Australia Week

Hello, everyone! It's Australia Week with The W(h)ining Army Wives!

We tried out two of Australia's most-produced wines this week: Shiraz and Chardonnay. Keep reading after the video summary for the in-depth evaluation of the wines!




Shiraz; Jacob's Creek; 2011

We started the night off with a dry red wine. The first thing we noticed when we sniffed our glasses was a cherry smell. A dark, oaky aroma accompanied the cherry, setting off an earthy, soil smell. After sniffing a good bit more, we uncovered a hint of spice--with guesses ranging from pepper to cinnamon to nutmeg, and one w(h)iner even caught a little vanilla.

Once we put our wine where our mouths were, the fruity smell had completely disappeared. All that was left was spice--and boy, was it spicy! We tasted pepper and one w(h)iner swore it was cayenne--and tannins (that dry feeling in your mouth). The texture, nonetheless, was smooth, and warmth spread through us as the wine worked its way down. After an adjustment period--a few, good minutes--we finally were able to start tasting some fruit again. It was a dark fruit, and we figured on black currant as the flavor. A sweet grape flavor made it way out at the very end, just to justify that we were, in fact, drinking fermented grape juice.

We thought the wine had a good balance and harmony in its flavors and bouquet, and at least one w(h)iner thought it a complete wine--though the other two just weren't sure.

The label design is appealing--though nothing to write home about, it does look nice and simple, and with a price tag of $7, there wasn't much more to sell us on this wine as a keeper. Final decisions on this wine? We called it two "Yums" and a "Yuck," courtesy of our sweet-wine-drinker.

Bottom line: Would we recommend this wine? Yes. It's inexpensive, and surprisingly yummy!


Chardonnay; Jacob's Creek; 2013

After finishing up with our gossip and Shiraz, we moved on to what we'd call a semi-dry white wine. This one surprised us with a very light, grape-apple aroma. There was just the barest hint of some oak, a little vanilla, a small bit of nuttiness, and maybe a light floral scent, but it was an otherwise light-fruit aroma.

As soon as we tasted the wine, we were getting slightly mixed signals. The main contenders included apple, peach, and honeydew, and we could not really pinpoint what we were exactly tasting with this one. One w(h)iner thought she detected a hint of spice in the taste, but we were unanimous in finding this chardonnay to be a light, crisp, cool wine. But overall, a little unimpressive.

We did almost agree that the flavors and aromas were in harmony with one another, but could not agree on another descriptor for the chardonnay. Our final decisions on this wine? A resounding "Meh."

So, bottom line: Would we recommend this wine? Probably not. But, honestly, at a cool $7, this wine is not one we would necessarily advise against.


So there you have it, this week's evaluations. We hope to see you again next week for some new wines, and some new friends!