Lidl Rheinhessen Eiswein

I walked into Lidl the other day to buy some groceries, not really intending to look at the wines. I'd pretty much given up on them as a source of cheap everyday wine - it's just not very good.

However they had this Eiswein (icewine) that day. This was the first German icewine I've tasted. I'm Canadian, and icewine is basically the signature wine of Canada. It has its origins in Germany, and it was first produced in Canada by German and Austrian immigrants. I'm not really an expert in it though - I got into wine after I moved to the UK, and my experiences with Canadian icewine have been limited to mostly what's available in the airport duty-free (it's a cliché Canadian gift, right up there with maple syrup). It's also very expensive.

So, imagine my excitement when I saw this available in my local Lidl for the remarkable price of £6.99. I think it was a one-off because of the 'while supplies last' sign. It was worth a try - Germany knows what it's doing when it comes to icewine. In fact, it was enjoyable. It was concentrated and almost botrytis-like. A couple of glasses in and you could notice a bit of a vegetal finish, and compared to a top-class sweet wine it falls short, but it's certainly not bad for £6.99. I'd buy it again - it would be a good wine to serve with a cheese board when you don't feel like you need to splash out.

Apologies for my incompleteness again (and the crap photo) - I left the bottle at a friend's house, and don't know the producer, vintage or grape variety. I did check the label, and the grape variety definitely wasn't on it. You can draw your own conclusions (i.e. it doesn't matter).

Lidl Eiswein

Rheinhessen, Germany

Lidl

£6.99

3/5