Buying your wine from Aldi and Lidl is a bit of a badge of honour these days – an indication that you’re confident enough to recognise good value and not to worry that people might judge you. Of the two, I find Lidl more interesting for its bi-monthly “Wine Tour”, a WIGIG (when it’s gone, it’s gone) range of wines that are bought in for a specific period.
The attraction, of course, is the keen pricing, which is made possible by a huge buying operation based in Germany that serves 30 countries throughout Europe and beyond. The way it works in the UK is that the selection is vetted by a panel of Masters of Wine – namely, Ed Adams, Richard Bampfield and Caroline Gilby, though it’s Bampfield’s name that appears on the resulting scores. Frankly, though, I would take those with a pinch of salt, because, in common with most international wine competitions, they occupy a narrow range from about 82 to 92, and are awarded without reference to the price of the wine. You might be happier, for instance, with an 84-point £5.49 wine than an 88-point one at £13.99.
