Two Aldi-exclusive reds to buy this spring from the hand of Matt East

You can lock in these two Eastern Laneway Vintners reds for your springtime Aldi buying right now. I’m calling it.

Indeed close followers of the site will remember how much I liked the previous vintages of this line when they dropped last year, noting how they ‘shone like diamonds’. The new vintages are peak value drinking (again), with great packaging and an actual personality.

Notably, I had winemaker Matt East (who works with Rory Lane to craft the Eastern Laneway Vintners wines) pour me these wines at Ozwinereview HQ a few days ago, with Aldi Australia wine head honcho Jason Bowyer also dropping in for good measure.

Now, originally the visit was purely an excuse to taste through Matt’s Rouleur range (which I’ll go through separately) and then drink beer, but Jason lives in my ‘hood, so figured he’d drop by and talk shop.

I don’t always encourage winemaking drop-ins to the compound because, too often, I end up talking rather than actually tasting wines. Too much chat and not enough focused tasting. Yet it’s so rare to have both sides of the producer/retailer dynamic with me in the same room (normally, I’m chatting to one or the other but never together) that this was a welcome shift up. Also fascinating to dive into the business decisions behind an exclusive wine range, especially given that some of the pricing has jumped up significantly (the Shiraz went from $11.99 to $14.99).

What is again apparent, and I’ll proudly shout this from the rooftops, is that both these wines are plainly underpriced. From packaging to what’s in the bottle, these don’t look or taste like sub $15 wines – even $19.99 you’d feel like you’re getting great value, let alone $11.99 for the Nero. I had a bottle of $30 Barossa Shiraz shortly after the Eastern Laneway Shiraz 2022 below, and the Barossan was a lesser wine for double the price.

Eastern Laneway Vintners Shiraz 2022

Aldi-exclusive. All Grampians fruit here. Tastes it, too – that stamp of purple berries and blue fruits through the middle is pure Grampians. As ever, this is a medium-bodied wine – there’s more richness than the Nero, but not a chunky red – it’s more upfront fruit than the deep enveloping layers of top-tier Grampians Shiraz. Generous though. And an enjoyable balance between purpleness and then the structure to carry it off. What a bargain Victorian Shiraz. Best drinking: nowish. It doesn’t launch until October though, so just put it on the spring shopping list. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13.5%, $14.99. Would I buy it? Yes.

Eastern Laneway Vintners Nero d’Avola 2022

Aldi-exclusive. All Fleurieu Peninsula fruit from a vineyard planted in 2000. I didn’t write down the alcohol, but I believe it’s 13.5%. This isn’t a big wine either – there’s some of that black jube and cola Nero fruit, but it tends to be more savoury and airy rather than dense, drying and bitumen-like (which you see in lots of ripe Sicilian Nero). I wouldn’t call this concentrated, but the palate weight feels entirely right. Good varietal red for very, very few dollars. Best drinking: now. 17/20, 90/100. $11.99. Would I buy it? Sure would.