So far the one that stands our for me is the Freemans Bay NZ Sauvignon Blanc, lovely dry “grapefruit” white. This evening I tried the 2009 Baron Amarillo Rijoca: if you concentrate, it does have a slight “liquorish” after taste, smooth, no aluminium storage vessel (like the cheap stuff)!

Thanks Steve! Would love to, but up to my eyeballs with other articles, so it wouldn’t be out in time for Christmas… I went to an Aldi tasting the other day though, here are a few tips for £5 – £7:
Philippe Michel Cremant du Jura 2011, £6.99
Exquisite Selection (ES) Limoux Chardonnay 2012 £6.99
ES Uco Valley Malbec 2012 £5.99
Minarete Ribera del Duero 2011 £5.49
And don’t miss the Maynard’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port at £9.99 if you can stretch that far.
Cheers,
Matt

Hi Jeff. Was it the 2006 Rioja Reserva, or the 2008 recently shown at their range tasting? If you’re talking about the 2008 I would agree that it’s not a patch on the 2006, and I would opt for something else. But there are plenty of other new wines to try, such as their Exquisite Selection Priorat Crianza 2010 at £7.99, which is a great buy. And their Toro Loco Tempranillo 2012 is indeed pretty ordinary, but perfectly drinkable and pretty well made. For £3.69, I think that is impressive – many wines on the market at that prices are rubbish.

It’s certainly possible to get better examples of the vast majority of Aldi’s selection elsewhere, particularly at independent wine merchants; but you have to pay a good deal more for them. After tasting through all their wines at their tasting on Friday, I’m still convinced that the wines they stock offer good, and often very good value for money at the level they are playing at.