#303 Terrific tanker wine! Tooma River wines

Despite Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Hugh Fearnley Whatchamacallit screaming and yelling about the cruelty of caged hens being bred for meat or eggs for the past few years, since the economy crashed, the sales on cruel meat has increased, simply due to the fact that people cannot afford £10 for three free range chicken breasts anymore. When times are hard, people's ethics and cares for provenance go out the window, and the same applies with wine.  Everyone wants an organic, sulphur free, vegetarian wine with a story, but they also want it for six quid, which simply won't happen.  So all of a sudden they care not a jot for a pesticide riddled, added sulphur wine fined with all sorts of animal products, but they still want a brand that will make it look as though they have gone to some effort.  They don't want "Tesco's Value/Finest Wine", but what they are actually getting is exactly that.  And they are being ripped off, even at six quid.

If you shop in a supermarket, it is highly likely that you will have bought a wine that you think is a producer in some far flung country, when in reality, it is a brand made up by the supermarket to con you into thinking they have many many hard at work wine buyers sourcing wines from many different producers.  Sadly, it isn't the case.  Firstly, they create a brand, they will create a small story for the back label, and will then ship mass produced wine over to Europe in tankers, where it is bottled, labelled and plonked on the shelf at £6.  Then they will 'reduce it' by half to promote it and still make potloads of cash from the customers who don't know any different.  This has been going on for years, but now, because it is increasingly difficult to get wines from the Antipodean nations under a tenner, we are seeing this made up brand wine on independent retailers shelves.

This isn't to say that your local wine merchant is doing this, but the agencies that he or she buys from are.  The main difference here, in comparison with the supermarkets, is that most independents will buy wine based upon what it tastes like and if it is worth the money they have to charge with a standard margin, not purely on making a massive profit, only to then 'give a deal' and cut back the price so they are making less of a massive profit.  Essentially, if the wine would retail at £6, it should taste like a wine should at £6, not a £3 one that you usually get from supermarkets.  Sure, these wines don't have provenance or an interesting tale of how a young chap from Bangladesh hitchhiked to Sydney and then bought a row of vines in McLaren Vale and started producing one case of wine every year, but what they do do is give the customer a decent wine at a decent price.

Some of the better wines I have tried under a tenner in the past year from Australia and New Zealand have been these 'own label' wines.  Stratfords Wine Agencies brands, Rosedale and Cliff Edge, are a decent pair of Australian Shiraz and Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc respectfully at between £7 and £9.  Hatch Mansfield have got a Sauvignon Blanc called Ruben Hall and made by Villa Maria (shhh, don't tell anyone) retailling at £6, and this is a decent enough drop at that price.  Today, from Enotria, I tasted a range of wines that were punching way above their price point.  These were wines that would sell between six and seven pounds, plus a sparkling wine under a tenner, that could sell at much higher.

Made by Warburn Estates in Griffith, a company of people of Italian descent (that explains the inclusion of a Pinot Grigio!) and they have produced a selection of tasty, inexpensive wines under the Tooma River brand.  This brand, owned by Enotria and aimed at the on trade, are really tasty wines, and a real bargain, without the need to hack back a price. 

Tooma River Brut Reserve Blanc de Blancs
Sweet melons and some yeast notes coming through.  It has a pencil lead element, some pear elements coming through.  It has a nice bubble, some decent acid with some sweet notes on the finish.  A bit too sweet for me, but this is an Australian sparkling wine that tastes as though it comes from Australia and isn't trying to be fake Champagne.  7/10 £9.99

2009 Tooma River Reserve Pinot Grigio
Sweet aroma, like lychee and melon and green eating grapes.  Then a strange mineral note comes through and isn't that appealing.  Palate is flabby, yet mean and light at the same time.  A total waste of time and energy.  Leave the Grigios to the Italians.  3/10 £6.99

2009 Tooma River Reserve Chardonnay
It has a lovely sweet vanilla aroma with lots of melon and pineapple pith.  The palate is clean, some really tasty tropical fruit, a bundle of oak but with restraint.  Some cedar notes and a lot of dry citrus.  It is a decent wine and a bargain.  7.5/10 £6.49

2009 Tooma River Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Rich, sweet berry compote on the nose, but it isn't leaping you out of the glass. It has a sweet note, some berry stalks and a bit of liquorice with a touch of burnt caramel on the end of the mid palate.   It has a nice finish, some lovely tarry notes with a decent dry wood and tobacco note.  Just a touch thin though on the finish.  7/10 £6.49

2009 Tooma River Reserve Shiraz
Jam meets black pudding, cherry menthol on the nose.  The palate has a nice texture, not a lot of spice, some leathery notes, then some bramble and savoury, meaty flavours.  A touch of spice, dark berry juice and a really clean and lovely finish.  Very good.  8/10