First prize at quiz night at the bowls club in Surfer’s Paradise should really say it all. The only thing better than free wine is stolen wine but we earned this through hard labour of the intellect, assisted only by the other 11 members of our team — all relatives of Aussie Peter.
This one came back in the suitcase and soaked up a spot in the wine cupboard, rubbing shoulders with classy Bordeaux and exotic Jordanian treats for a few months. Cellaring is important. ‘Beach’ and ‘Red wine’ don’t often appear together and the low-cost nature of this wine made us cautious of opening it in polite company or exposing it to flame.
Colour me surprised that coming home after Mrs Sachie had opened it that she had not immediately succumbed to the fumes or been poisoned, so perhaps it was safe to approach.
As it turns out, this somewhat anonymous Bordeaux doppelganger is quite drinkable. It’s fine. It’s not a big wine, or a subtle one, but it’s a solid-bodied, berry flavoured red that need not be ashamed to to raise its screw-topped neck in society.
Would I buy it again? Should I? Perhaps not as the label says “I’m taking it to the big Aussie barbeque,” and as everyone knows, barbeques are for beer.