Tesco V Lidl: Is there a difference?

The age-old gripe of the price of drink in Ireland; will we ever be happy with the price of the pint? If we are talking wine, it is possible to get good wine at a reasonable price

Why do we pay so much for wine in Ireland? Anyone that has been to France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy; in fact any mainland European country you will have noticed the vast differences in the price of wine. Even in Australia and New Zealand the story is the same. Is this just rip-off Ireland at its best, or is it for other reasons entirely?

Since the foundation of the Wine Development Board of Ireland in 1977, wine consumption has jumped from 1 million cases per year to almost 5 million cases. Compared to our European counterparts, however, we don't actually drink that much of it. In 2003, annual per capita consumption was 15.2 litres. In France, it was 56 litres, Italy 51, Spain 29.6 and even the UK it was 19.6 litres per capita. But why is this? We have a reputation for being 'big drinkers', but strangely this is not true in regards our wine consumption. One of the main reasons for this is excise duty.

Excise duty in Ireland is top of the range in Europe. No, this isn't a good thing. High excise duty means high prices, and huge duty on wine means exorbitant prices. According to the Wine Development Board of Ireland, excise duty is 'purely legislative' and it is a way for the government to 'generate revenue'. In the Republic of Ireland, excise duty on table wine is €2.05 on a standard bottle, and €4.10 on a standard bottle of sparkling. Compare this to Italy, Spain and Greece where excise duty is nil and France where excise duty is 3 cent and 6 cent respectively, and it's obviously that we are way above everyone else in this field. Even in the UK, who we are usually close enough to in regards government levies, excise duty is €1.80 on table wine and €2.57 on sparkling wine (converted from £Sterling at rate of £1=€1.55).

So we know that Irish wine prices are huge compared to Europe, but what does this mean to the consumer? Basically, finding good value for wine is just harder in Ireland than elsewhere, and one has to have a good look around for good wines at good prices. As a general rule of thumb, supermarkets are the best places to buy wine, as there are almost always special offers. Tesco are particularly good at offers, and usually have a particular wine selling at two bottles for €16, or whatever the case may be. Tesco's cheapest wine is €4.99, and it is Australian white and red, imported specifically for them. Dunnes Stores' cheapest bottle is also €4.99, but it is not a specific Dunnes imported wine and varies quite a bit. O'Brien's Off Licence also can be quite good value and frequently run special offers.

Lidl are at the top of the pile when it comes to good value wine. They are undoubtedly the best place to buy wines. The same can be said of Aldi. But why can these supermarkets charge so little for their wine? I thought that the reason for this would be that Aldi and Lidl are European supermarkets, so that the rules would be different for them and that they may not have to pay the same excise duty as Irish supermarkets. But this isn't the case at all. All supermarkets pay the same excise duty. The reason that Lidl wines are so cheap is because they are a discount retail outlet. According to Lidl Ireland it 'depends on suppliers and the regions that the wine is purchased from. Most of the labels are not recognisable'. Basically, Lidl buy lesser known wines, but they are not always lower quality than those bought in a regular retail outlet. Lidl do sell some very cheap wines that are lower in quality than the cheaper wines in other shops. But apart from this, there are a lot of good wines in Lidl and it's just a matter of having a look and a taste at a few. You will be pleasantly surprised…

I recently conducted a Tesco versus Lidl wine tasting experiment. In Tesco, I bought a bottle of Ernest and Julio Gallo Chardonnay at €….. and a bottle of Carmen Cabernet Sauvignon At €….. In Lidl, I bought a bottle of Wine of Australia Shiraz 2002 at €4.99 and a bottle of German table wine called Hock at €3.89.

My aim was to establish whether or not people could tell a cheap Lidl wine from a reasonably priced Tesco wine. Using four subjects, I started them off by tasting the two white wines. After comparing the Ernest and Julio Gallo Chardonnay to the Hock, they all were all correct in their assumptions of which wine was from where. It wasn't so easy with the reds though. First I gave them the Carmen Sauvignon Blanc from Tesco, and the reaction was incredible! They all hated it, and thought it was harsh and vinegary. Immediately they assumed that this was the Lidl wine. When I gave them the true Lidl wine, they all really enjoyed it and one even commented that it tasted 'expensive'. The Shiraz proved to be popular among my subjects, and certainly proved my point that cheap wine means plonk.

So there is light at the end of the bottle. In wine terms, low cost generally means lower quality, and expensive wines are usually not even comparable to cheaper versions. But there are some good bargains out there, and Lidl is great for finding nice wines at even nicer prices. If you are entertaining a group of wine snobs, give them a Lidl wine, but don't pretend that's where you got it. The results may be surprising!