Walmart has been associated with many things throughout its more than 50 years of business as a retail giant, but fine wine has never been one of them.
That began to change recently, at least in the eyes of some folks, as a Chilean wine sold exclusively at Asda, the British supermarket chain owned by Walmart, was named “Best in Show” by a panel of experts at the Decanter Magazine World Wine Awards.
And if that’s not crazy enough, the La Moneda Reserva Malbec — described on the retailer’s website as having “a deep purple colour with violet tints, rounded and velvety tannins, complex plum, fig, strawberry, spices flavours and excellent length” — is currently being sold for the ridiculously low price of the equivalent of about $6.
A panel of 240 international wine experts, which included 69 Masters of Wine and 26 Master Sommeliers, blind taste tested about 16,000 reds and whites from around the world as part of the judging process. The frugal Malbec initially received a gold medal during judging week at the end of April, before facing off against “stiff competition” to claim a platinum medal as part of the “world’s largest wine competition.”
Judges hailed the wine as “an absolute crowd pleaser” that has been “beautifully executed” and is “full of energy.”
To say the wine’s surprise win has caused something of an international stir would be a bit of an understatement. The British press rushed to cover the shocking announcement, with more than 72 articles published mere hours after it was announced, and demand for the wine soon shot up so much that it crashed Asda’s website, according to Decanter.
Who knows what other unearthed treasures might be hiding in the aisles of your nearest Walmart?
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