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I think Barolo nearly broke me. We cracked out the big boys with this search for the best supermarket Barolo for under £20. Some very very good, others more Baro-no.

Tasting:
Terre da Vino Barolo DOCG Vendemmia – Waitrose £21
Costellore Barolo – Aldi £14.99
Ricossa Barolo – Sainsbury’s £19
Cantine di Ora Barolo – Morrisons £21
Barolo Tesco Finest – Tesco £21 (IWSC silver)
M&S Collection Barolo – M&S £21
Barolo Taste the Difference – Sainsbury’s £21
Terre Del Barolo – Waitrose £19

45 Comments

  1. Fabulous stuff as always Tom and Fred! Would love to see a video on decanting vs aeration as there’s so much conflicting information out there – thanks!

  2. By far your best to date (longer form bordeaux trip second). Love the accessible vibe, but focused at a more enthusiast price point. I am sure plenty of us have been caught out and looked to top tier supermarket only to be stumped.

  3. Barolo, along with most Italian wines, are, in my opinion, vastly overrated.

    Italy makes the most amount of wine, but definitely nowhere near the best.

  4. I wonder if the Aerator attachment for the Coravin would help the wines get some extra virtual decanter time?

  5. Excellent, excellent video and me being a huge barolo drinker – paying £50-£70 – will try either of your choices. One point, every, but every wine needs a food pairing. You never drink without food, either a proper dish or just finger food, the question is do you select the food by contradicting pairing to bring balance or by enhancing the wine's taste, I personally find it more exciting the contradicting one and the overall balance.

  6. Interestingly, both the Waitrose Barolos have terrible customer ratings, from alot of reviews. I've just ordered the £19 one, so I'll find out this weekend whether I side with Tom or the plebs that shop in Waitrose!

  7. Hi Tom, I was about to go to Waitrose to buy the two you liked, but on the Waitrose site, from those who have tasted and bought them, the majority have given it 1 star! So then my thought is you vs 30 plus them…..thoughts? (I am a fan)

  8. Some Barolo facts:

    Drinking it makes you swear;
    It's a seriously wealthy man's hobby, like red Burgundy;
    However good it is, it's never worth what you paid because you're mainly paying for the name.

    Therefore, in view of the above:

    It appeals to the pretentious.

  9. I got those two Waitrose Barolos and yesterday I decanted one for 3 hours. It completely put me off them. So tannic I couldn’t bear it. And was looking into Brunellos. Anyway I tried it tonight, 24 hours later, what a difference! 🤩 Delicious. First time I’ve had to decant a wine for a day to get it to be drinkable. Still once you do it’s superb. 👌

  10. I started this and thought ho-hum. Twenty quid and I've had one or two good bottles and tons of rubbish. Best buy two good enough bottles of Oz Shiraz and settle. Came back three hours later and lapped it up. Downside? My cost of living just went up.

  11. Thanks for the recommendation!! I went and bought the £19 Waitrose barolo today – gave it three hours in the decanter – and it has not disappointed!!

  12. Hey Tom, someone who doesn't live in Blight here. Leave supermarket own brands alone and open yourself to the world! Please.

  13. Been there myself many times, my worst sessoin was the Bourgogne Grand Cru Apocalypse, won´t mention what happened 🙂 Regarding Barolo I always search for the late 90s early 00s of Luciano Sandrone, Paolo Scavino, Roberto Voerzios, Chiara Boschis, Domenico Clerico, Elio Altare, La Spinetta when they were modernists (aka barolo boys era) always aged in 60-100% new french Oak, and those are still WOW wines… nowadays turning into more traditional Barolos (post moderniss if you will) it is just a mini wow, still good though…

  14. I bought the Vendemmia on your recommendation Mr G. And a bloody triumph it was, decanted for 4-5 hours or so, and served with a lovely Rosbif rib roast – Mrs E ate & drank well* on Mothers' Day – much, much better than if we'd been out to lunch. Many Husband Brownie Points gained, thanks 😇 *In fact she said, verbatim, it was one of the best wine/food pairings she'd ever had.

  15. What year was the Aldi one? I was drinking a 2020 one while watching this and found it very acceptable – and I drank some Barolo in Barolo outside the Barolo cockscrew museum last year, so have something to compare it with 😃

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