We at the wine blog obviously love Costco almost more than anywhere else. And that’s not just because of the wine. The entirety of the product offering, great prices and unique experience make it a one of a kind shopping experience.
Aldi is similar in some ways but different in others. It’s a unique shopping experience with great prices on food, and other random items too.
They have a very limited wine section, and our experience with their wines was equally limited. So we thought it might be fun to do a little exploring.
There are a fair amount of reds, whites and sparkling bottles from around the world on the shelves at Aldi. They are all off-brands we’ve never seen before, and the pricing seemed very low for all of them.
The Aldi house brand is Winking Owl, which produces Moscato, a sweet red, Shiraz, Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The prices for all of them are hard to beat at only $3.45. This is Two Buck Chuck land.
From an initial impression, they all seem a fairly big step down from what we get in the Costco Kirkland wines, which are often region specific, and originating from not only popular regions, but renowned ones too, around the world. The Winking Owl wines also do not carry a vintage on them. But to be fair, their price is much lower.
For fun we purchased a Winking Owl Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. We also purchased a Russian River Chardonnay for $14.95 that we wanted to taste. Let’s get into them.
Winking Owl Chardonnay
This wine was a medium gold in the glass with some citrus fruit on the nose; it is medium bodied and very basic and singular; green apple, pear flavor; light and simple, alc. 12%. We'd recommend fully chilling this one.
Winking Owl Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine is a light ruby in the glass, juicy nose, lots of candy and sugar; some cherry and dark fruit flavor once you get into it; really young and juicy; 12% alcohol as well.
Both of these are about what you would expect at such a low price point, and they taste like inexpensive, basic wines.
The day before we actually tasted some wines on a Delta flight (Chardonnay and Cab) from Imagery wines in a can and they were both a bit better.
Moving onto the RRV Chardonnay from Aldi.
2020 Woodleaf Ranch Russian River Chardonnay
A slight step up from the other Chardonnay but by no means what you would expect from Russian River Valley.
A medium gold in the glass, nice aromas albeit a little muted hinting at something good inside; more muted flavor throughout on this one.
It's a pleasant wine, nice citrus fruit, clean and vibrant, ok in the finish, but just light, almost as if someone had snuck a few ice cubes in it before tasting it.
Despite drinking all of these wines out of our favorite $50 Grassl glasses that seems to make anything taste better, they all dragged a little behind. It's hard to ding bottles as inexpensive as the Winking Owl line we tasted, but for a few bucks more at Costco, and perhaps also across the Aldi wine selection, you can get a nice bump in quality.
Aldi is an interesting store, and worth a visit to check out the wine aisle, along with everything else they have to offer.
We'll make it a point to cruise through their wine aisles occasionally to see what might pop up. Let us know in the comments below if you have tasted any wines from Aldi, and if you have favorites or thoughts.
Cheers, Editor
damaw6 says
I'd be afraid that the "flavors" in those wines are all from chemical additives.
John says
I think you were overly kind and accurate in your descriptions at the same time.
I worked in a wine shop when I was in college, we were tasting wines and the owner would use the phrase " you can taste the hose" for wines that tasted like they were watered down.
I looked it up and adding water is legal in California for stuck fermentations, the amount is left to the winery.
Vincent Hetrick says
I agree regarding the Winking Owl line, but Aldi does have some decent wines. The Giretto Pinot Grigio is a good value. The William Wright Chardonnay and Cabernet wines are also worthy choices in their price range. Overall, we have experienced more poor wine selections from Trader Joe's than from Aldi. Still, ultimately, it's hard to beat Costco.
Linda Davis says
I’d like your assessment of the Winking Owl merlot and Shiraz. I don’t care for the whites ( I agree with your ice cube opinion ) but like these 2 reds better.
GBH-ATL says
Winking Owl wines, as well as Charles Shaw (the OG $2 Chuck) should be limited to cooking with - at most. Life is too short, and for $3-5 more, one can get something much more serviceable. Given the Modesto, CA address of the producer, you'd think it's a Gallo product. The bottom of their (many) barrels, to be sure.
I occasionally use the SB or PG as white cooking wine and any of the reds for same. Even at that, they are not great as most have some residual sugar and low acidity and thus, not well-balaced. YGWYPF.
Dave says
@GBH-ATL,
Our house rule is to cook with the wine you will pair with the dish, so I wouldn't even cook with the Aldi wines.
Dave
Art Wallis says
@GBH-ATL, You get the brass ring. Winking Owl IS Gallo. In fact, looking at a number of Aldi wines as a former wine store employee, I'm guessing a great number of their selections are sourced from the vast Gallo portfolio.
GBH-ATL says
@Dave, solid rule. However, that can become a rather expensive proposition. This is not to brag about what we drink, but rather just to share my logic...: I do not see the need (or big improvement in quality) when I cook beef stew, for example, in using the same aged Barolo we'd drink ($30-$40 when bought, probably $50-$70 current retail) vs a simple, decent red at the $8-$12 range. Similarly, I will not deglaze seared scallops with the same White Burgundy I'll drink when serving. All that is needed is decent acidity/fruit balance.
Chuck says
I love Aldi, too, and have been wondering about those wines so thank you for doing this! At the risk of losing focus, I'd also love to see your reviews of/take on Trader Joe's wines, particularly their Reserve and/or Platinum labels. I'm curious about those, too.
Bob says
@Chuck, Reverse Wine Snob regularly reviews TJ’s wines and has been very accurate from my perspective. The review other general market wines as well.
Editor says
We'd like to cover more including Trader Joes, but for now we are just able to focus on Costco. Bob is right that Reverse Wine Snob does a good job, and covers a lot of Trader Joes wines, so I would follow him too for good recommendations.
Chuck says
@Bob, THanks for the reply, I'm now on RWS's distro list, too!
Susan Silverstein says
I don’t mind the Evanta Malbec…I love Kirkland Malbec at 6.99 a bottle…it’s a rich tasty wine, however, if you find yourself in ALDI grab a bottle of Evanta for about 5.00…it’s not bad at all!!
Bill says
@Susan Silverstein, agree that Evanta is a very decent wine from Aldi.
Bob says
How about a Trader Joe's tasting report!
Tom says
A good way to cut back on your wine consumption is to buy a case of 3 buck chuck. After a few bottles my case just sat there for over a year with no desire to open another bottle.
Janice Elizabeth Lawrence says
I'd be interested in your thoughts on the Cabernet(exclusive to Aldi, I believe), William Wright. It is a little more than the Winking Owl, but still low price at $ 9.49 a bottle.
Editor says
Thanks for the reco, if we make it back there soon, we'll look for it.
Cathie says
I'm an Aldi's fan but I do go right by the wine aisle. It is interesting that both of these wines are semi-dry (off-dry) indicating at least 10 g/l of residual sugar. That alone makes them somewhat interesting in that I don't generally see Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon in this range.
You are so right in that you can't really criticize anything at $3.45 a bottle, but I think I'm going to keep on skipping right by lol!
Ken Johnson says
I buy most of my wines between Costco and the military liquor store on my nearby Army base. But I have to say, the winking owl pinot Grigio at Aldi is excellent....tart and fruity. I pick some up whenever I'm shopping there.
William Howard Hart says
My wife won't even drink it so it has to be bad.
Bernhard says
Try the Moscato.
Certainly a lot better than some other sweet wines.
I agree on the other wines.
Bill Swiggart says
Sunshine Bay Sauvignon Blanc is a nice wine at Aldi at about 7$ it is a good summer sipper.
Martin M. says
I had 30 mile Cabernet from Aldi. To me it was awesome. I think it cost $15.00. Also I had a real champagne from France it was also a little higher in price but was also excellent. I tend to avoid $3.45 Dollar wines if I can.