The Lateral range of five Chilean wines is a reintroduction to Tesco at their value end of the wine aisle. Selling at £3.99 a bottle, the three reds and two white wines are all bottled as single grape varieties. So you’ll find a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay. But this isn’t the first time Tesco have had Lateral on their shelves.
We’ve seen these before
The original range was selling between 2011 and 2014 (you can still find reviews of these on Vivino) and, amazingly, at the same price of £3.99. But as there’s been inflation in-between, that £3.99 bottle in 2011 would be priced at £5 today. So a slightly higher priced wine range. Looking back we find Tesco’s Everyday Value range of wines was selling at £2.92 a bottle 10 years ago (or £3.89 in a 1-litre tetrapak) which now, with inflation, would meet the £3.99 price point.
Today the Lateral range is made by R&R Wines, a Chilean wine making company that specialises in bulk wines – these are wines sold and transported in shipping containers and then bottled in the arriving country. Which is quite a usual practise for wines selling at the cheaper end of the wine aisle as you don’t have to transport the weight of the glass bottles with the wine and this keeps freight costs lower.
But are the wines any good?
The Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot are clear 5-star winners having quaffable fruity flavours. The Cabernet Sauvignon comes in at 4-stars with a slight sharpness on the flavour knocking it off the top rating, but the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are disappointing and not really worth seeking out.
£3.99 competitors
You’ll notice that four of the five Lateral wines are showing on the Tesco grocery website as being an Aldi price match (only the Sauvignon Blanc isn’t). But priced matched to what exactly?
You won’t find Aldi’s £3.99 wines listed under the Wines &Spirits section of their website but you will if you search within the Groceries section. Here you’ll find the £2.99 Baron Saint Jean (still going strong, see £2.99 wine: its death is greatly exaggerated), the £3.69 Grapevine range, Cambalala and Estevez wines at £3.89 and Kooliburra at £3.99.
Looking to Lidl (Aldi’s direct competitor) we find their Cimarosa range of whites, rosé and reds selling at around £3.99, plus a Hungarian Pinot Grigio at £3.99 and the Libertario Tempranillo at £3.79.
You could also try Asda’s Nice Drop range consisting of eight wines priced between £3.75 to £4.50.
So how do they keep the price down?
Being able to sell wines at £3.99, and make a profit, is a tricky business. When you consider production costs, shipping costs, the cost of the bottles to put it in and getting all of these to your nearest supermarket then you start to wonder how it can be done.
One way is to mix in a small amount of a cheaper grape variety into each wine type. Wines sold as made from a single grape variety must contain at least 85% of that variety (USA laws are less strict at 75%) and the rest made up with a similar tasting, but cheaper grape type.
Looking at the Lateral range you’ll see that the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot has some Cabernet Franc mixed in, the Pinot Noir has some Syrah, while the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are mixed with Pedro Gimenez (also spelt Ximenez and a grape variety also used to make sweet sherry labelled PX, Tesco’s own gets 5-stars).
So at £3.99 the Lateral range may be cheap but there’s a whole lot going on in the bottle.
Wineuncorked.co.uk recommends
Lateral Chilean Sauvignon Blanc
£3.99 Tesco
At only £3.99, this Sauvignon Blanc has quaffable peardrop and lime flavours. Simple, enjoyable stuff that won’t break the bank.
£3.99 Tesco
At only £3.99, this Merlot has flavours of rich plum and damson, with a raspberry jam sweetness. There’s also some cherry too. A quaffable red at a very attractive price.
Lateral Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
£3.89 Tesco
A rich and fruity duo of flavours: blackberry and blackcurrant are there with a bit of cinnamon spice and toffee smoothness. It’s got a touch of sharpness to stop it being so rich that it stops being quaffable. Simple but enjoyable.
£3.99 Tesco
The Chardonnay in the Lateral range proves to be rather ordinary and slightly watery in flavour. The aroma is fruity with melon and apple but the addition of the oaky flavour makes it rather disjointed with a definite cheese taste. This is about as good as you’d normally expect a budget wine to be so its comparison to the others in the range makes is disappointing.
£3.99 Tesco
At £3.99 this is at the value end of a wine made with the Pinot Noir grape variety, and sadly it shows. Nice enough with juicy cherry and blackberry flavours but there’s a burnt edge that comes through. Aldi’s Beachfront Pinot Noir knocks spots of this but then it is £6.49.
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