Buying wine in the UK review

Heading back to France this weekend. First to pick my mum up at Paris CDG and drive her down to her home in the Charente. Then to my house in Boulogne.
So I will be stocking up (24 bottles only) on my way back to the UK, and will be buying French wines again to review.
But I have enjoyed tasting the wines that I have been buying in the UK.
So this month’s post will be a review of what I have bought.

Main point, you can buy reasonably priced wine in the UK. So my initial premise for this site, to persuade people to go to France (and ideally rent my house in Boulogne whilst there) is not so relevant to me now. Partly because I now use Airbnb, and virtually all my guests are French, and also because there are now limits on how much one can bring back (grr!@!xx!, I won’t mention the reason for this).

However you will not get wine as good value as Auchan’s own brand Cabernet Sauvignon (€2.65), the Plume Syrah-Grenache (€3.50), or the Clos de Beauregard Muscadet Sèvre et Maine (€4.99). But you can still get some good bargains if you shop around at supermarkets.

Don’t go too cheap

Unlike in France, where you can get some decent wines at low prices (see above) don’t go too cheap when buying in the UK. When I was recently staying in London, my friend Mary bought a 3 for £10 deal at the local corner shop. All with flat bottom bottles, and they were quite awful (sorry Mary). The same applies to Asda’s own value wine label ‘Nice Drop’ I did buy a ‘Nice Drop’ Cabernet Sauvignon (£3.75) and that too was pretty bad and was saved for cooking. I will not even try the Nice Drop Merlot or Shiraz.

So don’t go below £4.49, and don’t buy totally flat bottomed bottles.

Malbec reviews

My friend Ed is a fan of Malbec wines, so I did review quite a few of these. Although one associates this wine now with Argentina, I actually preferred the French ones. In particular, the Cahors Malbec purchased at Morrisons. This was well liked, even by Fred who normally prefers white wine and described it as “Super duper delicious” Typically £8 but keep an eye for when on special offer as I purchased for £6, an absolute bargain at the price. I also purchased some Argentinian Malbecs at Morrisons from Vinabla. Gold foiled ones seem very good, but quite pricey. It seems that once they have earned a good reputation, they use it to sell their not so good wines. They put those on bottles with red foil on the cork. I don’t think that these were good value.
For value, the Alzar Argentinian Malbec is a really good deal when they do 2 for £10 at Morrisons (it often is on offer). But the best value is the Maison Duhard French Malbec that I bought at Lidl for just £4.49.

A white wine

I have been purchasing mostly red wines in the UK, mainly because I still had French whites and rosés, but also because I prefer reds during the winter months. But I really liked the Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc. Keep an eye out when on offer at Asda, normally £14, but I got for £10. More expensive than I normally go for, but it really is very nice. I knew about Villa Maria from the wine event they did at Avenue HQ, and they really do some very good wines.

A Lidl and Aldi convert

Since going to both Lidl and Aldi to try their wines, I am a convert and do a lot of my general shopping there now. Lidl is nearer to me, so I tend to use them more, but both are good for shopping for food and wine. I was very impressed with the two French wines I bought at Lidl (a French Malbec and a Bordeaux Superior) and the Pinot Noir from Aldi. I have been back to purchase more since reviewed.

Conclusion

It pains me to say it, but it is now not worth going to France just to buy wine. If you buy 24 bottles each person, you can still save about £2 to £3 pounds a bottle, but that does not cover the cost of the ferry or tunnel crossing, petrol to drive there, and accommodation.

And as I have discovered, there are some good value wines that you can get in the UK. And going forward, I will continue to review more UK purchased wines. So far I have mainly tried reds, but I will be trying some whites and rosés bought in the UK in future. Stay tuned.

However, many of my posts are in the ‘Not just wine’ category. Here I list other interesting things to do in and around Boulogne. I really do like the town and am so looking forward to being there again later this month. It really is a great place to visit, especially if you are travelling further South in France (or even better travelling back to the UK from further South). And there will be more about what to do in Boulogne now that travelling there getting easier again as Covid restrictions are being eased.