Wine-tasting prank has ‘consultants’ fooled

At a swanky show jumping bash, posh punters got pranked into thinking they were swigging high-end wine, in reality they were knocking back budget bevvies from Aldi.

In the hilarious video, a cheeky so-called master of vino, going by the name Justin Youraldi, was seen doling out red, white and rose to the none-the-wiser ‘wine experts’.

Attendees thought they were sipping on exclusive tipples from top-dollar vineyards where one glass would’ve usually cost them a few. But what they were actually drinking was bargain Aldi booze, some picks costing less than a fiver!

One gobsmacked grape lover said: “I can’t believe that. I’m staggered.” Another spectator pegged a £7.99 Aldi special as a £30-£40 rare find, only to get floored by the fact it was all supermarket swill.

The video comes off the back of research which tells us 43% of Brit wine drinkers happily serve cheap corks and still bag compliments, with 38% reckoning luxury labels are just puffed-up pomp.

When it comes to popping a bottle, nearly a third of thrifty tipplers always nab the bargain buy, and a gutsy quarter reckon they’d fluff spotting the difference between a fiver’s claret and one fifty notes deep.

Most folks drop about £9.24 per bottle but wouldn’t mind forking out £16 if it was seen as better quality.

Many of the wine buffs spoke about the nose, texture, tang, while they were enticed into listening to their bubblies, attempting to detect the posh pop.

Aldi’s wine whiz, Sam Caporn, said: “The specially selected Toscana Rosso, which we see sampled in the undercover clip, has a nice youthful colour with notes of red cherries, herbs and blueberries with fine, but evident tannins on the finish.”

Meanwhile, social media tipster TheWineWally reckons the taste evoked memories of Tiganello, a top tipple cherished by Meghan Markle, no less, which knocks you back about 150 quid. Surprised to find – the Toscana Rosso is just £7.99!

Sam Caporn added: “My top pick of the wines that fooled Justin Youraldi’s customers is the Pierre Jaurant Cotes de Gascogne – pale and fresh with delicate green aromas of herbs, grass, elderflower and citrus.”

Turns out, a poll shows 40% think wine rules are for snobs, and over half chuck vino in their glass right to the brim without fussing over it too much.

The sniffy rules about letting red wine breathe are often given the cold shoulder, as nearly half serve it straight from the bottle. In a twist, more than a quarter splash lemonade into their wine, and some rebels (12%) even bung an ice cube in their red.

And check it – 38% relish rose all year round, but there’s a corker; 17% are in the dark about how rose comes to be, thinking it’s just red and white mixed together!

Forget the sommeliers, it seems Brits are more tempted by a bargain than by expert opinions when stocking their wine racks. Only a cheeky 14% of tipplers are nudged by wine gurus, while nearly half of them 42%, to be precise say they’d likely snatch up a bottle that’s on offer.

An Aldi spokesperson stated: “It’s clear from our research that customers are focused on great value and quality wine.”

“We’ve seen a 23% increase in sales of our wines this summer as shoppers explore our expertly curated wines.”