Supermarket brings back £3.49 sell-out wine branded ‘best value’ Christmas booze – but you’ll need to be quick
ALDI has brought back its sell-out value wine just in time for Christmas – but shoppers will need to be quick.
The beloved Cairanne red will have its price slashed from £8.49, to £3.49 from December 2 until December 8.
It means shoppers have just four days to snap up the deal and bottles aren’t expected to last long.
Aldi tells drinkers they can expect to taste forest fruits, plums, black cherry, damsons and mocha – with a festive spiced finish.
Last year, the product was hailed by experts as Britain’s best value booze for Christmas.
Jane MacQuitty, wine critic at The Times, described the bargain 2021 Specially Selected French Cairanne red, right, as a “festive gift to the nation” and “the bottle to buy”.
She said: “Savvy shoppers have always raced to Aldi for their weekly winter £3.49 specials, but of the dozen popping up this month and next, its tasty 2021 Specially Selected French Cairanne, a skilful blend of 60 per cent grenache, 25 per scent syrah, 10 per cent mourvedre and 5 per cent carignan, is the bottle to buy.
“Recommended in my Summer Top 100 at its full £8.99 price, a few months of extra age have seen this Cairanne’s silky tannins and warm thyme and pine sunny hillside scents and tastes develop into a more mature, excellent, earthy, cracked black pepper southern Rhône.”
The huge reduction comes after a month after shoppers went wild for another £3.49 tipple by the budget-friendly brand – the Costellore Italian sparkling rosé.
Inspired by its success, Helena Nicklin from The Sun tested different supermarket wines that scan for under £5.
Unsurprisingly, these included numerous options from Lidl and Aldi – like Lidl‘s £4.59 Cimarosa Mendoza Malbec, Aldi’s £4.99 Animus Vinho Verde, Lidl’s £4.19 Chile Sauvignon Blanc, Aldi’s £4.49 Pierre Jaurant Cotes de Gascogne and Aldi’s £4.49 Costellore Proccini Rose.
But Spar’s £4.99 Sip Of White, Tesco‘s £4.09 Casa Mana Chardonnay and Sainsbury’s £4.75 House Soave also made the list.
Aldi came up trumps – with Helena rating its Pierre Jaurant Cotes de Gascogne 5/5.
She said: “What’s in the bottle will appeal to any white vino drinker, with its gooseberry and greengage vibe plus a nice pinch of pear and pine- apple.
“A great all-rounder to sip with or without food, and just a bit different.
“Lovely chilled as an aperitif, or enjoy it with some salty nibbles or your evening meal. It will look fab on the table, too.”
But the chain’s Costellore Proccini Rose didn’t get such a warm reception – with a 2/5 rating.
Helena said: “It’s a bit clunky and lurid- looking with its bright purple foil, and not as refreshing as it could be, but the booze level is gluggably low at 10.5 per cent ABV.
“Serve well chilled and it becomes much more palatable. For the price, you really can’t argue.”
Meanwhile, shoppers have threatened to boycott McGuigan’s Black Label red wine, a popular tipple sold in Tesco and Sainsbury’s, after its alcohol levels were slashed.
The change is thought to be due to the UK Government raising duty on booze, meaning scores of products have been made weaker to keep their cost down.
But customers were furious about the move, with one saying: “This has been one of my favourite wines for donkeys years.
“They have now reduced the ABV from 12.5% to 10.5% and it is dreadful. I shall not be buying anymore.”