Top Aldi Australia wines under $10
ALDI supermarkets have garnered a bit of a reputation for bargain wines that grab a medal or two in both Australian and international judgings. These are the top seven you can’t ignore.
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ALDI supermarkets have garnered a bit of a reputation for bargain wines that grab a medal or two in both Australian and international judgings, evidence that the chain’s wine program has a keen eye for value and its selectors keen palates to match.
Here’s the latest batch of Aldi wines for under $10 that can’t help to become weekday regulars in your house if you can access them, mostly in east coast stores (NSW, ACT, Vic), while a small number of outlets in WA also stock liquor. But not in store in Tasmania, Queensland and South Australia.
MORE: ALDI wins national award and expands Aussie booze line
Don’t expect to show them off for their elite regional provenance — often they’re designated simply South-East Australia or even more generically Wine of Australia. And as for who’s actually produced these crazy little bargains, Made for Aldi is as much as these labels will reveal.
Kairora Bay 2017 Sauvignon Blanc
$8.99 Marlborough, NZ
For most wine drinkers, sauvignon blanc and NZ’s South Island Marlborough region are synonymous, this wine confirming why with its trademark tropical fruit salad aromas, a wild passionfruit waft clearly leading the way. The overall impression is a fruit sweetness though with just enough grapefruit-like tang in the finish to keep the wine fresh and exciting to the taste. Classic Kiwi savvy drinking.
South Point Estate 2017 Pinot Grigio
$8.99 South East Australia
The front label has an impression of a map but the only sourcing info available is the ubiquitous SEA, which most likely means somewhere along the ol’ man Murray River. Picked judiciously to be marked at 12% alc, this comes to life as a fresh and zesty style, a note of florals to start yet more distinctively with a waft of tropical passionfruit you’d usually find in sauvignon blanc. Let’s not get to technical here — it’s quite decent in its textural finish as well.
One Road 2017 Chardonnay
$6.99 Padthaway/ Eden Valley
Chardonnay can split a room between those who prefer their oaky, rich and buttery and those who love theirs fresher with a line of citrus and crunchy white stone fruits. This finds a democratic, midway point with definite white nectarine flavours, lemon juiciness and a light cream feel to follow, a little bit of all the variety’s regular elements. It is a little hard in the finish, however, but at this price, that’s a bit niggly.
Claire Creek 2016 Chardonnay
$4.99 Australia
Again no detail on the fruit sourcing — so the drill down here is all about the wine’s styling, which has a familiar chardonnay white fruit (apples to peaches) sense to begin, a touch of florals, some creaminess even in the nose, perhaps evidence of some oak influence. It’s chardonnay without too much winemaking intrusion, smooth and easy drinking, simple in its delivery and genuinely quite pleasing because of it.
The Pond 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon
$6.99 Australia
The bottle is adorned with a few medal stickers, the best of them a “Top Gold” score at Rutherglen regional show last year. It’s unmistakeable cabernet, its nose all about crushed black berries and currants, cassis and ribena characters confirming its varietal status. It’s a rich, ripe, chewy and fleshy style, full bodied with a coat of typical cabernet black-tea like tannins, with just a hint of bitterness in the finish. A classic red meat companion.
Corte Carista 2015 Chianti Superiore
$9.99 Tuscany, Italy
Much is made on the back label about the winemaker, renowned global/ Italian wine consultant Alberto Antonini. The “Superiore” tag in the title tells us this has a greater weight
than the usual Chianti Classico versions seen at comparable and often more expensive rates, and the DOCG mark is an authentic regional approval stamp, so mostly, if not entirely, the sangiovese variety, exhibiting typical medium bodied energy, cherry like fruit notes with savoury/herbal elements as you sip. Best at the table with pizza and pasta — and great value.
One Road 2016 Cabernet Merlot
$6.99 Coonawarra
If the straight-up cabernet sauvignon above is too aromatic for you, this traditional blend with
merlot can tone back the heady ribena notes and fill in the mid-palate — which is exactly what happens here, offering a dark plum and blackberry semses, though a dry-ish tannin wrap in the mouth adds a fair bit of chew to the finish. Definitely needs rare to medium steak.
This new vintage is just arriving in store as the 2015s sell out.
Originally published as Top Aldi Australia wines under $10
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