Community Tasting Note
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Ingmars wrote:
February 9, 2024 - While searching for a cheap red wine to serve as a cooking ingredient (boeuf bourguignon), I came across this nicely presented 1.5 litre bag-in-box blended red. Showing a 26.05.2022 filling date and bearing the ''Fairtrade'' symbol, it was on promotion in Rīga's largest outlet-type alcoholic drinks retailer at €4.99. Deducting value-added tax and excise duty, this means the local retailer pockets only €1.23 for the standard 75cl measure of this, most probably making it the cheapest wine currently available in Latvia's capital city. Worth a note on that point alone.
Broad crimson core with a bright ruby fringe spells vigour. The nose begins vegetally, but is quickly replaced by forward ripe cherry which makes me think of carbonic maceration as the fermentation method employed. Whatever the case, it noses like a typical industrial BIB packaged wine. However, while the mouth is rudimentary, short and coarse, it thankfully doesn't have any of the fake-sweet confected flavour that one would expect from a wine packaged thus. Further, it is surprisingly concentrated and even has some positive rustic character. The packaging informed me that there were hints of oak to be found, but I can't say that I found them.
Others might see this as plonk, but I'll call it satisfactorily ordinary.59 views