TASTING WITH WILLIE No.1

“Now that I’m a ‘free man’ I intend to take an in depth look at the world of wine and food and give you some uninhibited views about the subject. ”

Now that I’m a ‘free man’ I intend to take an in depth look at the world of wine and food and give you some uninhibited views about the subject. 

The first tasting centres around wines that are £7.00 or under and features two popular grape varieties, Chardonnay and Merlot. I chose three famous wine brands. Yellow Tail, Gallo, And Barefoot. You might think that with my background it would be unusual to have chosen this area of the wine world, but as I want to open up the world of wine to as many people as possible, where better to start then at the sharp end. A £7 bottle of wine has approximately £1.40 of actual liquid. The rest is taken up with duty, packaging, and profit. So, you can see straight away that for the wine to taste any good, the producer has got to go for it! Here are the wines and what I thought. 

All the wines were bought from Sainsburys. 

Whilst I’m not a great fan of marking systems, I accept that you need something to compare each wine with its peer group. So, I have marked each wine out of a possible 20! 

If a really cheap wine gets 15 points, it’s pretty damn good!

THE WHITES 

BAREFOOT CHARDONNAY £5.75. (Normally £6.75) 9 points
I kicked off the tasting with this bottle from California. You get a pretty clear impression of what you will taste by smelling the wine first. They say you can't smell sweetness. I'm not sure I agree. This smelt pretty sweet, quite strong and not particularly fresh. Putting the wine into my mouth, this impression was more than confirmed! The wine had faint banana and pineapple notes, it was really sweet and not at all refreshing. It might be cheap, but you should still avoid drinking this. I am led to believe that for an extra £1, the Barefoot Buttery Chardonnay is a much better bet!

GALLO CHARDONNAY £5.75 12 points
Another Chardonnay from California, Gallo is far and away the largest winery in the world. Unlike the Bare Foot, this smelt a great deal fresher. The problem was that the wine lacked any discernible character. If you are looking for the vinous equivalent of vodka, then this wine might appeal. It’s certainly not unattractive but life is too short, so best to leave it on the shelf! 

YELLOW TAIL CHARDOONAY £7.00 15 points
Hang on a minute! This smelt lovely and fresh with hints or vanilla and citrus notes. It tasted …delicious. Really? Well yes. Flavours of melon, citrus fruit, hints of toast and a cracking fresh zippy finish. The juice for this Chardonnay comes from Australia, and I don't think you will taste a better wine at the price! 

My overall view of the three whites was that only one was worth the money. It only goes to prove that the more money you can spend on a cheap bottle the better your investment will prove to be. But congratulations yellow tail that's a hell of a wine!

THE REDS

BAREFOOT MERLOT £6.75 12 points
It’s much easier making cheap red wine than white, and so it proved with the Barefoot Merlot. GOLD MEDAL… ( Beware of all medals) California fruit. But this smells sweet, ripe jammy and plums. It’s a powerful wine, but it has nice plummy, cherry flavours with a fresh zippy finish. Much better than its sibling Chardonnay!

GALLO MERLOT £5.75 12.5 points
Again, much more interesting than the Chardonnay. Nice attractive red stone fruit aromas, very fresh plum flavours with hints of allspice. However, you feel like a lot of its innate character has been removed. The Vodka of red wines maybe? Still acceptable I suppose.

YELLOW TAIL MERLOT £7.00. 16.5 points OVERALL WINNER
WOW! I wasn’t expecting this. The aromas are fantastic! Spiced plums and mulberries with quite some intensity. The taste is even better. Brilliant balance of spiced plums, black cherries and a background of vanilla spice. It all comes together to give a delicious glass of fresh, balanced, dry red wine. YUMMMM! 

SUMMARY
For my very first tasting, I must confess I was not expecting a great deal. But to have found a pair of Yellow Tail Wines, Chardonnay and Merlot that you could give to a loved one, and know you’d be appreciated is incredible. I’m impressed. Look forward to reporting the next tasting!