McGuigan, Zero %, Sauvignon Blanc, Australia
Non alcoholic wine is big business and this McGuigan, Zero %, Sauvignon Blanc from Australia is available in a supermarket for £5 a bottle. It has a sweet note to it and a spritzer note. The smell is a bit like eggs and flavour is like an off citrus, yes off. Is not terrible but not great. Its like a first generation VW made skoda car. I’m sure it will get better in years to come, just not in 2025.
Yalumba, Galway vintage, Shiraz, 2022, Barossa Valley, Australia
The Barossa valley in Australia is known as a fantastic wine region and produces superior red wine. This dry red has strong tannins with depth and flavours of plum, blackcurrant, oak and hints of chocolate. It’s a good wine but nothing to make it stand out. At £15 a bottle I would like more subtle flavours and texture. Think of it as a Ford Focus car.
Watarra Ridge, Merlot, South East Australia, Australia
This reminds me of when Australian Merlot was cheap and cheerful, well this is cheap but not really cheerful. The aromas seem volatile, body is thin, some flavours of redcurrant but not a pleasant experience. At £5 a bottle it’s cheap, but avoid.
Crooked Mick, Shiraz, 2021, South Eastern Australia
Good quality Australian Shiraz is the best I can come up with for this Crooked Mick Shiraz. Its not bad, dry with reasonable amount of black fruit, spice and hints of leather and chocolate. At under £10 a bottle its a good wine at a good price. Think of a cheap Skoda car, solid.
Sainsburys, Taste the Difference, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2021, Coonawarra, Australia
Sainsburys like all supermarkets has some great wines under their own labels and this Cabernet Sauvignon under their Taste the Difference range is rather good. Its not gold medal winning but its a solid dry red wine. Plenty of red and black fruit, hints of tobacco and spice sitting the back ground. Its like a well spec’d Ford Fiesta car, not your first choice but worth a try for a meal or two. At £7.50 a bottle its great value.
Berton vineyard, Chardonnay, 2022, Eden Valley, Australia
Another typical cheap Australian Chardonnay? Not quite. This one from Berton vineyard is ok, not outstanding but decent if you like a slightly heavier white wine. Lots of ripe citrus, pineapple and hints of grapefruit. As such it holds its length well, although thats more by brute force of flavour.
Personally, at £15 a bottle it’s over priced. For me it’s like Ford Fiesta car, nothing wrong in many ways but I’m not paying VW golf prices for it.
Aldi, Grapevine, Shiraz, Australia
Aldi do sell some excellent wine but this isn’t one of them. Sure at £4 is cheap but not much flavour or aroma, some length, mild tannins which isn’t necessarily bad. Another late at the party opening wine.
Berton vineyard, Coonawarra Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2019, Australia
There’s a lot of cheap Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia that is pretty poor and it show that it pays to go up a notch or 2 in price. At £15 a bootle it’s reasonable value. Dry, firm but well integrated tannins and decent flavours of blackcurrant, black plum, chocolate and tobacco hints and a pinch of eucalyptus coupled with decent length make this and enjoyable red.
St Hugo, Chardonnay, 2022, Eden Valley, Australia
I am partial to a crisp buttery chardonnay and was looking forward to tasting this one from St Hugo’s but it wasn’t quite what I expected. Its a dry, crisp white wine with plenty of acidity. Lots of green apples and grass with a big hit of lemon and some grapefruit make it unbalanced to me. I was hoping for more buttery and vanilla notes and these make come through in the coming years if left.
At £20 a bottle its not cheap and I would like to try it again in 5 or 7 years to see how it matures.
Vasse Felix ‘Filius’ Cabernet-Merlot, 2020, Margaret River, Australia
Another Australian red wine at £10 a bottle, another average red, well no. This is a step or 2 above most in the under £15 bracket. Dry and pretty bold but not sledge hammer bold. Black and red fruits with a bit of spice and rounded but firm tannins. Great with red meat or pasta. Alternatively in front of the fire watch TV.