Lidl French Wine Sale 2013 - Updated

Yesterday  I had to buy a variety of mundane items and as I was on my way home from my mechanic (the beast lives!), so I popped into Lidl to get said items and may be some wine from the Lidl French wine sale that I had heard about. Kevin Ecock wrote a post about it here. I was invited to the press tasting but alas, I work full time, so was unable to attend.

I picked up the wines at left (along with some of their Cepa Lebrel Rioja Crianza - a steal at €6.50). BTW R Bampfield is Lidl's own MW and he rates all their wines out of 100 (sort of).  The Brochure is here.


Leo La Gaffeliere Bordeaux 2011 - €8.99  R Bampfield 88 - Very Good
I had intended to buy the Cotes de Blaye Chateau Grand Mazerolles 2010 €9.99, as recommended by Kevin but when I arrived home I had the Bordeaux above. I don't know how. I never buy generic Bordeaux. Anyhoo, I'll try to approach it with an open mind.
**Update -  This ain't great. It tastes like cheap Bordeaux, eh... because it is cheap Bordeaux, it's all tannins with a smidgin of blackcurrant. If you like cheap cab sav, this Bud's for you. 

Les Sarralieres Crozes-Hermitage 2012 - €11.99 R Bampfield 86 - Very Good
There's nothing like a nice Crozes-Hermitage and this is probably nothing like a nice Crozes-Hermitage, but here's hoping.
**Update -  I drank this but I didn't really enjoy it. It was a nearly wine. There were suggestions of nice fruit and tannins but they were trumped by a slightly unpleasant ripe fruity aftertaste. So far no joy from Lidl.

La Croix des Celestins Fleurie 2012 - €9.99  R Bampfield - No Rating
I'm not normally a big Beaujolais fan, the expensive stuff I like but the rest often find a bit thin. I deliberately picked this because it's outside my comfort zone. Low expectations here.
**Update -  It's not bad. It's light and fruity, natch, but with some decent acidity. We had it with a tomato and pasta dish and it worked well.


Oh and I grabbed a Chablis too, as evangelised by Kevin "Such a versatile wine style. Simple examples such as this always please me as the relatively lean fruit, acidic structure and tingly finish are just a perfect food accompaniment.". Sounds good...

I'll be drinking them over the next few days so watch this space...

Lucien Lardy Fleurie

At the end of another Saturday dinner, we broke this out after a couple of bottles of my current fave Protocolo*. The Protocolo is a big wine and I would not normally attempt to drink a lighter wine after a couple of bottles of heavy wine, but this Fleurie managed this difficult feat of not being overpowered.

Note - I didn't buy this wine, it was brought by one of our guests. I would not normally buy a Fleurie as I have often found them to be too lightbodied for my tastes, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Name: Lucien Lardy

Year: 2007
Price: €18-99 from Spar
Notes: A classic French wine. Yes, it was light but it made up for it with  lovely fruity, floral flavours and some nice depth. This would be a nice change of pace for someone like me who would not normally venture into Beaujolais.

Rating: 6/10.  

*Some people at the table handled their wine better then others, not looking at anyone in particular...