The Aldi Platinum Jubilee beer range

Hats off to Aldi for creating three such decent and stylishly packaged beers to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee - and at a typically Aldi price

They’re made by a company you may not have heard of called the Great British Brewing Co which is apparently owned by Aldi and sources all their beers from unnamed but, judging by the quality, reputable brewers.

The can I’m most taken by is the 4.2% Session Pale Ale which has most fabulously kitsch image of the corgis on it although I think they should maybe have used that for the lighter IPA. It’s a classic pale ale with a good bitter finish of the style I was writing about in the Guardian this week.

The 4% Session IPA which has a picture of Nelson’s column on the can is made in modern craft beer style with a citrussy, hoppy character but it’s not overdone

And the soft, slightly sweet 4% British Lager which includes British First Gold and Challenger hops has the Union Jack and Houses of Parliament on the can

They’re all good, I love the tongue in cheek branding and at £1.69 a 440ml can they’re really well priced too. Looks like they're arriving online soon but at the moment they're only available in store. (There's also, a British ale but I haven't tried it)

M & S also has a really attractive 5% golden Platinum Jubilee ale in a full size bottle for £3 or £36 for 12 x 660ml bottles online which I’d happily pick up for summer drinking.

I was sent the beers as press samples

The best Jubilee fizz bargains

If you’re planning to celebrate the Jubilee with a glass - or two - of bubbly you’re not alone. According to Majestic the UK is going to be consuming 114 glasses of fizz per minute over the bank holiday weekend (not sure how they calculate this but fair to say it’s likely to be a fair bit!)

A lot of it, they say, will be English sparkling wine which has come down a fair bit in price with brand leader Nyetimber widely on offer at around £28. But there are cheaper places to buy it than Majestic even with their mix six deal - and cheaper English sparkling wines, come to that (some of which are made by the same winemaking team as Nyetimber though under a separate label Rolling Green Hills).

If you’re after a single bottle I would always advocate buying from an indy or direct from the producer if you have one near you but here’s where you’ll find the best supermarket bargains for bigger numbers.

For once Aldi and Lidl are not the place to go for cut-price bubbly although both have their well-priced champagne (Veuve Monsigny, in the case of Aldi, Comte de Senneval at Lidl)

But Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco all have 25% off six bottle deals (in Tesco’s case just for Clubcard members) which gives you more scope.

Asda

As I pointed out in my recent article for Guardian money Asda has the biggest discount at the moment - a half price deal on their newly launched Asquith Gardens which is selling for £9.99 and on which I was considerably keener than the customer who gave it a one star rating! Add the 25% discount if you buy 6 (which can be any six) and that brings the cost down to £7.49. They also have Heidsieck & Co Monopole Blue Top champagne for £14.99 a bottle though not, it seems, on the discount deal (corrected by the reader below) And if you’re willing to drink cava rather than prosecco you can buy the very decent Marques del Norte for £7 (or £5.25 if you buy 6). Good with fish and chips.

Morrisons

Morrisons is obviously trying to steal Asda’s thunder by reducing its 2010 vintage The Best English Sparkling wine which I think has the edge on the Asquith to £15 instead of £25. Other fizz (and other wines) in their The Best range are on a 25% discount if you buy 3 - rather than six - bottles which would bring their basic The Best prosecco down to £5.99.

Sainsbury’s

Given its 25% off six bottles promotion Sainsbury’s has the best price on Nyetimber which is already on offer at £28 which makes it £21 on this deal. I also like their Ellercombe English sparkling wine (normally £22 down to £16.50) and their Taste the Difference Conegliano prosecco which is reduced to £8.50 (making it £6.38 on this offer)

Tesco

Tesco is offering its Clubcard members 25% off six bottles (you really need to be a Clubcard member to shop at Tesco these days). I’m not a massive fan of their English fizz (the rosé is better but it appears to be out of stock at the moment) but would buy their always reliable premier cru champagne, particularly in indulgent half bottles (£12 reduced to £9 for Clubcard members who buy six. The full size bottle is £21 which comes down to £15.75.) If you prefer a slightly fruitier fizz the Graham Beck brut from South Africa (£13 reduced to £9.75) is really nice - good for those who find champagne too dry and prosecco a touch too sweet.

Waitrose

Waitrose has focussed more on Jubilee editions than special offers but it has a good deal on Nyetimber at £27.90 which might be worth getting if you just want a single bottle. And a special limited edition bottle of Moet rosé for £46.

Note, although I’ve given the links it may not be possible to order the wines online in time for the weekend.

That’s it at the time of writing but given the intense competition to get customers through their doors for their main Jubilee shop I wouldn’t be surprised to see more offers in the next couple of days.

Babylonstoren rosé 2022

OK, I know I wrote about rosé the other week but it’s rosé season, right, and this is the first 2022 wine I’ve tasted this year. Which is pretty remarkable given it’s only May.

It comes from the beautiful Babylonstoren estate in South Africa and was made back in February, bottled in March and shipped over last month in time for the Chelsea Flower Show at which it is the official rosé. Its sister (brother?) company The Newt in Somerset is the major sponsor of the show this year.

It’s impressive too that it’s tasting so good. Newly made and bottled wines can take a while to settle but this new wine is behaving itself beautifully. You can see from the colour it follows the fashionable pale Provencal style though it is made, unusually from mourvèdre which also goes to make one of my favourite Provence rosés, Bandol.

At £18.99 it’s in the Provencal price bracket too but if money is not an object it’s a really nice rosé to have in your cellar. After the exposure It’s got at Chelsea I’m sure it will fly out fast so if you fancy it I’d buy it now. (If you buy a case of six you get one free which brings the cost per bottle down to £15.82

They suggest pairing it with with prawns, tuna, salmon, parma ham or crisp summer salads which souind pretty good suggestions to me.

I was invited to lunch at the show and to taste the wine by The Newt.

Panoramico Rioja rosado 2019

Who thinks about Rioja when it comes to rosé? Well maybe we should, certainly if this stylish example from Panoramico is anything to go by.

It has the same pale colour as Provence rosé but maybe a little more creaminess. According to its retailer Wanderlust’s website it’s Panorámico’s modern take on Clarete, a traditional Rioja style made by fermenting white and red grapes together. "Viura and garnacha, from 40- to 80-year-old vineyards planted at 750 m altitude, are vinified in a concrete egg and allowed to rest on the lees (dead yeast) for added complexity and texture" they explain.

In many ways it behaves more like a white wine than a red - there’s less fruit than in most Spanish rosés and a fresh acidity - surprising in an older vintage - that would make it a really good partner for seafood, even sushi.

I also love the two feisty women on the label who represent the two grapes - a counter-irritant to the girly presentation of so many rosés now. At £17.50 (from Wanderlust) it’s not cheap, admittedly but would be a cool bottle to take along to a summer supper or dinner party.

If that’s rather more than you want to pay for rosé try Cune’s 2020 Rioja rosado which also really good and selling in selected Co-ops currently for £8.50 or £9.66 from thedrinkshop.com. That would be a good wine to drink with tapas or a barbecue.