Grapevine Merlot, The Outlander & Toro Loco from Aldi
I arrived into London a fortnight ago after 7 months of traveling throughout Europe, you could say it was a well deserved break after living and working for 4 years in the sandpit of Dubai. Man oh man can I say it was a refreshing experience arriving into England. It’s nice to be able to go to the supermarket and find everything normal that you are looking for, to be able to ask people for help and they can actually help you and the best thing has to be that I am finally reunited with my good old friend – mince and onion pies!!
Of course an added bonus to the above is being able to buy wine, beer and spirits in the supermarkets and dairy’s – life sure is cruisey in this part of the world! Thank-fully my visa lasts until April 2013 as I can definitely see myself sticking around here. However it is not all colours of the wine rainbow for me, as I really need to ditch this ‘unemployed’ status tagging along with me. As we all know, job hunting is not fun unless you already have a current job and your simply seeing if you can get a better deal.
So until that velvety dream wine job comes along I am stuck with life on a budget. That means dealing with the top 3 necessities; 1. A bed (tick, staying on extended families couch at the moment) 2. Food (thank-you London for Aldi and Poundland!) 3. Wine.
Now with wine you can seriously go wrong with some of the more wallet-friendly eye catching bottles, sometimes they are those types of wines that even my ‘I’ll finish the bottle then, it doesn’t taste corked to me’ boyfriend won’t drink. So in my free time this week I headed down to my local Aldi to acquire 3 bottles and I nervously put them to the test.
Are you ready for it?…. Here goes:
1. Grapevine Merlot, Spain, Aldi £2.99
I don’t know why I fooled myself, with a name like that – can it really be good? The short and easy answer is no. It is water flavoured red wine with faint traces of black cherries on the palate. However the upside to this wine is that it matches perfectly with a spicy stir-fry as it dulls down the mouth-burning chili yet it makes the wine no better or worse.
2. The Outlander, Australian Red, Aldi £3.29
This has all the characteristics of a good Aussie red, some nice fruits coming through on the palate (particularly cranberry for me) with a delightful touch of black pepper that lingers on your taste buds. The only downside is that it’s lacking that oomph that I like about Aussie reds – the eye opening, stumble on your feet liveliness. Plus it did give a few people in the group a bit of a headache the next day!
3. Toro Loco Tempranillo, Utiel-Requena D.O – Spain, Aldi £3.49
Last the golden eagle. Yes I am saving the best for last. This was a winner for me right from when the dark plum coloured liquid fell into my glass. Sweet spices and wild red berries on the nose. Whilst on the palate the velvety pureed berries and plums slid down my throat with absolute ease. Leaving a gorgeous chocolate cake and berry compote note on the finish. The perfect end to a perfect sip…
On that delectable note I will leave you with a quote from one of my favourite British movies… “Did you find anything?”, “Ya… I was extremely shocked when I looked at my watch and discovered I should be in the pub!” – Hot Fuzz.