DO NOT BUY THIS
There’s brett and then there’s BRETT. This has the latter. I’m not a technocratic wine reviewer. If a supposed “fault” doesn’t detract from a wine…or god knows even makes it more interesting I’m happy to go into bat for it. Yes, I think some “faults” enhance certain wines. Heresy, I know. There goes my wine judging career. But the brettanomyces in this makes it an outright joke. More so at $24.99. Imported by James Busby Wines, sold by the Coles group.
Stripped of fruit. The odd glimmer of something red that might have grown on a bush or tree sits amongst a large heap of rusty nails. Don’t worry about a back-palate, this doesn’t even have a mid-palate. It just leaves a bad aftertaste as soon as it hits your mouth. One for those who need to have a bullet removed from their chest and don’t have any other anaesthetic at hand. Absurdly bad. Shameful. 39 Below Average – Undrinkable
Region: Burgundy
Alcohol: 13.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $24.99
Tasted: May 2013
I’m rarely surprised by bad wine. What does amaze is why it gets sent out for critical review. Maybe gets a good review in the every-wine-is-fabulous arena?
That arena is growing, so I guess that must be it. Mind you, it probably makes sense for a PR company to check the site they’re submitting to before sending out rubbish like this.
Who sends it?
Liquid Ideas.
Terrible wine. Genuinely bad. I feel generous even giving it 50/100
I love your precision Jeremy with a wine as terrible as this sounds. 39 no less!
I’ve tasted French wines like this. Usually Rhone gear. Just putrid. Sometimes an intriguing cocktail of possible Brett, volatile acidity, oxidation and/or TCA, with a lump of muddy sediment at the bottom. You’d never know what the real fault was. It’s just proper shit.
MichaelC
Proper shit sums it up. I see AG went with the scatological faults whereas I concentrated on the metallic mistakes. Interesting that we both chose to score it. I found it so reprehensible at the price that a “NR” or not rated couldn’t be considered. I think AG’s 50 says enough but I didn’t want to give any impression of a pass mark…thus the precision of a 39
I wonder how much Coles shipped over – container load? A sales/marketing nightmare to have to move this through. Perhaps your reviews will help…
Ha, well we both tried
I’m sure GWD will tell you it outpoints Grange*
*Grange not reviewed on this site
Under RP’s scoring system it gets 50 points just for turning up.
The first review I read of this was from the wine writer for the local Fairfax paper. A comparison of his review and yours (and other independents like Andrew’s) clearly points to Fairfax’s conflict of interest.
Keep up the good work…
Thanks Jules. Glad I got passed over for that Fairfax gig now