I got an early taste of Aldi's new bubble-less prosecco — here's the verdict
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the whole point of Prosecco its bubbles?
Apparently not, as Aldi has just launch a first-of-its-kind supermarket Prosecco… minus the fizz. The bubble-less drink is called Costellore Still Prosecco DOC and it retails for just £5.99.
I managed to get an early taste and I'm going to give you my honest opinion so you know whether or not to get some in for the bank holiday.
I'll be honest, at this very point of writing, a bottle is chilling down in my fridge but I haven't opened it yet. I'm stalling because I suspect it's going to taste like cold, flat Prosecco and I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about that. What if it's more Pro-heck-no than Prosecco?
I'm concerned because Prosecco's whole modus operandum is delivering that vibrant froth that tickles your tongue like an apple and pear-flavoured cream soda. So much so, that I've heard Prosecco of being called everything from 'party diesel', 'electric tinkle', 'corked chaos', 'giggle water', 'Satan's sparkles' to 'tickle spit'. Don't ask me about that last one.
My point is, the common denominators all refer to having fun with bubbles, without which, there's no spit, sparkle, Satan or tinkle. It'll be like Prosecco, but broken. My fizzy wine won't be, well, fizzy wine-ing. Capiche?
Interestingly, Prosecco does actually start out as a white wine before they create the bubbles (by adding more yeast). So, I suppose it's just one less process for the winemaker, hence the lower price.
Sparkling or not though, any wine with 'Prosecco' on the label must be made from a grape called Glera, grown in the legally-designated region of Prosecco. This stunning region is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a mere 45 minutes north of Venice by car. The wine itself must also be produced there, otherwise it can't legally be called 'Prosecco'. It would be called 'Glera Spumante' after the name of the grape, which isn't nearly as catchy.
Regular Prosecco, which we all know and many of us love, is made by first pressing Glera grapes, adding yeast and fermenting it into a white wine. The bubbles are introduced via a second fermentation in a pressurised, stainless steel tank called an 'autoclave'. On the whole, there's zero ageing (one of the ways it's very different to Champagne) and that's why we see so much of it around.
Still Prosecco isn't the only unusual drink Aldi has launched of late. They've also released what has been described as 'a coffee-style red wine'.
A what, now?
It's called Macchiato Pinotage and it sells for £7.99, the clue to its style is very firmly in the name.
I'm all for coffee notes in a red wine, especially when its accompanied by sweet tobacco flavours in a Primitivo from Puglia, for example.
No hate, but this red has had its coffee flavours fast-tracked via oak staves and blocks added to the wine, rather than through the oak barrel gently leeching into the wine over time.
The result? Sadly, it has a harshly burnt flavour from the oak's dominance, which is a shame as the basis is a guzzlesome, plummy red.
Full disclosure, I'm not a fan of bog-standard Prosecco DOC. I find it cloyingly sweet and simple in flavour and texture. Character assassination over. However, I am a fan of any Prosecco with the words Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG on the label, meaning that the grapes have come from a tiny, hilly part of the region, making far more elevated (literally, some vineyards are over 1,500m above sea level) sparkling wines.
Putting how much we love Prosecco over here in the UK into perspective, over 660 million bottles are produced every year, with the UK glugging 36% of the total production. That's around 131 million bottles annually, so we're a bunch of greedy guzzle gannets for the stuff. Basically then, there's a lot for this bubble-less Prosecco to live up to. You could say that it has big bubbles to fill.
This looks like a lemon-yellow-coloured white wine, because it is. More Trending
It's made from the regular DOC grapes, but the lack of bubbles has given it an elegance and finesse a bubbly version of the same quality level could never achieve.
It's bone dry and lively with flavours of lime, nectarine and tangerine.
View More »
Not only is it a brilliant talking point, I'm a huge fan of the flavour, the price and will be stocking up over the summer.
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Immerse yourself in the world of good drink, fronted by industry expert Rob Buckhaven – a place for readers to whet their whistle with the latest and greatest in the world of drinks. From unpacking the best supermarket wines from Aldi, Tesco and Lidl, to introducing audiences to the wallet-friendly Cremant out-bubbling the fanciest of French Champagnes (or the best wines to drink after sex), and finding out what it's like to go on a bar crawl with Jason Momoa, this is a haven for those who love to celebrate.
Stay ahead of the curve as Rob plucks from the vines the wines of the season and the spirits you need to know about; speaking with experts and mixologists while unpacking the latest concoctions, finding the best non-alcoholic options for those looking to moderate, discovering the best food pairings for your drops, and going up against the latest TikTok chatter to demystify the liquid landscape.
Can you really make cheap vodka taste expensive by putting it through a Brita filter?
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