The large grocery chain Carrefour has earlier this year stirred up the feelings of viticulturer/wine makers by, among other things, selling a 75 cl bottle of red Bordeaux appellation wine for only €1.66 !! The Lidl chain’s campaigns are no better where a red Bordeaux wine could be found for €1.39 and white and rosé wine from the IGP Pays d’Oc for €1.35.
I assume that these excessively low prices are largely due to the wine crisis that prevails in France and most countries and that bulk wines have been bottled instead of being distilled away. There is no chance that viticulturer/wine makers can survive with such prices passed on to customers, but it only further stimulates high-intensity grape cultivation with fertilization, irrigation, and the use of pesticides where the most effective systemic agents also contain the currently so much debated PFAS substance!
What happened a week ago was that Provence rosé wine was also “hit” by such a Lidl campaign. Provence rosé wine is vital for Provence wine farmers and it is important to keep the price up, for example, the “Syndicat des Vins Côtes de Provence” decided to reduce the harvest by between 10 and 23% for 2023 with the justification “Given the economic situation”. The reason was that for a few years now there had been a slight overproduction of rosé wine in the world and that sales of Provence rosé wines had also decreased.
In Lidl’s promotion, a 2024 Côtes de Provence rosé wine cost only €2.50 for the second bottle with a 50% discount (for €4.99 for the first bottle). The rosé wine is Lidl’s own brand Saint-Aygade and on the back label it says that the wine is produced by FM-CS60334 with postal code 21200 in Vignoles which is located in Burgundy.
The back label promises: “…made from carefully selected grapes. It has a crisp, fresh, and fruity profile typical of the appellation”. As a more critical wine consumer and wine taster, you wonder how you can make such a cheap wine and at the same time have made a careful selection of the grapes.
As a wine nerd, you have to buy the wine and try it to see if the aroma and taste profile according to the label is correct. Our opinion was that the not too strong aroma was a bit dull, with notes of peach and red berries and a little pepper. A slightly low acidity and a slightly “thick taste” where you find peach. Medium-long aftertaste where the final freshness, which is typical of Provence rosé wines, is unfortunately missing.
In summary, a simple, flawless rosé wine but where the typical Provence rosé wine freshness is missing, 12/20 points. The wine is affordable but should you really buy such cheap wines considering how they were probably produced?
Another “cheap rosé wine” that we found in the local Super U grocery store, where the shelves are overflowing with rosé wine, is Miraval’s négociant wine called Studio and it is now discounted to €7.50. This is even before the autumn wine sales have started, it will be exciting to see how the price develops!
Source: Vitisphere, Lidl, Vinifierat.se
Provence expert Göran Boman, Author of the books ” Provence – Vita, röda och även roséviner” and “The Wines of Provence – Tricolour”. Easiest to buy is via sending an e-mail to me: provencebook@gmboman.se
