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Keep whining: Aldi's best bad wines - reviewed 

26/5/2014

 
RORY HUDSON

Given the recent furore over Barry O’Farrell accepting a $3000 bottle of wine (a 1959 Penfold’s Grange, to be precise), you might yourself be wondering about how to get the best wine for the best price. Also given that it’s unlikely that you’ll have a spare $3000 lying around, I’ve decided to review the four cheapest wines on offer at Aldi in the hope of discovering exactly how to avoid getting a bottle full of flavoured vinegar.
To get the four cheapest, I had to choose four different varieties of red wine. The reviews therefore don’t account for the difference between a Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet, etc. I should probably also point out that I also know nothing about wine.

Wine 1: Precious Earth Shiraz Merlot – $2.69

This wine is the cheapest on the list and, in a surprise to nobody, came in at dead last. It has no real redeeming features. It was quite sweet and not too awful at the start, but it does come with a foul aftertaste. Smooth while being drunk, but with a nasty burn. Probably avoid this wine unless making sangria.

Wine 2: Elmfield Shiraz Cabernet – $3.99

This wine was next on the list, but with a jump of a dollar and three cents over the Precious Earth. (That’s slightly more than 1/7th of a Medicare co-payment!) It’s a fairly nice wine that tastes sharp, but with a nice fruity flavour and no horrible aftertaste. A hint of spice involved, a bit like Christmas cake. Worth having seconds.

My housemate tasted it and said it tasted like it had scum on top, so there is that.

Wine 3: Elmfield Cabernet Merlot – $3.99

This wine, also an Elmfield, comes in at the same price at the Shiraz Cab. It is significantly worse.

The wine was described as having ‘plummy notes’ on the bottle, not one of which I could discern. It tasted pretty rough. Not worth it. Tasted a bit like fuel.

Wine 4: El Toro Macho Tempranillo – $4.99

This wine is the most expensive, but it does come from Spain! Also, this old woman in Aldi told me that this is the best for a wine/price ratio in the city.

It smelt a bit rubbery but was eminently drinkable. Tasted very dry but was overall pretty good, as is maybe to be expected from a nice Spanish wine.

Summary: Overall I’d give the award for Best Bad Wine to Wine no 2, the Elmfield Shiraz Cab. It’s a dollar cheaper than the Tempranillo which doesn’t taste noticeably better. Wines no 2 and 4 were definitely not awful and would make a nice occasional substitute for a box of the ol’ Penfold’s. Aldi has definitely done alright for itself with these two wines. I’d probably recommend these over the weird Aldi knock-off beers. The other two were pretty average. Steer clear of the Precious Earth; pay the extra $1.
Jason
7/12/2014 04:21:40 am

Funny, the Aldi wines placed VERY well at the 2014 Sydney wine competition recently and the Aldi Tempranillio (El toro loco 2013) won the blue-gold award...the highest honor. This award was judged as the result of blind tasting hundreds of wines at the event. Also, their AC Byrne Shiraz as well as a handful of others found Aldi win awards too. Maybe you should put your own blindfold on and taste without pretenses.

Rob link
24/12/2014 03:13:29 am

Oooh, nice burn Jason. Aldi wins my non-blind folded test every night of the week!

Mark link
15/7/2015 08:16:10 am

Sorry, but I really have to disagree with Rory's assessment of ADLI's Precious Earth range of wines. I personally find them to be perfectly acceptable and great value for money. I have certainly tasted far worse over the years including a fairly expensive bottle French wine from Châteauneuf-du-Pape (region). There is a considerable amount of snobbery attached to wine consumption and believe some people find it hard to comprehend that a cheaper wine can be acceptable. I used to live in Europe and was frequently surprised by the taste (and that's what maters most after all) of some of the wines that were locally produced. Anyway, just my humble opinion for what it's worth!

manu
2/3/2018 06:08:16 pm

That is correct, good wine is what you enjoy!! Don't let the wine buffs tell you what is good or not, some of these guys are full of it anyway.

Bala Superamaniam
8/8/2015 05:58:45 am

I just had aglass of Elmfield Shiraz Cabernet 2014 for the first time.I think it is fantastic for the price.I am going back to Aldi to get a few more for my usual lunch time drinks.It is light and good on your palate too !

John Wales
4/2/2016 07:20:18 pm

How Honest and fair.

''By most '''

Prof Craig B Buttle link
23/5/2016 02:14:35 pm

PRECIOUS EARTH IS SUPERIOR TO OLD PENFOLDS, YOU CAN 1000 MORE BOTTLES, AND DIE OF LIVER FAILURE QUICKER, EVEN BETTER IF YOU HAVE NO TASTE AT ALL IN THE MOUTH, LOVE HEADACHES, ARE A POOR PROFESSOR WHOM LOVES TO DRINK PISS, IS REALLY JUST A POOR TEACHER WHOM STANDS IN FROM OF 100 STUDENTS AND WAFFLES SHIT AND THEORIES.

Mick Gardner
16/3/2017 04:48:54 pm

I have tasted a lot of wines in my day as a barman of 14yrs and my son has had many expensive wines given to him through his job some valued up to $100 per bottle and in between but my every night drink is Aldi's Elmfield Shiraz/Cab and if the bottle is allowed to breath quite acceptable.


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      • Semester 1 (Volume 9) >
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