Supermarket Buys

I've found, the deeper I've gone into my wine journey, the less wine I'm buying from supermarkets. When it comes to looking for something specific or wanting to speak someone about my wine choices, the supermarket is not on my list of places to go. However, in reality, the supermarket is a great place for a good selection of wine at a good price. So I decided to do an Aldi haul and have been pleasantly surprised by their selection. This Pinot Grigio was in their ‘Specially Selected’ range and offers lots of zesty citrus fruit and tart apple with mouthwatering acidity. This wine wouldn't feel out of place, well chilled, paired with lightly seasoned fish over a long weekend lunch.

One of the things I’m asked about the most is how to expand a selection of wine without spending huge amounts of money, and the more I think about it the more I think supermarket ranges could be the way forward. Specially Selected from Aldi, Blue label from Waitrose, Sainsburys taste the difference and Tesco finest. Often, you can spend under the £10 mark and get to experience loads of different varieties. The Sainsburys Chianti, or the Waitrose Cote du Rhone give you examples of a ‘typical’ style of that variety. If you like it, you can then go and look out for other producers feeling confident that you’ll likely enjoy the contents.

Majestic Wine also have a ‘Majestic Loves’ category where all wines are around the £5 mark. Recently I picked up their Montepulciano, very easy drinking and a bargain at that price.