Red Label Shiraz Cabernet (2015): Wolf Blass, South Australia

I know this is supposed to be "Kiwi" wine tour, but tonight we actually have a bottle from our friendly neighbors across the Tasman, Australia.  It's a brand I hadn't seen in Foursquare before, and for $8.99, I just couldn't resist.  Not to mention it's raised the bar for what I previously thought was possible for alcohol content, up to a whopping 14%.  I didn't even notice the "2015 Winery of the Year" award that it modestly presents on the neck.  I'm torn as to how I feel about the rest of aesthetic of this bottle.  I can't tell if it's bold and eye-catching, or just tacky. I feel like if someone just showed me the label with the wine references edited out, my immediate assumption would be that it was from like a candy bar, rather than a wine.  I immediately noticed it on the rack, which I guess is the ultimate goal, so I really can't fault it too much for presentation.

Reading the description on the back of the bottle, it seems the red label indicates that it is part of Wolf Blass's "Smooth Blends" series.  The front label also boasts of its smoothness.  The first things that come to mind when I think of alcohol that presents smoothness as a primary feature are Red Dog (Uncommonly Smooth), and Hurricane 40 (Brace for the smooth taste!).  As far as I'm concerned, that's good company for an $8.99 bottle of wine.  Oddly enough, those two are also feature relatively high alcohol content for a beer and malt liquor, respectively.  Maybe that's a trend I need to put more research into.

As far the flavors advertised,  we have a "bouquet of fresh red fruits, spice, mint, and balanced oak".  It describes itself as "soft, fruity, and full of flavour" and recommends drinking it "young and fresh" with a "rich, hearty dish".  The part of this that I'm immediately drawn to is the "balanced oak", for a number of reasons.  First, I don't know what it means by "balanced", but I'm excited to learn.  Second I'm curious as to weather they have oak trees in Australia and if so, how they differ from my familiar red, white, and burr oaks of America.  I can only assume that oak flavor basically translates to acorn flavor, since that's the only part of oaks that is at all edible, and the acorns I'm familiar with do not taste good.  I also appreciate the mystery around "red fruits" and "spice" as flavors.  They could be anything!

Cracking the bottle, I'm greeted with a sickly sweet aroma, of no particular distinction other than "unmistakably red wine".  Pouring the first glass, I'm noticing that it falls deep into the purple spectrum, as far as color.  It looks more like grape juice than wine.  Further sniffing reveals nothing more to me other than "red".  This must be what the label meant by "red fruits".

The first drink is immediately a sensation very different than previous wines I've had.  It doesn't swish in my mouth so much as it slithers around.  I'd almost liken it to milk.  It's not an entirely unpleasant feeling, but it certainly caught me off guard.  As far as taste, there's no sourness, no tart, no vinegary to be had.  It's just the sweetness of the fruit, and the bitterness of the alcohol, and they hit one right after the other.  The aftertaste is just nothing but alcohol.  I definitely wouldn't describe it as "soft".  One thing that I do need to give it credit for is that smoothness that it bragged about.  I don't think I've ever had a wine that goes down as easily as this does.

So, first glass down, first impression is that this is definitely going to be a bottle that gets easier the more I drink.  Right now that alcohol taste, is pretty overbearing.  I guess it's not inconceivable that the alcohol flavor I'm tasting could be that oak.  Acorns are bitter as hell.  At any rate, I'll come back after a few more glasses to wrap this up.

Alright.  I've had about half the bottle, now.  As expected, the alcohol bitterness has subsided, significantly, making drinking an overall more pleasant experience.  I still can't pull any particular flavors out, though.  It's just kind of generic fruity sweetness.  Also, I did some research on oak trees.  Apparently, Australia does have trees that they call oaks, but aren't actually closely related to the oaks of North America, Europe, and Asia.  They're a type of Eucalyptus.  So, I'll probably never know what that balanced oak was supposed to be, for sure.

So, for final grade, I'll give the presentation a C+.  The color of the label caught my eye, and I liked where they put the award sticker, but the wine, itself, looks kind of grossly artificial and the design of the label just feels low-end.  For drinking experience, I'll give it a C.  Smoothness can only get you so far, eventually you have to have some flavor to back that up, and this wine just doesn't.  There's no complexity to be found here, it just kind of just feels like a shitty mixed drink, like a vodka and cran-raspberry, or something like that, where the fruit flavor is just there to take the edge of the alcohol taste.  Overall, I'd give it like a C, I'll bump it up to a C+, because I learned some fun tree facts.