Well today has been an interesting day so far! We made another pilgrimage to Ferreteria Lopez (our local hardware store on Mojácar Playa) to stock up on a few things like a non-furry kettle (hard water and kettles don't mix)! Plus we had our second constitutional walk along the lovely seafront which I think will become one of our favourite walks in the area as the views to the north and the rocky coast is so beautiful. We then decided to head off towards where our solicitor's office is to top up our mobile broadband connection before heading into Vera to seek out what I thought would be the local branch of Aldi!
Well it turns out we couldn't find the fabled Aldi but as we'd already shopped in two different Mercadona's and briefly visited the local Lidl (every bit as bad as the UK!) we decided to live a little dangerously and first off checked out the Vera branch of Iceland (!) which was interesting as it was a mix of UK frozen foods and products from their store plus Waitrose basics. Now prices were not too bad considering but I am a power shopper and had already seen that a little more obscure Spanish chain called Día were nearby. Now in terms of looks it could have been Lidl BUT the quality of the vegetables and groceries were far superior! We found quite a few bargains within it's walls and now we have found two decent places close together we might have settled on our shopping destinations unless we really need to visit a Mercadona sometimes! We found some Chardonnay here at under 2 Euros a bottle or $2.60! It hasn't been tested yet by myself but Stuart found one of his favourite Riojas at about 4 euros so he was a happy camper!
Lidl & Aldi are German chains that we have in the UK, Iceland is a British chain now opening locations in Spain for our American readers!
I am approaching the purchase of rioja scientifically. For each bottle, I have listed, the the name, year, the type of grape, and the cost. Once I have tasted it, I then rated it on a 5 point scale from one (yuck!) to 5 (incredible). I have changed countries, but not my scientific training. Cliff is hoping that they may have a 12-step program here to help me unlearn it. Not a chance!
ReplyDeleteYuck can be unyucked occasionally by imbibing sufficient quantity. However it is unlikely ever to achieve incredible status. Vino Notes
ReplyDeleteStuart don't go only for the Rioja wines. Even being the most famous Spanish ones there are another ones really interesting.
ReplyDeleteYou have the Merlot by Antonio Mendoza, not in the price of 2€, more like 7,90€ a bottle on a wine's shop,(at least that's the price marked on our last one, from 2005 that we have here) and about 20€ on a posh restaurant ;) That's how we found about that delicious wine :( To be surprised later on a local shop is much cheaper! :D
On the white wines a Marina Alta from Alicante, that I think is about 4,30€ and you can find on Mercadona (at least here).
I'll email Cliff about another nice one that you can find in Mercadona by 99 cents per bottle! :) Is not as super as a Rioja but as a wine to have a normal meal is more than adequate. I don't want to reveal the secret on public, or all the British ex-pats will finish with it! :D
And being so close to Andalusia you have Jumilla, a very nice white wine (served chilled)to start as an aperitif before a Tapas meal. And all kinds of "Jerez" of course! :)
Día started when I was young (1979) as one of the first companies that had their own branded products in Madrid, city where I was born.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermercados_Dia
Sadly today is a franchise that belongs to Carrefour (puaaggh!!!, I'll explain why I don't like it). But for me doesn't hold the quality of Mercadona! :)
Carrefour is godd for a few things like booze and drinks that have good prices, but vegetables meat and other dairy products are not as good as in Mercadona. I dislike to buy any vegetables in Carrefour.
And NEITHER of both will be as good as the products on the local market (and the difference of price is not so high), or any other Spanish local shops near you, but you will need to hunt those in your area.
Best way ask your neighbours! :) Or if you find a good vegetable shop ask them where is a nice butcher. Follow the chain asking! ;)
Not sure if it was better sent this by email. I didn't expect to do such a long comment! :) But keep blog-ing, you're making it a really enjoyable lecture.
Dia supermarkets are really good value and the baguettes are about 40 cents but you are right about the fruit and veg, we really like the supermercado chain as well but if you can find an eroski they are also really good, but certainly not the cheapest as the are the spanish version of coop but the size of tesco!!!!.
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