I've sampled wines from Netto, Lidl and Aldi over the past year to 18 months and on my limited experience have reached the following conclusions:
Lidl: loads of cheapies but some nasties. Wines are usually unique to Lidl ( no 'brands' here). Promotions, usually lasting for a fortnight, aren't regular.
Aldi: I've visited them the least, not through choice, simply more difficult to get to. I haven't seen any reductions. Some of their range comes highly recommended by independent tasters. I haven't seen any 'popular' brands in Aldi.
Netto: have a regular range (which I haven't really sampled) supplemented by offers, usually coming onstream every Mon and Thurs. Some of these are "brands" and are generally at excellent prices, often cheaper than when available in mainstream supermarket promos. Offers also include other wines sourced by Netto. The few that I've tried have had an excellent QPR. A recent example was a 2004 Chablis Tastevinage ( a chablis that has been assessed by tasting panels and met with their approval) which was available at only ?4.99.
If I was going to add a discount chain to Q.O. it would be Netto because it has regular offers of, IMHO, (sometimes at least) quality wines at very favourable prices. I would find it useful to have Mel's TNs on some of the less commonly available wines to guide my choices.
The problems with Netto in relation to Q.O.are: 1) Their offers change far more frequently than in the outlets already on Q.O., which typically last 2,3 or 4 weeks. Mel and co. would therefore constantly be updating the Netto section (although the number of wines on offer is usually counted on one hand). 2) The discounted wines seem to be on the shelves until they sell out. This can range from a few days to weeks so, unlike with other outlets, there's no discount period to enter on Q.O. This means that Q.O. users could turn up at Netto only to find their prospective bargain purchase(s) had sold out.
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