Lidl have added 40 new wines to their posh Wine Cellar range. All hail from from our European partners – with wines from France, Italy, Germany. Spain and Hungary – and all priced to appeal to the average-spending consumer with the majority of the new arrivals retailing at £5.49, £5.79 and £5.99. And all tasted appealing too – with the exception of one which get’s the Paula warning klaxon.
The Herzog von Nassau German Riesling sparkling made with Riesling grapes looks an intriguing buy at £6.99– after all it could make a nice change from the more usual sparkling wine choices of cava and prosecco – but unfortunately it fails to deliver. Lidl describes this wine as being ‘crisp, appley’ but I, on the other hand, describe this wine as tasting like 1970s R. White’s lemonade.
If you do want to sparkling made with Riesling grapes try the Weiber Cremant D’Alsace Riesling Brut instead. It’s a pound more expensive but its light gold fizziness tastes nicely fruity with some honeyness for interest.
Should you want to splash out a bit more then try the only champagne in the range – Bissinger Brut Rosé at £15.99 and the most expensive wine in this Summer Collection.
Beside the sparkling you’ll also find some interesting red and white wine blends with unusual names – like Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, a French wine whose name comes from the local dialect for the stakes used to support the grape vines called ‘paisheradas’ made from the old country – the old country being Vic-Bilh and the paisheradas being corrupted over time to pacherenc.
Or you could try the Hungarian red labelled Komám, which Google translate helpfully tells me means ‘comma’ in English. Now you know.
PG Wine Reviews
Here are eight wines from Lidl’s new Summer Collection:
Altos de Tamaron Tempranillo Crianza 2013, Spanish (Red)
£5.99
A really nice and reasonably priced red that tastes of milk chocolate, cherry, blackberry and redcurrant.
Teroldego Rotaliano Superiore Riserva 2012, Italy (Red)
£5.79
A bit of a mouth full on the label but it literally means ‘Tyrol Gold’ from the Rotaliano district – the gold referring to what it’s worth and not its colour because this is definitely a red wine. And it’s another nice one too – with floral and chocolate aromas that lead into creamy blackcurrant flavours.
Pyrène Malbec 2014, France (Red)
£5.79
Aromas of cherry pie filling and violets. Flavours of damson, liquorice and chocolate.
Cuatro Rayas Verdejo 2014, Spain (White)
£5.99
This tastes like a good apple tart with a bit of crème fraiche on the side.
Herzog von Nassau Rheingau Sparkling Riesling 2013, German (Sparkling)
£6.99
Klaxon warning.
Weiber Riesling Sparkling Brut Cremant D’Alsace, France (Sparkling)
£7.99
Light gold fizziness that tastes nicely fruity with some honeyness for interest.
Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh 2011, France (White aperitif or dessert)
£7.99
Aromas of apricot crumble and flavours of honey and lemon with an orange peel edge. Serve coolish as a dessert wine or as an alternative to pale sherry.
Vacqueyras 2014, France (Red)
£8.49
Named after the wine region from whence it comes this red is in fact a blend of Grenache and Syrah grapes that is sometimes referred to as ‘poor man’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape’. Which if Châteauneuf-du-Pape tastes of milk chocolate then that’s okay then.
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© Paula Goddard 2016 www.paulagoddard.com
