WHEN it comes to rosé wine, Britain has gone Whispering Angel mad – and even Adele has said she is a super fan.
But with bottles costing up to £24 you may be excited to discover an affordable dupe is now at Aldi, and wine experts are saying it may even taste “better”.
The supermarket is now selling Chassaux et Fils Saint Victoire Provence Rosé as part of its new range.
And at £12.49, it may be more realistic for your Saturday night tipple.
Made with the same four grapes, the Aldi dupe claims to offer a high-quality drop at a more purse-friendly price point.
And wine experts have also taken note of the Whispering Angel dupe.
Lucy Hitchcock, who runs the Partner in Wine page, took to social media this week to praise the wine.
She gushed: “Aldi have taken things to the next level with this dupe.
“I mean the absolute audacity.
“Yes both look very alike and both are labelled Côtes de Provence, they are even made with the same four grapes.
“But this wine from Aldi is not only nearly half the price, it’s also from a very specific quality area of Côtes de Provence known as Saint Victoire.”
Lucy put the Aldi offering to the test and raved: “Now that is a stunning rosé.
“I can definitely taste the similarities in the blend.
“I’m getting summer berries like raspberry and strawberry with a lovely pink grapefruit freshness and at the end I’m getting something softer like white peach and melon.”
She added that it had the same “mouthwatering freshness” and “smooth texture”.
Lucy concluded: “Am I saying that the new Aldi wine is actually better then whispering angel… I’ll let you be the judge of that.”
But shoppers better be quick, as the tipple has already caught the eyes of rosé fans on social media since it landed in stores earlier this week:
One follower commented: “I’ll have 10 bottles please.”
While another said: “We need to try this.”
A third wrote: “Run don’t walk!”
Whispering Angel is the flagship wine of Château d’Esclans, a vineyard north of Saint Tropez, France.
After exploding onto the market, it became a celebrity favourite – including among the Beckhams.
Adele even told US Vogue that her first lockdown food shop was for ketchup and Whispering Angel, and said it “turned me into a barking dog. It did not make me whisper.”
The hype is thanks to its gorgeous bottle, Instagrammable look and champagne-style branding.
Whispering Angel made rosé cool again, lots of sommeliers believe.
There was a period where rosé was viewed as inferior to its red and white counterparts.
But its popularity has rocketed over the last five years, partly thanks to Whispering Angel.
The hype isn’t set to die down either.
Global consumption of rosé will climb from 2.23 billion litres in 2020 to 2.63 billion in 2025, according to market analyst GlobalData.
It’s not just Aldi’s rosé that has Brits drooling, though.
The German supermarket’s own-brand gin – which is half the price of top rivals – has been named “one of the best in the world”.
IT'S one of the world’s best-known — and loved — wines, but Whispering Angel comes at a price.
Made by French winery Château d’Esclans in Provence, it first hit the market in 2006 and transformed the fortunes of rosé vino.
Once dismissed by wine experts as a poor relative to red and white, rosé has become a year-round must-have thanks to Whispering Angel’s smart marketing, complex flavours and A-list fans including Adele and Victoria Beckham.
It’s now the most recognisable rosé wine around, selling one million cases each year in 106 countries. It’s even credited with introducing pink vino to Americans, with Nielsen ranking Whispering Angel as the best-selling rosé wine in the US.
Perfectly pale pink in the glass, it’s made from red grapes including grenache, cinsault and vermentino and is loved for its rich red berry ripeness, floral notes and smooth, bone-dry finish.
It can be drunk with everything from seafood to salad but is a dream all on its own, ideally served cold on a sunny day.
Yet at around £20 a bottle, it’s not an everyday wine unless you have a Beckham-sized budget. But — whisper it — there are some fantastic, similar-tasting vinos on the shelves so you won’t need to go without completely.
To help you find the perfect Whispering Angel dupe, we’ve sampled a range to see which one is the ultimate Provençal-style pink without the price tag.
