Did you know Lidl releases a special wine selection every few months?
It’s known as a ‘Wine Tour’, and I’ve had a taste of the brand new bottles for April – and this month, it’s a good one.
There’s a particular bottle of sparkling wine which will be in my fridge, ready to pop open over the long Easter weekend. Of that, I can assure you.
And it’s from Hungary, of all places.
What is Lidl’s Wine Tour?
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Lidl works differently from other supermarkets in that it doesn’t release a seasonal range for spring/summer.
Instead, it sources ‘when it’s gone, it’s gone’ limited parcels of interesting bottles that run for a month.
The savvy purchasing team knows how to get great deals and where to look for the most intriguing bottles. Sure, they’re buying in bulk, which helps, but they’re working with large winemaking cooperatives, wine brands with surplus stock and winemaking regions that aren’t as much in demand, like Central and Eastern Europe.
Lidl Wine Buyer, Caroline Gilby MW, has brought home some really exciting wines from Hungary, Bulgaria, and Greece, amongst others, and they normally have a sprinkling of wines from Moldova and Ukraine too.
My top pick from April’s Wine Tour
And now for the big reveal. The wine I’m raving about was the last wine I sampled, and it sent me into a tailspin… in a good way.
It’s part of Lidl’s April Tour, so you need to get in there quickly, and I mean quickly. For instance, a different bottle, a Greek white wine, has already proved so popular that there wasn’t any left to try.
Here goes, then: Lidl’s Chateau Dereszla Tokaji Brut retails at £9.99, and it is mind-bending value for money.
It’s dry, zesty with a light honey-nutty flavour profile which is so fiendishly tasty, I’ve put ‘very, very good’ in my notes. High praise indeed, and entirely justified.
It’s also been given 91/100 points by Lidl’s in-house wine expert, Richard Bampfield, who is also a Master of Wine.
Made from the Furmint grape, the one that makes the sticky Hungarian dessert wine, Tokaji (pronounced ‘tock-eye’). You know, the wine that works better with blue cheese than even Sauternes does? Well, this is the dry, sparkling version. Which actually tastes completely different.
It also has a dab of Muscat and Hárslevelű.
The wine has been aged for a minimum of three years, like a bottle of champagne, basically. Which tracks, as the Estate dates back to the 15th century and was originally used by Hungarian royalty to store their wine. So, it’s Hungary’s version of champers.
Go get yourself some, now, before it sells out. And while you’re at it, here are some others to sling into your shopping basket.
These are all from the April wine tour, so available now, while stocks last…
Lagorthi Riesling, Greece, £6.99
Lovely, dry, green apple-y, saline and soft. That’s what I put in my notes, and I meant it. This is from the mountainous region of Achaia in Greece, where the high altitude makes the wines fresh and mouthwatering. Non-fans of Riesling will also adore this, as it’s light and spring-adjacent. Without the kerosine/petrol-like notes you sometimes get with the grape.
Terres du Midi Rosé, France, £7.49
One for Provence lovers (Picture: Lidl)
Provence pink fans will lose their rag over this bottle. This is pale, dry, with beautiful nectarine and blood orange notes and a luxuriant texture. It’s from the Languedoc and is fantastic value for money, sure to give the more pricey Provence rosés a run for their money. Thank goodness. You’re not paying a premium for the region, so you can focus on the sublime wine inside the bottle.
Passamano Frappato Syrah, Italy, £7.49
A chillable red, wrapped in a paper-covered bottle. Where do I sign? Ok, so the packaging serves no obvious purpose, but the wine does. A juicy blend from sun-kissed Sicily, with soft flavours of plums, damsons and a lick of baking spices to make the mouth water. A proportion of the grapes has been dried for added intensity. It’s deceptively strong, at 14%, so don’t pound the stuff. Maybe it’s not so chillable after all. But who am I to tell you how to drink your booze?
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