Aldi’s £8.99 colour-changing wine bottle tells you when it’s perfectly chilled – in time for 26°C

With temperatures set to hit the balmy highs of 26°C in the southeast today, the real question is: what are we drinking? A cold, crisp white or bone-dry rosé might be the obvious choice, but we’re here to make the case for a chilled red.

Racing to our rescue, Aldi has just launched a new “smart” red wine bottle, complete with a thermochromic ‘chill-to-reveal’ label that changes colour when it hits the ideal drinking temperature. Genius.

We’re the first to admit it sounds like an April Fool’s, so naturally we had to put it to the test.

If you’ve not tried your red wine chilled before, it can be surprisingly tricky to get it right. Go too cold and you kill the flavour. Not cold enough, and it will just taste a bit heavy – not exactly what you want in 26°C heat.

Typically, you’d reach for a lighter style (think Beaujolais or Pinot Noir) and chill it for around 30–60 minutes before serving. But Aldi’s new Specially Selected Rouge Clair does the hard work for you, with a label that turns blue when it hits the sweet spot – around 10°C.

So, is it actually worth picking up?