I tried 6 wines from Lidl's spring wine tour - these 3 are the best including an 'amazing' champagne dupe
Easter may be over, but there are plenty of new and different wines to try this spring, finds Rosalind Erskine.
Spring is an ideal time to try some new wines; with lighter nights and hopefully sunnier days, it’s the crisp whites and light reds I’d choose when shopping with maybe the odd rose for when the weather really warms up.
I tend to go for classics, but I’m not against trying something totally new, which is what I was faced with at a recent Lidl wine tasting with Wine Events Scotland.
Hosted by Wine Events Scotland owner, Diana Thompson, these virtual tasting started as a regular lockdown get together - and something I looked forward to immensely - have grown into many different events from Monday minis to in-person celebrations of Australian wines and fizz.
One of the enduring virtual tastings, and the most popular, is the bi-monthly Lidl wine tasting where six bottles from the most recent wine tour are selected. These are the ones displayed in the wooden boxes in stores, and tend to come from one or two specific regions.
The most recent tasting, which took place in late March, included wines from the spring wine tour and there were some eye-catching bottles that I wouldn’t normally have picked up. Therefore I was intrigued to see what they’d be like, after the winter months of heavy red wines.
The wines in this tasting were: a sparkling Chateau Dereszla Brut NV, Tokaji from Hungary (£7.99); Lagorthi Riesling from Greece (£6.99); Furmint Amethyst from Hungary (£8.99); Torre de Ferro Rosé, Portugal (£6.99); Grand Hêtre Vin de France Rouge, Malbec from France (£7.49) and a Cotes du Rhône Villages Seguret from France (£8.99).
As with all the Lidl tastings, Diana Thompson of Wine Events Scotland hosts the online chat and is joined by Richard Bampfield, master of wine. Richard discusses his official scoring of the wines, and then each are tasted and chatted about.
There were three clear favourites during this tasting, scoring 4.1, 4.2 and 4.4 out of 5. The scoring is based on tasting each wine and personal opinion on if you’d buy it again and share with friends, use it on cooking or wouldn’t buy again as you found it defective.
The top scorer was Furmint Amethyst from Hungary, a crisp white wine with plenty of body and a fruitiness and one of the bottles I wouldn’t have normally looked twice at, but it was a lovely tipple which wasn’t bone dry but not too sweet either.
Next was the sparkling Chateau Dereszla Brut NV, Tokaji from Hungary, which if I’d not known otherwise I’d have sworn was a cremant given its balance of fruit and acidity.
The final top three wine was the Cotes du Rhône Villages Seguret, a recurring wine for Lidl and a customer favourite. A smooth, spicy red wine ideal for a Sunday roast, it’s a classic.
The wine most would buy again is one I’d disagree with - the French Malbec which to me tasted not much better than a distinctly average pub house wine. Stick to the Cotes du Rhone.
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