I tried 6 wines from Lidl festive collection - these are the best
The budget supermarket's festive wine tour is in stores now, but which ones are worth buying this Christmas?
As we head into the second week in December, the festive season is getting into full flow and many of us will be thinking of the menu and drinks for the big day on the 25th or entertaining throughout the month. If you’re planning on stocking up on wine, and don’t have any firm favourites, then Lidl’s festive wine tour is worth checking out.
The budget supermarket releases a new wine tour every few months, and each is packed full of quality wines at prices that won’t break the bank. As I’ve written about before, I join the quarterly Wine Events Scotland wine tastings which often feature the Lidl wine tour.
The December wine tour has a range of reds, whites, sparkling and a rose and a sweet wine from Europe, but which are worth picking up at your next big shop?
The festive online wine tasting from Wine Events Scotland had six wines from the December tour, which were: Codorniu Cava Cuvée 150 Aniversario Brut Ecologico, Spain (£8.99); Confidence de Gascogne, 2024, France (£7.99); Cuvée de Brieu Syrah IGP Pays d'Oc, 2024,France (£8.49); Almocreve Rotwein REG Alentejano RSV, 2022, Portugal (£7.49); Duca di Sasseta Primitivo IGT Puglia, 2024, Italy (£7.99) and Passito Pantelleria, 2024, Italy (£12.99).
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 4.6, 4.3 and 4.3 out of five. The top scorer was the Italian sweet wine which scored 93 out of 100 in the wine masters tasting and is described as a “unique dessert wine filled with enticing flavour. A must for lovers of rich, sweet wines. Expect notes of butterscotch and honey on the palate – very sweet and moreish! Enjoy with blue cheese or Christmas pudding.”
The joint second wines, scoring 4.3 out of 5 from the online tasters were the Cuvée de Brieu Syrah IGP Pays d'Oc, 2024 and the Duca di Sasseta Primitivo IGT Puglia.
The other wines were close behind, with the Almocreve Rotwein REG Alentejano RSV, 2022 scoring 4.1 out of 5, the Codorniu Cava Cuvée 150 Aniversario Brut Ecologico sourcing 4 out of 5 and the Confidence de Gascogne, 2024, France scoring 3.6 out of 5.
As for which wine the tasters would buy again? It was the Duca di Sasseta Primitivo IGT Puglia, 2024, Italy (£7.99), which has popped up on a few wine tours and scored 89 out of 100 by Richard. It is described as a “rich and sweet red made from the much-loved Primitivo grape. Expect flavours of black cherry and chocolate on the palate. Enjoy with a pasta bake or spicy meatballs. A must for those that like smooth, sweet reds.”
See the full December Wine Tour range at the Lidl website.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.