This is what it’s like to write a highbrow-lowbrow wine blog: Sometimes we’re drinking a single-vineyard Pinot Noir, and sometimes we’re drinking a dubious orange liquid that we bought at ALDI.
On What Is This Thing?, we look at various wine-adjacent products and try to determine:
1. What is this thing?
2. Should you drink it?
Whatever awaits beneath that cork–or in this case, a pressurized plastic screw-cap–we do our best to taste it fairly and give it its due. On this sunny Sunday, I’m busting into a ready-to-drink wine cocktail from the budget supermarket chain. Behold, the Giambellino Bellini ($5.99).
First order of business: Is it wine? Or is it not-wine?
The label tells us that Giambellino is made in Germany and is legally classified for export purposes as an “aromatized wine-product cocktail.” Further up, it helpfully describes the contents as “grape wine with natural flavors and colored with vegetable juice.”
“Giambellino” was the nickname of the Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Bellini, he of the eponymous peach-and-Prosecco brunch cocktail. But will this peachy preparation be a museum-worthy masterpiece, or a hastily sketched abomination? Let’s pour!
Tasting Notes
A cloudy, orange-pink color with sparse, vigorous bubbles. Intense aromas of peach soda, ripe/canned peach purée, and orange sherbet that are clean (no fermentation odors or off-flavors).
On the palate, a whole candy bowl of orange fruits: Tangerine, pink grapefruit, and peach gummies. At just 8% ABV, there’s virtually no alcohol taste or alcohol heat.
Also–despite some confected fruit notes–it’s actually not overly sweet. Definitely no sweeter than cheap Prosecco with peach purée squeezed into it. It’s intensely peachy, but the ripe stone fruit flavors are nicely balanced by citrus and a punch of bright acidity.
Some minor quibbles: I wish this was a bit fizzier. And I think it’s better poured over crushed ice, which helps to re-invigorate its bubbles and dilute its slightly thick texture.
Also, like the label says, it’s colored with vegetable juice. While I’m sure that’s way healthier than artificial food dye, it tends to leave rusty beta-carotene streaks on the bottle where it settles. Whether that’s a selling point or a deal-breaker probably depends on who’s buying this and how crunchy they are.
Finally, this pre-mixed Bellini product is superior to fresh-made wine cocktails in one important way: Homogeneity. Giambellino doesn’t have the separation problem that fresh-mixed Bellinis have, where the first sip tastes like straight Prosecco and the last sip tastes like fruit goo. The peachy flavors are uniformly distributed from first to last sip.
The Masses Have Spoken
Giambellino has been on ALDI’s shelves for a few years now, and lots of folks are still buying it. In Business Insider’s roundup of ALDI’s top private label products, Giambellino was listed as a Fan Favorite. At around six bucks (750 ml), it’s hard to argue with the value proposition–especially when basic Prosecco is often $12-$15 at the grocery store.
Personally, I didn’t finish the bottle or add it to my shopping list. It’s too sweet for my poor acid-blasted palate, and I don’t normally waste time with an 8% alcohol wine. (Maybe it’d be more efficient with a knuckle of gin at the bottom of the glass?)
So, in The Wine Fairy‘s list of ALDI all-stars, Giambellino falls behind the “Southern Grove” dried mangoes and the “Countryside Creamery” spreadable Irish butter (add some toast and that’s a whole breakfast), but ahead of the “Mama Cozzi” beef-stuffed toasted ravioli. (Those are good enough dipped in marinara sauce–or if your guests are already drunk–but they kinda look like they’re full of dog food).
But I have no major complaints about this pre-mixed Bellini. In fact, it’s better than it has a right to be. Bright peach and citrus flavors, easy to drink, surprisingly balanced. If you or your brunch buddies have a sweet tooth–or want a no-hassle, low-octane adult drink–you could do much worse.
See more What Is This Thing? taste tests on The Wine Fairy blog.
Further reading:
Business Insider: The 12 best things to get at Aldi this year, according to shoppers
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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