Wine of the Week: Aldi’s £5.99 Portuguese White Douro
Aldi’s Portuguese White Douro is not only great value at £5.99 it also tastes great too – so much so that it rates the maximum of 5 stars on wineuncorked.co.uk. This means it’s one of the few outstanding wines that can be enjoyed again and again without getting bored and without having to worry if you’ll like it – because you will every time.
The silver and white graduated tinted bottle label makes this wine look like it could easily cost over £10 a bottle. Further inspection reveals this is a white wine from the Douro region of Portugal – a region more known for making the fortified wine Port rather than fruity and floral table wines. A screwcap tops off this wine’s appeal as it doesn’t require any special tools to get at the precious liquid and the top can easily be screwed back on should you want to save any left-overs until tomorrow.
The three grape varieties used to make this wine – Rabigato, Arinto and Viosinho – result in a fruity juicy mix of flavours with just the right balance of acidity and sweetness. Apple, pear, melon and creamy lemon are enjoyable enough to quaff as an aperitif or as a food-friendly match.
It’s the Rabigato grape that adds the perfumed quality to this wine. Alternatively known as Moscatel Bravo, this grape can also add sweetness and be used on its own to make fortified dessert wines where the addition of extra alcohol “fortifies” and aids the keeping qualities. So look out for Moscatel wine from the Setubal region of Portugal and Spanish Madeira – another fortified wine that uses this grape.
There is just one last reason to like Aldi’s Vinteiro – the makers, Duorum Vineyards, are known for their eco-friendly credentials and are finalists in this year’s European Natura 2000 Award which recognises high standards of environmental and viticultural practices. You can add your vote to this European Commission competition by going to https://natura2000award-application.eu/en/finalists. The winner will be announced on 14 October 2020.
Paula’s Wine Reviews from wineuncorked.co.uk
Portuguese White Douro Vinteiro 2019
£5.99 Aldi
5 star review
This light green wine in the expensive-looking silver and white graduated tinted bottle is both fruity and structured, making for an extremely enjoyable quaff that matches many foods and moods. The apple, pear and melon flavours are rounded off with juicy ripe lemon sweetness resulting in a balanced wine that you just want to keep drinking.
The wineuncorked.co.uk wine rating system uses a maximum of 5 stars:
5 star rating (outstanding – the top rating given by wineuncorked.co.uk)
4 star rating (very good wine)
3 star rating (good wine but over priced)
2 star rating (a disappointing wine)
1 star rating (little to offer)
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© Paula Goddard 2020 www.wineuncorked.co.uk
