March Wines & London Wine Scene
Written by Giles MacDonogh in London
A few days ago I was at the biannual Aldi tasting at Tate Modern. Did I notice they had drawn in their reins a bit?
Most of the wines shown were quite cheap. There were a few new lines but not many. The accent was on what you could buy for less money and a good handful of drinkable wines were on offer for under £4.
Then there were some good things at the other end of the scale, like their wonderful 2015 Côte des Blancs Champagne
I think the price had gone up a couple of quid? But £21.99 is still a bargain when even quite indifferent grandes marques are priced between £30 and £40.
There was a nice, concentrated Picpoul de Pinet (£7.99), a new Portuguese Encruzado smelling of rosewater. A luscious, spicy 2021 Dão Touriga Nacional (£5.99), a decent Australian Pinot Noir at £7.49 and the best buy of all: an Aglianico crying out for a big plate of oily pasta (£7.99). I regretted the passing of their best white, however, the Greek Assyrtiko. The new one with the goat on the label isn’t half as good.
