In this week’s Tipping’s Tipples, MIKE TIPPING has bargains in mind.

SOME weeks ago I recommended three red wines for everyday drinking. At the time I promised to come up with some wallet friendly whites too, except I didn’t find any.

Perhaps I wasn’t looking hard enough, but I just believe wines at the £5 price point are usually rubbish anyway. A decade ago you could be fairly confident that a £5 bottle would be at least drinkable; this is no longer the case.

It’s no great surprise that you don’t get as much wine for your money in 2013. Consider that when you buy a £6 bottle of wine, with VAT at 20 per cent, and duty now at £2, then half of what you pay is tax.

However, I have tasted three whites recently, for around a fiver, which have a semblance of character. In fact all three are very quaffable: good as aperitifs and perfect for parties.

From north-western Italy and made from the cortese grape, there is Aldi The Exquisite Collection Gavi 2012. It falls short of being ‘exquisite’ but it is nonetheless very drinkable and fragrant, with fresh lemon flavours and notes of pear.

Over at Lidl you can find a good value German wine, Brauneberger Kurfürstlay Mosel Riesling feinherb 2011; the word feinherb indicating that the wine will have just a hint of sweetness. Fresh and clean-tasting, it has flavours of peach, citrus and white flowers, with mineral notes too.

Or if you are a Wine Society member, stock up with Les Pierres Bordes Marsanne-Viognier 2012, Pays d’Oc. This is a bone dry and refreshing drop made with two Rhône grape varieties grown in the Languedoc. You can expect a hint of perfume with notes of apple, peach and spice.

 

Aldi The Exquisite Collection Gavi 2012, £4.99 at Aldi 16/20

Brauneberger Kurfürstlay Mosel Riesling feinherb 2011, £4.99 at Lidl 17/20

Les Pierres Bordes Marsanne-Viognier 2012, Pays d’Oc, £5.75 at The Wine Society 17/20