and fattiness. There are a few options, but I would head down the Rhône, for a nice herby, rich, rounded red with good acidity to cut through that slightly sweaty meat.
Vinsobres is one of the Rhône ‘villages’ given Appellation status just over a decade ago, to reflect its improving quality. Lidl has Domaine Croze Brunet 2015 at £7.99. A scrummy mix of tayberry (which is a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry, often found in allotments, if you don’t know it) and ripe red plum, with a whiff of garrigue (that aroma of sun-baked Mediterranean scrubland), it’s got pleasing peppery spice and a good spine of acidity. It’s maybe just a touch rustic, but it’s still a steal for eight quid and will certainly earn its place on an Easter lunch table.
Bordeaux delivers so much at every level, but it’s generally synonymous with those posh, expensive ‘First Growths’. Head to France, and they know better: they choose wines like this blockbuster from Graves. Chateau de Castres, £9.99 at Lidl, comes from the slightly tricky 2013 vintage, but still delivers a classy, slightly smoky, faintly leathery, nice and spicy blast of the classic Bordeaux combination of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with just a little Cabernet Franc. The tannins have a bit of grip, but I rather liked that. If you’re eschewing lamb for beef this Easter, this will be perfect.
Spain offers amazing value, but it’s not normally from Priorat. The region, near Barcelona, has had an extraordinary rise from overgrown obscurity, to sought-after status in just a couple of decades, so prices are normally punchy. Somehow Lidl has managed to find Carles Priorat Crianza 2014 at just £5.99. An intriguing mix of strawberry, red cherry, with a touch of minerality, and warming vanilla and white pepper, this has a few rough edges, and quite a lot of oak, but still represents stonking value. It’s a good match for a nice chunk of spicy sausage and could even stand up to chocolate!
We all need to drink more from Alsace. It’s a stunning region, producing some fantastic wines, with depth and complexity at prices that sometimes don’t make any sense. Fashion has not been kind to Gewürztraminer in recent years, and it’s a great shame. It’s definitely a Marmite wine, attracting devotion and repulsion in equal measure, but I think a lot of the criticism it attracts, for being sweet, is unfair and normally based on one dodgy experience.
Steinklotz Gewürztraminer 2012 is a Grand Cru (meaning the best sites) at an astonishing £11.99. It has the trademark floral nose, albeit not as striking as some, with a lovely off-dry blend of sweet clementine, ripe peach, honey and a twist of candied ginger. The label says ‘medium sweet’, but I wouldn’t go as far as that. The acidity certainly isn’t searing, but that’s probably because it’s doing lots of work balancing all that yummy fruit. Grand Cru Gewürzt can sell for three times this price. I dare you to try it!
Finally, something a little tamer. Corte Allodola is a Soave from the Veneto region, grown on Volcanic soil, as so many Italian wines are. Priced at £5.99 it gives you blossom for your buck, rather than bang. An attractive summer breeze on the nose, it has citrus and green apple on the palate, with pleasing zingy acidity. A nice match for a fish lunch and a great crowdpleaser if crowds are your thing for Spring.