Last week I reviewed the more expensive wines (ranging from £14.99 down to £7.99) of Lidl’s recent additions to its Wine Cellar range – and this week I promised a look at the £5.99 and £4.99 wines from this latest launch. All French and all pretty good as it turns out – but are they value for money?
Yes they are particularly when you consider that it’s getting increasing difficult to find a wine – any wine whether plain drinkable or even just blah! tasting – priced under £4.99. So to have a reasonable choice within, what is, a premium wine range from a supermarket is good news.
The wines are reviewed below and marked, again, using the Lidl marks out of a 100 system a system made popular by the influential American wine critic Robert Parker), so if you see a wine rated between 100 and 95 on the Lidl 100-point scale this means it’s ‘a great wine’.
Below 95 it still good – 94 to 90 is rated as ‘superior character and style’; 89 to 85 shows ‘special qualities’ and 84 to 80 is a ‘solid, well-made wine’.
Well how did they do then? 86 to 80 out of 100.
PG Wine Reviews
Serabel Chusclan, Côtes du Rhône Red
£5.99 Lidl
Lidl Points Rating 88/100: wine exhibits special qualities
Paula’s Points Rating 86/100: a really good wine at a really good price
This blend of hearty Grenache and Syrah grape varieties (with a few others added in small quantities for good measure) makes for a cherry and treacle tasting wine with an earthy beetrootiness that means it matches the beef and onion lunch-time baguette rather well.
Grand Fief de Retail, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 2014, Loire White
£5.99 Lidl
Lidl Points Rating 88/100: wine exhibits special qualities
Paula’s Points Rating 85/100: nice
A nice example of a ‘sur lie’ white where the wine is allowed to remain on the dead yeast cells after its initial change from grape juice to young vino, so allowing for a creamy honeyiness to come through on the flavour. Or put more simply, it tastes lightly of lemon-flavoured Strepsils.
Beaujolais Villages Red, 2014
£5.99 Lidl
Lidl Points Rating 88/100: wine exhibits special qualities
Paula’s Points Rating 80/100: well-made but innocuous
Beaujolais can taste a bit insignificant – that’s it’s great selling point – it doesn’t taste too much of anything so there’s nothing to dislike is there? This soft cherry-tasting wine would make a good choice for a meal gathering where you have to please lots of people.
Le Chevalier d’Aguilar Cuvée Rèserve Fitou 2013, Languedoc Roussillon Red
£5.99 Lidl
Lidl Points Rating 85/100: wine exhibits special qualities
Paula’s Points Rating 80/100: solid
Another light red, which is surprising because Fitou reds contain the hearty red grape varieties of Grenache and Carignan. But if you want a plum-tasting red then you can’t go wrong at the price.
Gris 2014, Languedoc Roussillon Rosé
£4.99 Lidl
Lidl Points Rating: 84/100: solid well-made wine
Paula’s Points Rating 80/100: a light rosé in a pretty shaped bottle
The cheapest wine in this latest batch of wines to the Wine Cellar range tastes light and vaguely fruity.
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© Paula Goddard 2015 www.paulagoddard.com
