Wine without BS

Guigal - Crozes Hermitage 2005

The 2005 Guigal, Crozes Hermitage was an inclusion ina recent French wine dinner I attended at Vatel Restaurant in Sydney's Russell Lea. Whileit is made with 100% Shiraz/Syrah grapes it is quite different to many Australian Shiraz's and I suspect has a lower alcohol content than your standard 14%+ "big" aussie reds.

 

However different is not a bad thing and I found the Crozes Hermitage a very smooth, easy drinking red wine that is perfect for when you want a quality, no fuss red wine.

Guigal - Crozes Hermitage 2005
Price - $50 at OakBarrel
Region - Rhone Valley, France
Recommended? Recommended for anyone who enjoys a lighter style of shiraz and for anyone wanting to get an idea of a reasonably good French wine for $50. While $50 a bottle in Australia is premium territory and unlikely to be anything other than a special occasion wine for the vast majority of consumers the fact is French wine at this price is not far from entry level with premium French wine prices in the thousands of dollars!

Jane Brooke - Plain Jane Rose 2008

I grabbed a bottle of the Plain Jane Rose while heading down the South Coast to visit family on the weekend. I was in a bit of hurry and the big sign "Managers Choice" sucked me in to grabbing a bottle.

After my first few sips I realised that "Managers Choice" at this particular store translates to "Crap we can't sell without a gimmicky sign". This is not only the worst Rose I remember trying but also amongst the worst wines I have ever tried regardless of grape variety! Serves me right some may say for thinking a $10 bottle with a silly sign on it was going to be any good, however I was happy with the notion it would be plain... but it was so much worse!

Jane Brooke - Plain Jane Rose 2008
Price - $10 at an independent retailer on the NSW South Coast
Region - Margaret River, Western Australia
Recommended? Not recommended! How this wine was bottled and marketed is beyond me.