Can’t say I had heard of the Marsanne grape until I picked up this white wine from Aldi last week – but I’m a fan! This vegan-friendly white wine is part of Aldi’s ‘Exquisite’ wine collection, available for £5.99. Highly aromatic, it’s a richer style of white wine, with some really lovely floral and fruit notes – fans of Viognier will really enjoy it.
Aldi ‘Exquisite’ Marsanne Wine Review
Marsanne is the principle grape of the world-famous Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph wine-making areas of France – hence why the grape is sometimes called White Hermitage. In the Languedoc region of in Southern France – where this Aldi Marsanne is from- the wines are usually blended with Rousanne and Viognier grapes – it’s unclear whether this one is, as the bottle says Marsanne, whilst the Aldi website says it is a blend. Due to labelling laws wine labels don’t have to declare grapes under certain percentages, so it’s possible this does have other grapes in. Either way, it’s a really nice vegan-friendly white wine!
Rich and full-bodied, it offers intense floral aromas in the glass, followed by sweet spice (vanilla) and fruit flavours of peach, juicy nectarine, gala and honeydew melon, with an enjoyable lingering finish. Whilst not as textured as some older Marsanne wines can be, this does possess some of the iconic ‘honeyed’ feel. I really enjoyed it actually, and it’s made me very curious to explore more.
I enjoyed my bottle of this luscious white wine with an assortment of meat-free patés and vegan spreads; although most were designed to go with the other wine with dinner (this vegan Beaujolais from Tesco) it made a good wine pairing for avocado and butter bean spread, and the Holland & Barrett mushroom paté, which was quite reminiscent of cream of mushroom soup.
Marsanne Food Pairings
A food-friendly wine, Marsanne is a rich white wine that pairs with creamy dishes, rich fish dishes like lobster, crab and mussels (and therefore could be a good wine for vegan scallops) and even Asian dishes with some spice. Vegetable pairings for Marsanne include light roasted or baked vegetables, like parsnips, swede and sweet potato.
My top food pairing for Marsanne has to be creamy vegan pastas, with sauces made from avocados, cashews, or tofu. For best results, add lemon or lime juice for a tangy citrus edge to complement the richness of the wine and sauce. It’s definitely a good wine to pair with carbonara, which you can easily veganize with tofu and nutritional yeast, like I did:
Marsanne and Carbonara Pairing
What do you think of Aldi’s vegan wine selection?
Jess
The Uncorked Vegan 