So I went to Sydney Good Food and Wine Show – tasted many wines (yet to come on here) and came home with a shopping spree of goodies from Paddies Markets, some food showbags and the worst flu virus of all time. Seriously, “I don’t get sick” and I was Fully Sick. Down with the Sickness. So Sick. SICK SICK SICK. (In the styles of Disturbed, NE-YO and Queens of the Stone Age – with better hair).
I couldn’t taste, smell, talk, see, function. I had to go to the doctors. I don’t GO to the doctors. What is the doctors? In summary, it was the flu that felt like death. And thus, my blog had to be temporary abandoned. For this, I apologise.
Currently, I still wheeze and kind of head into losing my voice. But my nose is currently unblocked and I can TASTE. I’ll be absolutely honest and say after 7 days of being sick, I was missing my frequent intake of wine and tried to substitute this with Cointreau. Devastating.
Okay, my point… tonight my very sick mother surprised me. She bought me a present. A $2.99 bottle of Chardonnay. No Thats not a Typo. $2.99 – On Fridays apparently. Saturdays -Thursdays its still only $5.99.
I’m no wine snob. But I do have bottles in my measly collection that retail over $120 per bottle. I have purchased wines that are more expensive than most of my shoes. And OH do I LIKE Shoes. But hey – I will try anything. Some things are palateable. Mostly the barely “palatable” wines leave you with a not so palatable hangover. (Yes I am saying the quality of wine will affect your hangover.)
$2.99 is within my price range. I’m a risk taker. I’ve felt sick all week, and my palate is not yet ready to graduate so what better to right about first off the cusp?
So… Stonegate 2008 *Limited Edition* Chardonnay. South Australian. Renmark – sort of where my family come from.
I hate to be cynical…. No I lie. I love to be cynical. How limited edition can a $2.99 bottle of wine be?
Hey – its not terrible. I am so judgemental to expect it to be terrible. But in my favour it is more expensive to have a glass of Chardonnay filled to the brim at my local bowling club than to have a bottle of this in my jim jams and uggs in the privacy of my own home.
Ok… this wine actually tastes like a chardonnay. I mean, it has varietal character – stone fruits, melon and good balance. The finish is that of a $2.99 wine – fine with cleaner acidity. I believe it is slightly oaked but more likely oak chipped. But who am I to judge? Its pleasant. The fruits are all in the front and discipate quickly. But with food, most people wouldn’t even take notice.
A mild and lean wine, surpassing all expectations and very affordable (on a Friday). Would I buy it again? Hell yes. Would I cook with it? Probably. Would I drink it again? Very likely. Would I share with friends? To be honest, yes. Its perfectly acceptable and really great value.
I am now a loud and proud $2.99 bottle drinker. [Yeah I went there.]
