Tesco’s new Lateral range of five Chilean wines sits at the budget end of the wine department. The three reds and two whites are priced at £3.99 a bottle and are all bottled as individual varietals. You will find a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay.
But if you take a closer look, you’ll see that the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have blended some Cabernet Franc, the Pinot Noir some Syrah, while the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay have Pedro Gimenez (also spelled Ximenez and a grape variety that also uses will) are mixed to make sweet sherry labeled PX). This blend of varietals into a single varietal wine helps keep the price down. The Wine Act allows the addition of about 15% by volume of a cheaper varietal, while the label still only indicates one varietal.
But are the wines good?
Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot are clear 5-star winners with tasty fruit aromas. The Cabernet Sauvignon comes in at 4 stars, with a slight spiciness to the taste that knocks it off the top rating, but the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are disappointing and not really worth looking for.
You’ll notice that four of the five Lateral wines appear on the Tesco grocery website as an Aldi price match (only the Sauvignon Blanc isn’t). But priced to what exactly?
Aldi’s wines consist of the Grapevine range at £3.69, Cambalala and Estevez wines at £3.89 and Kooliburra at £3.99.
At Lidl (Aldi’s direct competitor) we find the Cimarosa range of white, rosé and red wines for around £3.99, plus a Hungarian Pinot Grigio for £3.99 and the Libertario Tempranillo for £3.79.
You can also try Asda’s Nice Drop range, which consists of eight wines priced between £3.75 and £4.50.
At £3.99 the Lateral range may be cheap, but there’s quite a lot going on in the bottle.
Weinentkorkt.co.uk recommends
Side Chilean Sauvignon Blanc
£3.99 Tesco
5*
For just £3.99, this Sauvignon Blanc has palatable pear and lime flavors. Simple, fun stuff that won’t break the bank.
Side Chilean Merlot
£3.99 Tesco
5*
For just £3.99, this Merlot has flavors of rich plum and damson with a sweetness of raspberry jam. There is also some cherry. A tasty red at a very attractive price.
Side Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
£3.99 Tesco
4*
A rich and fruity flavor duo: blackberry and blackcurrant are there with some cinnamon spiciness and toffee smoothness. It has a touch of spiciness to keep it from being so rich it’s unpalatable. Simple but pleasant.
Side Chilean Chardonnay
£3.99 Tesco
3*
The Chardonnay from the Lateral series turns out to be rather ordinary and slightly watery in taste. The aroma is fruity with melon and apple but the addition of the oak flavor makes it rather disjointed with a distinct cheese flavor. This is about as good as one would normally expect from a budget wine, so comparing it to the others in the range is disappointing.
Side Chilean Pinot Noir
£3.99 Tesco
3*
At £3.99 this is the value end of a wine made from the Pinot Noir grape variety and sadly it shows. Nice enough with juicy cherry and blackberry flavors, but there’s a burnt edge that comes through. Aldi’s Beachfront Pinot Noir knocks points off it, but then it costs £6.49.
That wineuncorked.co.uk The wine rating system uses a maximum of 5 stars:
5* excellent – the top grade of wineuncorked.co.uk
4* very good wine
3* good wine but overpriced
2* a disappointing wine
1 * little to offer
Avoid 0* – pour down the drain
