“Oh, my, this is a nice Riesling,” declared one of our dinner guests. “Where did you get it? Is it expensive?”

Both answers floored her.

“Aldi,” I said, “and it’s $5.99.”

The European-based grocery store chain offers a batch of surprisingly good wines at amazingly low prices. And Aldi is getting plaudits in this country and around the wine world for its efforts.

The Aldi store in Gainesville is in between Home Depot and Best Buy on Dawsonville Highway. Another Aldi is in Oakwood near Tractor Supply Co. off Mundy Mill Road.

I thought Aldi was great because it allows its cashiers to sit down on the job. But, no, many of the wines really rate.

Last summer at a blind tasting during an Australian wine competition, the top wine was the store brand from Aldi. The price, $4.99. And it was a rose!

The Riesling our guest complimented bears the label Crystal Creek Cellars and it’s from the Columbia Valley of Washington state, a prime growing area for this fruity white wine grape. Online wine websites say nice things about it and so do I.

I’ll also try to sell you on a $4.99 Spanish red, Vina Fuerte Tempranillo. It’s a very good, mouth-filling red. And for the price, it’s a bombshell.

Another big surprise is a California Meritage labeled Outlander. For $9, you get a mildly tannic red dinner wine made from a classic blend of Bordeaux-style grapes — hence, the Meritage moniker.

Are you a fan of Prosecco, that fruity, friendly sparkling wine that’s giving the folks in Champagne many sleepless nights? Plunk down $8.99 for Aldi’s Valdobbiadene Prosecco and compare it to others costing much more. Guess who wins in my book?

If you embrace the grapefruit peel crispness of New Zealand sauvignon blanc, pick up Aldi’s Sunshine Bay version. I believe the name is a play on the great New Zealand wine, Cloudy Bay. Aldi’s version is terrific and it’s $6.99.

Not all the wines are great finds. I discovered a couple of clunkers. One example is a zinfandel called Zinferno from California’s Lodi district. I love Zin and Lodi’s a hot area. Sadly, this one lacks the body and style necessary to be a good Zin. And, no, I did not get a flawed bottle. I tried it three times with the same results.

Aldi does not offer a broad spectrum of wines. I found some standard fare Gallo products, such as Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel — a very nice wine, by the way. There is a collection of Aldi-brand Winking Owl wines, which offer good value, but nothing extraordinary.

The chain does not make a big noise about its wine selection, apparently relying on customers to recognize values and come back for more.

In researching the Aldi wine story, I came across an interesting quote from a wine buyer with Aldi in England. He was asked if he had any reaction to the term “discounter.”

“I prefer the term great value retailer,” he said in response. “We don’t promote. We like to think we offer fantastic value. We over-deliver compared to our price points, so we are an over-deliverer.”

I contacted Aldi in this country for answers to questions I had. The greatest portion of the company’s response was boilerplate public relations material. But a few comments were interesting.

I asked what their biggest seller is. Aldi declined to answer since it’s a private company.

I asked what kind of feedback do you get from consumers?

The response: “Our shoppers appreciate our prices, efficient store model and curated product choices. They know and appreciate that we are constantly evolving our product offerings so we can make room for on-trend wines like the Benedetto Chianti, Tangled Vines Chardonnay and Kelly’s Crossing Sauvignon Blanc.”

Any new offerings to look for?

“This summer look for Belmonti Peach or Strawberry Bellini, and sangria — these are great examples of how we revamp our offerings seasonally to meet the trends our customers look for.”

So there it is. Some very nice wines at very nice prices. And the cashiers do not have aching feet at the end of the day.

Randall Murray is a Gainesville-area resident. Have a question about wine? He can be contacted at murrwine@aol.com. His column appears on the first Wednesday of the month and on gainesvilletimes.com/life.