Julie & Neil Swift live in the Peak District and enjoy socialising and tasting a wide range of wines.
Read more about Julie & Neil Swift and see other articles by this author.
Some friends came round the other night and brought a bottle that they had been given.
ABV: 14%
Price: £4.99 Approx
Retailer: Sainsburys
Closure: Screwtop (Tin lined)
- Fairtrade
- Organically Grown Grapes
- Suitable for Vegetarian
- Vegan and Coeliacs
- No Sulphite Preservative
- Recommend to drink within 6 months of purchase
On opening we found it to smell and taste of beetroot, very earthy, strong and lacking fruitiness. There did not seem to be much identity to this Cabernet apart from a tannic structure, leaving a dry stale cake kind of aftertaste.
We felt it would have to be a Main Course wine, but not a wine for the connoisseur.
The label was trendy and modern which did not reflect the inferior wine.
Unfortunately our score in this case can only be 4/10.
The lack of preservatives means it has to be drunk fairly quickly, the basic principle of preservatives hasn’t changed in the last thousand years. The preservative (sulphur) consumes the air trapped in the bottle leaving just clean wine, which the Romans started by burning chunks of sulphur in wine containers which acted as a primitive preservative. It may turn to vinegar if you are not quick off the mark!
From the bottle:
Stellar Winery, 200 miles north of Cape Town is a fair-trade certified organic winery. Fairtrade ensures that growers are paid a fair price for their grapes and the Fairtrade Premium allows investment in community projects including healthcare plus a direct grant to the Stellar Fairtrade Workers Union.
Editor’s Note: It was interesting that this wine was well received by Jamie Goode in Dec 08 so perhaps almost a year further on the wine hasn’t aged too well.
