In 2007 Woolworths decided to shake up the wine trade by undercutting its rivals.
To its tiny drinks range it added the UK's cheapest champagne at £5 under its Worthit! label, and reaped loads of free publicity on the back of it. The trouble with selling such wine at a loss, however, is that it undermines the essence of luxury, which is the whole point of champagne. Anyone given a bottle of Woolie's fizz might well feel 'They're not worth it" to adapt that awful ad for L'Oreal.
Aware of what happened to Woolies, Lidl is taking a different approach. The German discount chain and scourge of Tesco shareholders has decided to leapfrog the competition with a big push on France. Starting next month there will be 48 new wines, half from Bordeaux, rising to a St Emilion Grand Cru Classe at £25.99.
It is certainly a far cry from the old Lidl. The core range was built around £3.99 and limited to 60 wines, mostly predictable, but some less so. I remember a Chilean pedro ximemez, a grape used to make the treacle-like PX sherry, and a German dornfelder - a red popular in Lidl's homeland, but unheard of here.
Mike James, Aldi's wine buyer, once told me of how the recession was helping to "turn around misconceptions that we are possibly a dirty discount retailer'". The same goes for Lidl. Fine wine is an obvious move upmarket, though the chain's recent promotion of cheap, polyester kilts and £12.99 bagpipes in time for the Commonwealth Games, seems like a move in the opposite direction.
"What we are doing here is no different to everywhere else in the store. The concept of Lidl is great value products - that can be a Cotes de Gascogne sauvignon blanc for £4.99 or a Margaux for £18.99," the wine buyer, Ben Hulme, told the Drinks Business magazine. Whether we understand the difference between 'value' and 'price' will be fascinating to see.
I will report back on the wines when I have tried them, but I admire Lidl's guts, especially on claret - a tough sell on the High Street. Unlike the typical supermarket tactic of a few grand bottles from an off vintage for window dressing, this is a serious £12 million push.
As for the producers, they needed no persuasion, Hulme told me. "The feedback from many of our suppliers is we are fair and straightforward to work with."
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