Cabernet Sauvignon - Wolf Blass Yellow Label

[Tentenths]

One of my all time favourite reds - a truly superb fruity, full bodied Australian red that normally retails at

[USAndretti42]

I like a drop of Wolf Blass, me. Haven't had any for ages.

Bit far to go to Morrisons, though.

[Bibs]

I'm gonna nip down there this afternoon. I've a lot of time for Wolf Blass, funnily enough I recruit IT staff for them in their Twickenham offices!

[Kimbers]

Cheers mate, it's all your bloody fault i have a Wolf Blass head today!!

Oh god, gotta go get a pint at the club to ease this headache. Tried hotdog, Snickers, blowing it away by riding my bike and 2 gallons of water. Last option, hair of the dog!

You utter bsted!

[Tentenths]

[esprit350]

Kimbers the best cure for hangover is abstinence.....

[Kimbers]

Howard, it's also a cure for VD but I'll be buggered if I'm gonna stop that either!!

[esprit22]

Went "shopping" in Calais recently, bought loads of bottles of 2003/4 cotes du rhone and the like, for just over a quid, tastes good to-boot! To much tax on wine over here, just bought me a wine cabinet that holds 20 bottles and can be set to keep the wine at a certain temperature ( I like it almost warm myself ) so dont be suprised if I make even less sense than normal!!

[peteyg]

You guys...honestly...Wolf Blass????

I work in the wine trade and an Esprit owner who drinks that stuff is like an Esprit owner saying 'the Esprit's my everyday car but for kicks I've got an A reg Vauxhall Nova 1.1'

JUST KIDDING!!!...before I upset anyone. Nothing wrong with the Blass, it's a well made wine and appeals to many a wine drinker (even when it's not on offer!!).

However, if anyone wishes to explore other corners of the vinous world, may I recommend this little fella...

[Tentenths]

Pete, now tell me you don't like the Presidents Selection Shiraz!?!

[peteyg]

Pass the Bulls Blood...'nuff said!

[Tentenths]

Have to agree that is rather nice

You familiar with Fairview Estates?

[s4simon]

Mmmm - If anybody wants to come over, the ol' Wolf Blass winery is just up the road from my place. We can take the loti down and have a few free samples...

[peteyg]

You familiar with Fairview Estates?

Great wines! SA are producing some good stuff but I'm getting a bit bored of the high alcohol levels especially in the reds - although I'm sure that wouldn't bother some of the people on this thread

They do the Goats do Roam wines as well which TBH isn't a bad drop for everyday drinking despite the gimicky label.

Can't beat the classics though...

[Kimbers]

I dunno Pete. I'm not a French wine fan at all. I find that, to get a similar quality of French wine you have to spend twice as much as a nice Australian or Argentinian.

I find new world wines (all except Chilean/Sth African....Yuk!) really drinkable at a superb price.

Now I also think some of the best wines I've ever had are to be drunk at a little Spanish restuarant in Norwich called Don Pepe's. Pepe's family own vinyards in Northern spain and he imports all his own stuff. Truely superb Rioja can't be beaten.

My best mate, Piero, has vinyards in Bari in the south of Italy and he says, never buy an Italian wine, outside Italy, for less than

[peteyg]

I don't disagree with anything you're saying Kimbers - wines are like cars, it's a totally subjective thing. Quality is in the tastebuds of the beholder.

Sadly, as we're not really a wine producing country, we have no wine education yet as a country we have the largest selection of wines at our fingertips - in the world!

New world wines outsell European wines for two reasons in the UK:

1) Brands - as a nation we like our comfort zone and are afraid to experiment. Joe Public is happy in the knowledge that he likes Jacobs Creek for instance and that everytime he buys a bottle (doesn't matter where, when, what vintage it is) it's going to taste the same. He knows he can take it round to a friends house and they're unlikely to turn their noses up at it. A brand is much easier to identify with if you don't have a degree in wine and know how to decifer a french or german wine label that doesn't scream CHARDONNAY or MERLOT at you.

2)Alcohol/sugar content - because of the hotter climates in the new world grapes get riper and more sugar is produced. The result of this is you can have a sweeter wine at normal alcohol levels or a more alcoholic wine. Higher alcohol levels trick your taste buds into thinking a wine is sweeter than it actually is. Something that is sweet or seems sweet is more palatable for most people than something that is bitter. This is why Blue Nun is coming back in a big way. Apart form the fact it's a completely different wine to the original 70's muck, it appeals to the new generation of wine drinker because it's easy to drink thanks the the sugar content.

Here endeth the lesson...

Pete

[Mark Blanchard]

Intersteing stuff Pete, thanks for that.

I like cheap plonk myself; Oxford Landing / Ernest & Julio, much easier to drink. Tried an expensive bottle of red a while back and it did nothing for me, just tasted very rich and slightly weird.

Also had a few pudding wines last year (was designing a pair of cabinets for the Antique Wine Company at the time). They opened about 40 vintage bottles dating from 1893 to 1969 costing about