Simon Food Favourites: Naked Wines

01 July 2012

Taste Test: Shottesbrooke Engine Room Shiraz 2010, McLaren Vale, South Australia (29 June 2012)

Spiced up engine well-matched

‘We need to determine the sell price for the wine in your goody bag and ultimately how it will fit into our range. Bring your bottle, log in on Monday 2nd July, 3 pm and be part of the Naked buying team.’

At the Naked Wines Australia Media Launch everyone received a bottle of Engine Room Shiraz 2010 from Shottesbrooke McLaren Vale to assess and hopefully provide their feedback to the winemaker Hamish Maguire in the chatroom at 3 pm Monday 2nd July. Predicting that drinking at work during the day would prove challenging I chose to pre-open the bottle the following night and try with their suggested food match of Indian spiced lamb cutlets. The flavours complimented each other very well on the palate which was actually better than just drinking the wine on it's on. For me the robust flavour of the wine was better suited to enjoy with food rather than drinking on its own. I think a bottle would be worth between $15-$20 and the interesting wine label would also make it suitable as a retro-style gift. The alcohol content seemed higher than normal as well. I'm not sure if 14.5% is normal or high but I felt pretty happy after the second glass.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Goes well with Indian spiced lamb cutlets as recommended, No shortage of alcohol in this baby, Interesting and fun wine label

CONS: Didn't enjoy as much just on its own and preferred with food

MUST TRY: Checking on the results of the chatroom

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Engine Room Shiraz 2010 McLaren Vale Shottesbrooke

14.5% alcohol really hit home for effect

Tandoori lamb cutlets with spiced baked potatoes and green beans, Chef Leong

29 June 2012

Naked Wines Australia Media Launch at The Village, Potts Point (28 June 2012)

1 Kellett Way, Potts Point NSW 2011

http://the-village.com.au

Get naked with the little guys

“They called themselves ‘Naked’ because customers get exactly what they see. They strip out the pretentiousness and wine-speak often associated within the wine industry and commit all resources to helping winemakers make great wines.”

Thanks to Daniela Penno from Polkadot PR for inviting me to get 'naked' with a few quaffable wines at the Naked Wines Australia media launch held at The Village. Guests were treated to a small selection of wines from three Australian winemakers which you wouldn't find at your big name liquor stores. Sam Plunkett with The Butterfly Effect label had one of my favourite shiraz's of the night. Very different to what I'd expect from a shiraz in a good way. Not as peppery, a bit lighter on the palate with some interesting flavours. Rebecca and Adrian Santolin had their cute label 'Boy Meets Girl' and Brian Fletcher was the winemaker of Fletcher Wines. After some in depth speeches explaining what the Naked Wines Angels were all about it was back to more wine tastings. Canapes were served and the Prawn with Spiced Gazpacho was very good. Lots of flavour with a decent sized grilled prawn although you needed to use both hands to eat it which meant putting down your glass of wine, but it was worth it. I thought it would work as an oyster shot was well. The meatballs were moist and full of flavour including a noticeable kick of garlic. The Steak Frites canape was interesting with nice flavour although a bit awkward to eat all in one go. The fries had a tendency to get a bit stuck in the eating process. Apparently already hugely popular in the UK Naked Wines will be officially launching in Australia on 1 July to help showcase 20 independent winemakers looking for a break in Australia.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Nice quaffable wines with a couple of standouts for me, Interesting and tasty event canapes, Helping smaller winemakers find a market to showcase their wines

CONS: Hopefully the pricing will be attractive against the big supermarket liquor chains

MUST TRY: Using my $50 voucher to order a case of wines

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