Christopher Sharp tested out five supermarket mulled wines (Image: Christopher Sharp)
We are now officially into the festive season, a period of peak spending, eating, drinking, and socialising. Around the UK, people are heading to pubs, restaurants, shops, bars and festive funfairs to embrace the festive spirit and spend time with family and friends.
And the season also sees the return of one of the most iconic festive drinks – mulled wine. But when almost every supermarket produces their own mulled wine, which one should people go for? I decided to find out the answer once and for all by taste-testing Sainsbury’s, M&S, Lidl, Aldi and Tesco own-brand mulled wine.
I ranked each out of 10 when it came to the price, smell, and taste before working out an overall average.
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Tesco’s mulled wine (Image: Christopher Sharp)
5th: Tesco
Tesco gain the unfortunate title of the worst mulled wine I tasted during the experiment. I tried out their Vineyards Mulled wine, which costs £3.50 a bottle and 5% ABV. In terms of price and strength this sits between other brands like Sainsbury’s and M&S. An appealing looking bottle, the experience of drinking this mulled wine would be anything but festive.
But once warmed up, it didn’t really taste like anything other than than non-mulled wine which had been warmed up. Like a destroyed piano it was noteless.
· Price: 7/10
· Smell: 5/10
· Taste: 2/10
· Overall: 14/30
M&S’s mulled wine (Image: Christopher Sharp)
4th: M&S
Coming fourth, perhaps surprisingly, was the premium choice of M&S. This year the supermarket is fielding three different mulled wines, a maple mulled wine, a rose mulled wine, and a red mulled wine. To make things fair I opted for the traditional version and the first thing to note is the strength.
At 11% ABV and £6, it’s the strongest and most expensive of the five I chose. In a category where easy drinking is the aim, it’s a punchy decision that you can taste when the drink hits your taste buds and wipes out much in the way of aromatic smells.
What’s more, the risk of making it strong is that it creates a slightly bitter aftertaste; this hasn’t happened here. As long you don’t mind the initial hit, it’s genuinely okay, a good start.
· Price: 5/10
· Smell: 6/10
· Taste: 7/10
· Overall: 18/30
ALDI’s mulled wine (Image: Christopher Sharp)
3rd: Aldi
Two years ago Aldi performed well in my test and only just about lost out to Sainsbury’s in the final reckoning. This time around I picked the Glühwein from their “Specially Selected” range.
At £4.49 and 8% ABV, it falls between Sainsbury’s and M&S in terms of price and alcohol content, but slips underneath them in terms of actual drinking pleasure. There are meant to be smells of cinnamon, orange, and citrus, but those went missing once the bottle was opened.
The taste was rougher than other competitors in this taste test, but otherwise it was an inoffensive measure. Not as good as it’s more premium competitors, but better than others.
· Price: 8/10
· Smell: 5/10
· Taste: 6/10
· Overall: 19/30
Lidl’s mulled wine (Image: Christopher Sharp)
2nd: Lidl
Lidl is the rank outsider here as, after thorough searching, the only version of their mulled wine I could find in my local large store was their gingerbread flavoured variant.
Nevertheless, with flavoured ciders proving popular, maybe a flavoured mulled wine would throw up another surprise. Braced as one might be for producers Baywood to have overdone the ginger flavouring, the experience was actually okay.
Yes, you get the ginger, but you also get the traditional spices too in a bottle that costs £3.99 and has an ABV of 5%. Considering I had quite low expectations, despite my lack of wine tasting experience, it was the surprise of the test.
· Price: 7/10
· Smell: 6/10
· Taste: 7/10
· Overall: 20/30
Sainsbury’s mulled wine (Image: Christopher Sharp)
1st: Sainsbury’s
The last time I did a taste test in 2023, Sainsbury’s came top of our rankings, toppling Waitrose from its festive pedestal. Just as it did two years ago, the orange supermarket giant has done well. The spices flow out of the bottle on first sniff and continue once you’ve warmed it up; in this case in a microwave.
At half the price and half the strength of the M&S bottle (£3.25 and 5% ABV) you might think you’re getting less for your money, but you’re not.* There is enough alcohol to feel that comforting buzz, but the taste of cinnamon and cloves mean there is some actual flavour running across your pallet. Simply delicious.
*For Nectar card holders the price is just £3.00
· Price: 8/10
· Smell: 8/10
· Taste: 9/10
· Overall: 25/30
