It's the last payday before Christmas for most of us salaried people on Friday and I love to encourage people to support the retail economy. It's also just over a week to go until the food and drink fest that is Christmas Day, so that means stocking up on lovely things to nibble on and some divine wines to accompany them. Last month, Aldi asked me to taste their range of festive wines (reader, I was driving!) and I've compiled my list of favourites for you to browse through at your leisure.
Let's start with the happy stuff : fizz. They've got a stunning Cremant de Jura which kicks Prosecco into the corner. Although it's made from Chardonnay grapes, it doesn't have that oily oakiness usually associated with the dreaded C word. It's fresh, light, crisp and my top choice at €10.79.
The range of white wines covers all palates and price points. Although I am an avowed hater of Chardonnay, the Chablis is delightful at €11.99 as it hasn't been oaked to death. My top tip here is another French find, the Pouilly Fume which is actually a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley. Oh my, this is a bargain at €10.99.
On to reds. I'm not a huge drinker of red wine - usually only if I'm with friends who are all drinking it, but I've been lucky enough to sample some really high quality Italian wines recently on a work trip. With that in mind, my money is on the Barolo at €13.99 which is an utter bargain as you rarely see a nice one for under €20.
Aldi also have a range of limited edition wines known as LOT. If you like any of these, stock up as once they're gone, they're gone... I really liked the Leyda Sauvignon from Chile at €12.99 and the Priorat Garnacha from Spain at €13.99.
Now onto the final, most underappreciated category - dessert wines. I know they have a bit of a fuddy duddy reputation but I tasted one of the nicest wines ever here. It's not cheap at €29.99 for a half bottle, but it is truly the nectar of the gods. A small glass goes a very long way as it's full of sweet fragrant flavour. I'm talking about Vidal Ice Wine from Canada which is produced from grapes which have frozen on the vine & are then harvested. It's usually double the price, so treat yourself and enjoy every last drop. A perfect dessert replacement if you're full to the brim after your enormous Christmas dinner.
If you want to see my full list of top tipples, I've created a very handy PDF which you can peruse at your leisure. Just click
HERE. And don't forget to tell me all about your favourite wines
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