Buy One Get One Free

Hello Reader! Did the title of this piece hook you in I wonder? Can you, like The Mothership (my bargain-loving Mum), not resist the lure of a BOGOF?

Well you won’t be disappointed – I hope! Today, not just one wine review, but two! However, this isn’t some fiendish commercial merchandising ruse (like some of those cheeky wine ‘offers’ one can find in some supermarkets); rather I have decided to review two wines because the first one is apparently not on ‘general release’ and so many of you might not be able to find it.

I was given a bottle Freeman’s Bay Pinot Noir 2011 by friends, who said they’d drunk a few bottles over Christmas and enjoyed it. It’s an easy, fruity, style. No earthy or leathery development here in this youngster – although I must say I thought it looked the part. In the glass it appears to be a more serious Pinot than it actually is. The aromas are not particularly pronounced. The flavours are raspberry and cooked strawberries to me. Juicy, with light tannins this is a pretty uncomplicated wine. If you can find it in your Aldi store it’ll cost you £6.99.

W.O.W. Factor 6

Although this Pinot Noir is not part of Aldi’s core range, I’m delighted to say that the Exquisite Collection Limestone Coast Chardonnay 2012 is.

The Limestone Coast is the name given to the cooler areas in South Australia. The seas’ influence keeps the temperatures down allowing winemakers to produce fresher styles. Don’t think big, fat, oaky, Aussie Chard here.

This wine has peach and pineapple aromas. It’s un-oaked so there’s none of that vanilla character you can get with the wooded style. It’s pretty full bodied though. It’s been matured on the lees (dead yeast cells) which can give, as it does here, a bit of a creamy character. This wine is dry, with peach flavours and some citrus zing too.

It went really well with chicken in a cream and mushroom sauce. The wine’s crispness and zippy freshness cut through the rich sauce.

Exquisite Collection Limestone Coast Chardonnay 2012 costs £5.99. It wasn’t oaky and smoky enough for The Analyst but I liked it.

W.O.W. Factor 7