Three Pinot Noirs from Lidl

Still reviewing some UK purchased wines. Hoping to get back to Boulogne first week in December to stock up on some wines from France. Stay tuned for that , but this month, I am comparing three Pinot Noir wines, all purchased at Lidl up the road from me. But first…

In praise of Fred, and the family tree

A real pleasure to have my cousin Fred over from Israel for 10 days. He has not been over since 2019 due to the pandemic. He stays most of the time with my other cousin, his sister, Sharon in Hertfordshire. But he pops up north to meet friends in Wigan and then to stay with me in Leeds. He works a lot on the family tree, and an amazing job he does on it too. We meet up with some other interesting relatives of his who live in Leeds. He uses family archive facilities at Leeds library. They even remembered him from when he was there in 2019. We did lots of good things, one of which was visiting the Royal Armouries by Leeds dock. Here is picture of Fred in front of a canon by the docks. (The Royal Armouries is a great place to visit if coming to Leeds. (Visit Royal Armouries here).

And he also helped me review the Pinot Noirs that I had bought.

Hawke’s Bay -New Zealand Pinot Noir

• Hawke’s Bay
• New Zealand Pinot Noir 2020
• £7.99 from Lidl
• 13%

Aroma: Fresh and light, with cherry tones.

Taste: A slight initial sourness, maybe should have let it breathe. Still quite nice. As with the aroma, a light cherry notes.

Paul (me)

Aroma: Full bodied, young.

Taste: Quite smooth and pleasant, fruity and light, but with a slight tartiness.

Fred

French Pinot Noir

(Some comments from me tasting this wine before Fred came over. I already liked this so had bought some more for when Fred was over)

• Pinot Noir Vin de France 2021
• £4.99
• 13%

Colour: Following on from what I learnt from Alex at the recent Avenue HQ wine tasting event, I will try to comment on colour of the wine too. This colour was quite light, with no oil on the glass after swirling it. A good sign.

Aroma: Smooth with subtle light fruit notes. Not overpowering but maybe a little weak.

Taste: Smooth and light, but still with a bit of chewy bite. Nice ,light and fresh, but maybe lacking some depth. Tasting again with Fred and in comparison to the New Zealand wine, we both agreed this was better. A good value buy.

Paul (me)

Aroma: Pleasant and light with a slight acidity to the nose.

Taste: Pleasant, much lighter, not the tartness at the end compared to other (Hawkes Bay). Very pleasant, preferred, smoother and easier to drink.

Fred

Chilean Pinot Noir

Johny was over and also reviewed this wine. Thanks to Johny for fixing my website login problem.

• Pinot Noir Chile 2021
• £4.39 from Lidl
• 13%

Aroma: Quite pleasant and fruity, not overly strong, but agree with Fred, a slight sharpness.

Taste: A bit sharp, quaffable but nothing to entice you.

Paul (me)

Aroma: Very slightly sharp.

Taste: Slightly acidic, not good.

Fred

Aroma: Raspberry notes.

Taste: Yes, agree with Fred, taste a bit acidic, the aroma was better.

Johny

Review conclusions

There was a definite agreement on order of these wines.

1: The French Pinot Noir
2: The New Zealand Pinot Noir
3: The Chilean Pinot Noir

As I have noticed before, if you go too cheap, the wine is normally disappointing. This was definitely the case with the Chilean wine. It did not go down well. But when you pay more, it is no guarantee it will be better. Was the New Zealand wine more expensive because it was supposed to be better, or maybe it was due to the higher costs of shipping from the other side of the world. As I have noted before, for a white Sauvignon Blanc, I am happy to pay more for one from New Zealand. They are worth it. New Zealand is known for producing very good Sauvignon Blancs, and have noticed the quality. But for this Pinot Noir, I found this one a bit disappointing.

Both me and Fred really liked the one just labelled ‘Pinot Noir, vin de France’. Light and fruity, it went down well and can recommend. I went back to buy more from Lidl, and was very pleased to see that it was on offer at $4.69 (saving 30p). So I have been taking advantage of this offer and have purchased more. Maybe not the best option if you are looking for something more fully bodied to go with a meatier dish, but a very good value buy.

For better or worse, Lidl and Aldi do change their selections more frequently than the other supermarkets. So I was pleased to find this one on offer, but could not see another of my recent favourites, the Maison Duhard French Malbec, there on my last few visits. So take advantage of the good deals when they are on as they don’t always last.