I'm DONE - Aldi Advent Calendar - or 24 Days of Cheap Wine

[Mark_Y]

This thread is gaining momentum. Becoming daily must read!

[Paul_Miller]

Finally! A wine from the US, and it’s a…

White Zin!

Day-7 White Zinfandel
United States of America (California)
11%

I honestly don’t remember the last time I’ve had a White Zin. Maybe college? Surely I’ve had one at some event, dinner, reception? I simply can’t recall the last one, so I don’t have much of a comparison.

So going in, my expectations were very low, and this wine did not disappoint. It’s not good. Strawberry, a lot of strawberry, and a little watermelon. I kept closing my eyes and tried to imagine it was a Rose, to no avail. Reminded me of a cheap rose mixed with cheap Gamay. Seemed “chewy.” Label says it is “lively… with crisp acidity.” It’s not.

There are 24 bottles in the case, with 12 different wines. So I have this to look forward to again.

[CJ_Beazley]

Sorry about the ‘swing and a miss’ Paul, but I have really enjoyed following this.
Great job.

[Paul_Miller]

Day-5 Merlot
Chile - Valle Central
12.5%

Popped and poured; no decant. Pretty red color. Some dark and red fruits on the nose. Fruit-forward wine, blackberry, blueberry. Some earth notes, a bit dusty. First of the wines with some nice acidity, although a bit of a bite (maybe it needs to be decanted?). This is the best wine so far. Nothing complex about it, nice quaff. Could probably serve this at a party with no complaints.

As I noted above, there are 24 bottles, but two of each. This is my first repeat (dreading the White Zin).

Day-8
Merlot again
Chile - Valle Central
still 12.5%

Since a repeat, not posting a pic or going into too much detail. Last time I put into my wine cellar ahead of time. This time I pulled it straight from the box at room temperature. I think chilling would have helped. All the Aldi wines have been a bit tight and tart, and so is this one. Maybe I will give a future repeat some more air and time. This Merlot, again, showed mostly blueberry. Again, not a bad quaff.

[Paul_Miller]

Interesting line-up. If only that “worst wine of the year” thread had popped in the right order.

[Paul_Miller]

Day-9
Malbec
Argentina, San Juan
13%

Popped and poured, no decant, served at cellar temp. An Ok wine. Dark color. Some menthol, some herbiness, a little “green,” some tobacco. Also, some chocolate, cola, dried red fruit. Some tannin. As like many of the others, tart and tight, but one of the few in which I could actually come up with multiple descriptors. Again, an ok wine.

[Corey_N]

There are 24 bottles in the case, with 12 different wines. So I have this to look forward to again.

The additional two weeks of aging makes all the difference.

[Paul_Miller]

Day-10
Chenin Blanc
South Africa, Western Cape
12.5%

I haven’t had many Chenin Blancs, so not much basis to go on. But without knowing what this was, in a blind tasting, I would have pegged this for a cheap Chard. Light, gold color. Not a lot of aroma. Some toast, some creaminess, some butter. Also some pectin, more on the green apple side. My wife was ok with this wine, but it just didn’t do anything for me.

[Sean_Malloy]

Just caught up on the thread, and now I’m really upset. I get that it’s cheap and they are saving money, but c’mon. No self respecting advent calendar has repeats. Darn it.

[Paul_Miller]

Day-4 Pinot Grigio
Italy
12%

Nice, fresh, clean aroma. Some pectin flavors, bordering on pears. A little dirt and minerality (maybe that’s the spice). Just not very crisp (maybe that’s the hazelnuts). IMO Pinot Grigio can be hit and miss, and is seldom a “great” wine. My expectations are usually not very high. However, with a little air and food, was more approachable. This is not a bad wine, but most definitely not great. This is squarely a generic white wine. If you’re needing a cheap white to serve that won’t be objectionable, this could be it.

Day-11
Pinot Grigio

This is another repeat (2 of everything).

Second time around: Light, straw color. Soft, but seems brighter this time. Some pectin, lemon, and tea. Again, not a bad wine, just nothing I would race back to the store for.

[Paul_Miller]

Finally! A wine from the US, and it’s a…

White Zin!

Day-7 White Zinfandel
United States of America (California)
11%

I honestly don’t remember the last time I’ve had a White Zin. Maybe college? Surely I’ve had one at some event, dinner, reception? I simply can’t recall the last one, so I don’t have much of a comparison.

So going in, my expectations were very low, and this wine did not disappoint. It’s not good. Strawberry, a lot of strawberry, and a little watermelon. I kept closing my eyes and tried to imagine it was a Rose, to no avail. Reminded me of a cheap rose mixed with cheap Gamay. Seemed “chewy.” Label says it is “lively… with crisp acidity.” It’s not.

There are 24 bottles in the case, with 12 different wines. So I have this to look forward to again.

Day-12, and second bottle of:
White Zin
USA

Let’s get this over with.

It’s still strawberry, some watermelon. It’s still semi-sweet and flabby. It’s still hard to drink.

Why is this the only US wine in the case? Is this Aldi’s idea of California wines?

[Paul_Miller]

Day-13
Red Blend
Italy
12.5%

Took some swirling to get any aroma out of it. Little funky at first, then sweet red fruits. Color had some amber on the edges. As usual for the Aldi wines, tart and tight, a little astringency. Flavors came through as dark cherry, raspberry. Not a complex wine by any means. I wonder if there is not some Sangiovese in it. This would probably make a good wine to go with pizza night.

[Paul_Miller]

It’s 5:00 somewhere, it’s Friday, and I have an airplane bottle of cheap white to drink.

Day-14
Sauvignon Blanc
New Zealand, Marlborough
12%

Grapefruit on the nose. Grapefruit on the tongue. Grapefruit. Maybe a little bit of lemon and grass. Tart, acidic white, that’s light straw in color. It’s a Marlborough SB, and if you like grapefruit SBs, then you’ll like this. Wow, a lot of grapefruit.

[Paul_Miller]

Day-10
Chenin Blanc
South Africa, Western Cape
12.5%

I haven’t had many Chenin Blancs, so not much basis to go on. But without knowing what this was, in a blind tasting, I would have pegged this for a cheap Chard. Light, gold color. Not a lot of aroma. Some toast, some creaminess, some butter. Also some pectin, more on the green apple side. My wife was ok with this wine, but it just didn’t do anything for me.

Day-15
Chenin Blanc, again

Still tastes like a cheap Chard.

[Paul_Miller]

Day-16
Sauvignon Blanc
Chile - Valle Central
12.5%

My last, new varietal in the case. From now on, it’s repeats.

First of all, I wasn’t aware that Chile produced much SB, but this SB was much better than the one from New Zealand. Has more fresh, floral aromas. Also more crisp, more mineral. Some apple and lemon, but still a fair amount of grapefruit, especially as it warmed. Served well chilled, this isn’t a bad wine.

So still got a few duplicate bottles. Ugh. This has been like being in the middle seat in domestic only offered these little bottles of wine.

[John_Glas]

[quoteWhy is this the only US wine in the case? Is this Aldi’s idea of California wines?][/quote]
The only left over grapes that Gallo didn’t buy that year.

[YLee]

I read from buyers of previous year that this wasnt worth buying again so I decided not to try it.

From reading this thread I’m glad I didnt make the purchase.

Thx for the TNs though.

[Paul_Miller]

I’m done. Everything else was a duplicate. Took all the bottles with me to dinner. Quite the impressive display, although the waitress seemed completely unimpressed - more a look on her face of WTF!

The reds actually went fairly well with Middle Eastern (Dawali on Halsted is a great BYOB, and is across the street from Steppenwolf). The South Australian Red still tasted like cheap red wine, and the spices only made the vanilla pop more. The Italian Red Blend was 10x better wine side-by-side. It showed red fruit, and had some bite to go with the food. The Shiraz still tastes like an entry-level Zin, but is an easy quaff.

The two remaining whites were done that afternoon. Both were the Sauvignon Blancs. The NZ SB just SCREAMS grapefruit. The Chilean is much better, maybe not 10x better, but better. It at least showed some lemon curd.

But the highlight of the day was using the Prosecco to make an Aperol Spritz. Was a good use for it.

So that’s it. I’m done. Done early. It was fun, but not $70 of fun.

Happy Holidays!

[Cris_Whetstone]

Thanks for taking one for the team, Paul. Great read.

[Paul_Miller]

Thanks for taking one for the team, Paul. Great read.

Thanks. And thanks to everyone else for the encouragement. It was fun, but it did get in the way of some better wine drinking.