Lidl Wine Tasting

Lidl invited the Irish trade press back into Newman House recently for a comprehensive tasting of its wine and spirits portfolio. This followed on from a similar invite last year. At that event very few wines were shown and the room was quite dull. I really do like it when criticism is taken on board! This time around the sun was shining and I do feel that Lidl got it right this time around - mind you they were struggling to find a corkscrew at one stage....

I'm going to be brave here and give a snap shot of each of the wines on show. It should help along the way? Oh, and my criticisms are blended in as well!

VM = Good Value for the Money

GVM = Very Good Value for the Money

White Wines Europe

Riesling pfalz 2011 €5.99 : Clean and crisp. Some varietal definition with light honeysuckle nose, good acidity and hints of waxiness.VM.

Pinot Blanc pfalz 2010 €5.99 : Fine, bright, fruit driven bouquet. Palate is weak in comparison. Do not serve with food.

Chardonnay Vin de France 2010 €5.99 : Nothing happening here.

Bourgogne Aligote 2009 €8.49 : Interestingly aggressive with lots of textural elements. Exc food wine. VM.

Chablis 2010 €8.99 : Nothing wrong and technically correct. All a bit lean.  Do not serve on its own or with anything creamy. VGM

Sancerre 2010 €10.99 : Not great. Dissappointing. Poor Value.

Pouilly Fume 2010 €9.99 : This looks the part when it's poured, has fine varietal driven bouquet with light fresh grass and good herbal overtones, but the palate is far too aggressive. Tone the acidity down lads! Great salad wine where the vinaigrette has been over done.

Pouilly Fuisse 2009 €10.99 : Gentle and soft; lacks a bit of oomph; nothing wrong at all otherwise and would serve well with roasts white meats.

Chablis Premier cru 2009 €13.99 : Well perfumed, lots of supporting backbone to the fruit with acidity and textural elements in balance, slightly green edges, Very acceptable wine. VGM.

Soave Classico 2010 €4.99 : Will appeal on the bouquet with light pear and almond; slightly aggressive in an uncomfortable way on the palate. Overall its an Ok wine if not particularly stylish.

Pinot Grigio Pavia 2010 €5.39 Masses of perfumes all over it. Confected style that will prove very commercially popular. My Personal Score here (PS 2/10) would be very low but commercially this is a winner! (SC 7/10)

Many wines are being sold today on price alone. This is especially true of the wines being written about here. While this is true, and there is nothing at all wrong with it, these same wines also sport names of regions and the varietals that they are made from. If these are not important also then why do retailers continue to use them? Because these names continue to mean something. Quite what that 'something' is probably changes from customer to customer! Nevertheless if a label says, for example, Montepulciano or indeed Sauvignon Blanc, it is fair to criticise them if they neither taste like anything that has ever been produced from that region or indeed from that grape! This does not mean that they are not Value for Money as indeed they may still drink well and represent their price points very well.

Richard Bampfield MW at the Lidl press Tasting in Dublin

White Wines - Rest of the World

Cimarosa Chilean Pedro Jiminez 2010 €4.99 (€3.99 recently) : Seamlessly clean. Fair bit of residual sugar on the palate fattens it out. Just as well as the fruit is on the lean side with only slight fruits showing. Nevertheless a very acceptable style; good summer 'patio' wine. Serve well chilled. VGM

Cimarosa Chilean Sauvignon Blanc 2011 €5.29 : Good wine. Lots of true varietal character in grassy and herbal style. Fine balanced acidity and long tingling finish. VGM 

Cimarosa Chilean Chardonnay Reserva Privada 2010 €6.99 : (Reserva etc have no legal meaning on bottles out of Chile) Flowers and soft fruits; Very true to the grape. Fine style. VGM

Viajero Chilean Sauvignon Blanc Winemakers Selection 2009 €7.99 : Deep, ponderous, earth, clay and herbs. Good wine. Quite serious.

Cimarosa South African Chenin Blanc 2011 €4.49 : Bland with nothing of interest going on on the nose. Technically this is ok and very 'correct' on the palate. So acidity is kept in check by residual sugars and the balance is fine etc - but in the end it just tastes like a well done wine making kit.

Cimarosa Australian Chardonnay/Colombard 2011 €5.49 : No. Not at all.

Cimarosa Australian Chardonnay 2011 €5.49 : Weak. Don't like at all.

Cimarosa New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011 €8.29 : Slightly dirty and burnt background but fleshes out well to show off grassiness and herbs; finish is a bit fake with confected perfumes rather than natural  herbs; at the price this should be doing a lot better. Someone just couldn't help tinkering around with this one!

That's it for today. Next time out I'll work up the red wines. Overall impression? Favourable. Mostly clean and well made wines. Choose with some care for the occasion or meal at hand and you won't be dissappointed. With quite a few VGM scores punters will do well. Some real shockers from Australia let the side down. (Wonder how the Aussie reds fared?)