“The bold, are not always the most beautiful.” 
That’s according to Sydney International Wine Competition’s Peter Hook. A panel of fourteen international and Australian judges awarded six wines blended specifically for the Aldi retail chain, with top accolades.
On Friday, the 34th Sydney International Wine Competition announced that a $4.99 Spanish Tempranillo and a $6.99 Cabernet Sauvignon from South East Australia, outperformed many far more expensive wines.
Three other Aldi labels under $10 were also classed in the top 280 wines of the competition. The A.C Byrne Semillon and Shiraz retailing for under $10, also beat more than 2000 entrants to make it into the top 100. Fancy digging a little deeper into your pockets? You may want to pick up a bottle of the Tudor Shiraz ($12.99) and Veuve Monsigny Champagne Premier Cru ($29.99). The Aldi Champagne took out the Trophy For Best Sparkling Wine of Competition and the Shiraz won two trophies for “Best Red Table Wine” and “Best Lighter Bodied Dry Red Table Wine”.

The wines were judged alongside food dishes to ensure that the results reflect how we enjoy our wine. “They are not just judged for technical correctness (that was done in the first phase), they are judged again for their harmony and balance, key to their ability to complement appropriate food dishes,” saidWarren Mason, organiser of the Sydney International Wine Competition.
Aldi’s consumer driven blending focus was attributed to the multinational budget-supermarket’s success. According to the judges, who had no idea of the identity or the prices of the wines they were judging, Aldi’s wines were “extremely food-friendly and well-balanced.”
For full details of all the winners go to www.top100wines.com