Fox in the Vineyard

Honestly, this is not one of my favorites. I really wanted to love it because I absolutely adore the label. The metal punched tin look really sold me on this one.

Judging a wine by its label

I know, the cover is not the book, and so it goes that the label isn’t indicative of what’s inside the bottle. But like when I’m book shopping, the cover has to be appealing and interesting for me to pick it up. Same goes at the wine store. It’s not a DNF (in the book world, Did Not Finish) but it’s not one I’d buy again either.

“It’s not a DNF, but it’s not one I’d buy again either.”

What am I missing?

This is an award-winning Shiraz, and it makes me wonder what it is I’m missing. I even gave it that Day 2 try to see if it opened up more after a good sleep. Nope. I found it rather boring, and for everything I’ve been reading up on about Australian Shiraz, I am quite disappointed.

It’s full-bodied, but I found it more medium-bodied, a little lighter than I usually enjoy. It does have a high alcohol content, coming in at 14.5% so it really does pack a punch. Acidity is rather high and tannins are a medium-high, which you can feel stick to the roof of your mouth and your tongue. Very dry. No sweetness whatsoever, which I like, but the rest of the flavor profile just wasn’t there for me. I was really expecting just a touch more from this wine.

Next time: Barossa Valley

Next time I go for Shiraz, I’m going specifically for Barossa Valley. It’s located not far from Berton Vineyards which is in southern New South Wales, but Barossa Valley is more in the southern part of South Australia, and is known for great food and great vineyards. Lesson learned. I’m going to do more research before my next wine shop, and I’m going to shop with intention. Yesterday’s trip was more a quick pit stop on the way back from the book store. Next time, I’m going in armed with a list.

The verdict

I’ll give this one a 6 out of 10 and give it another try later in the week.

I bought these new vacuum seal wine bottle stoppers to try out. They were an Amazon impulse purchase after the previous set of stoppers I bought at my local wine store failed me miserably. I’ll start to do some reviews on wine products soon.