How do you find a half decent wine?

[andabby]

Im no expert either, but I usually go for the bonniest label.
And stick to new world stuff.

 

[MontyVeda]

... I recently found I quite enjoy ALDI's Grande Alberone Zinfandel (~£8 a bottle) ...

As one who drinks plenty of wine yet never spends £8 a bottle... i decided to give this one a try. Where do i send an invoice if it's not up to my usual high standard?

 

[gaijintendo]

As one who drinks plenty of wine yet never spends £8 a bottle... i decided to give this one a try. Where do i send an invoice if it's not up to my usual high standard?

Very interesting. I have just been totting up the results and, ~£8 from Aldi/Lidl sensee to be the prevailing logic.

What's your go to wine?

 

[MontyVeda]

Very interesting. I have just been totting up the results and, ~£8 from Aldi/Lidl sensee to be the prevailing logic.

What's your go to wine?

Empties of Vina Cristina often grace my recycling bin, as does Animus Douro and the orange label chianti... all about a fiver from Aldi. I'm not claiming they're 'good' wines but they're affordable and satisfy my not very fussy palette... pallet... palate... that's the one!

 

[PK99]

I've seen that before but it's not 'info', it's palpable nonsense. If the 'wine value' drops between £4.95 and £3.99 at the same rate it's been dropping from £6.95 to £5.95 (-7%) and from £5.95 to £4.95 (-9%) by the time a wine costs £3.99, the 'wine value' must be in negative figures. Well I had a bottle of Cotes du Rhone from Lidl that cost me £3.99, and I can assure you its 'value' was a lot more than quite a lot less than bugger all.

If you want to pay a tenner a bottle, good luck to you - I'm sure you'll get a nice tipple. But there are actually lots of very nice wines for a fiver or less, and to suggest otherwise suggests to me that someone somewhere (not you, I hasten to add) has a vested interest, and one that's better served by misleading graphics than by real information.

You asked for real info rather than misleading graphics.

How about this simple plot;

Duty is fixed at £2.16 per 750ml

VAT is 20% of shelf price

The rest is what you are actually paying for: Making, bottling, labelling, transporting, selling & profit of producer and retailer

​

 

[Dave7]

We have just really enjoyed a bottle of Corte Mayor....Grupo Baon De Ley Rioja. £5.99 reduced from £7.99.
Had it with tuna steak, saute potatoes and sugar snap peas......yummy.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

On a serious note, Californian Zinfandel is worth a try in the same price range, or Primativo or Nero D'avalo
from southern italy

primativo is the italian name for the zinfandel grape (or, probably, t'other way around)…

 

[PK99]

primativo is the italian name for the zinfandel grape (or, probably, t'other way around)…

chapter and verse from Wiki

Species Vitis vinifera
Also called Crljenak Kaštelanski, Zin, ZPC (more)
Origin Croatia
Notable regions California, Apulia, Dalmatia
Hazards Bunch rot, uneven ripening

Zinfandel (also known as Primitivo) is a variety of black-skinned wine grape. The variety is grown in over 10 percent of California vineyards.[1] DNA analysis has revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grapes Crljenak Kaštelanski and Tribidrag, as well as to the Primitivo variety traditionally grown in Apulia (the "heel" of Italy), where it was introduced in the 18th century.[2] The grape found its way to the United States in the mid-19th century, where it became known by variations of a name applied to a different grape, likely "Zierfandler" from Austria.

 

[woodbutcher]

"How do you find a half decent wine" ? thats easy , come and live near me in SW France. For every day ( or maybe all day) drinking, we buy from a local vineyard, an ACC red 13.5 % Cahors wine in a 10 Ltr box for the princely sum of €22 , call it £20.....

 

[PK99]

"How do you find a half decent wine" ? thats easy , come and live near me in SW France. For every day ( or maybe all day) drinking, we buy from a local vineyard, an ACC red 13.5 % Cahors wine in a 10 Ltr box for the princely sum of €22 , call it £20.....

Even in uk SW France/Languedoc are the best "value in the bottle". Low land prices and large growing area keeps costs down. There are some great wines at very sensible prices. But they still keep the best wines for the local - lucky bugger!