Field Testing

Yeah, yeah I know. NO entries for a month. Well, it's been a busy month - some great stuff and some that really sucks. I'll focus on the good stuff.
Well, we all know about box wine - it's all over the place now. We tested some last year in the NWT but I found some new stuff this year to try on the banks of the Notakwanon river Northern Labrador of all places. The selection is getting better. This stuff is made for traveling, but the tetrapak only lasts about a week in a canoe barrel, then it starts to leak from small punctures.
The best of the bunch is in the picture above. The Concha y Toro, Likan, Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 is so good that I would buy it to drink at home. It is full bodied, plush, hedonistic - well made, and perfect to toast sunset over a rarely seen waterfall. A GOOD wine and a steal at $13 a litre.
Next best (but actually preferred by others) was the Banrock Station, Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 - well made, typical oz fare, definitely worth drinking. Another good wine, worth the $14/litre. Other "good" wines included the Likan Merlot 2005 (actually the favourite of one of the tasters), the Hardy's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, and the
Kelly's Revenge, Shiraz 2004. All worth drinking. Less impressive were the Banrock Station Merlot 2005, the Kumala Shiraz 2005 from South Africa which were just "OK". AT the back of the bus was a Spanish effort, I can't even remember it's name it was so insipid.














So remember - based on this and last years experience - if you want box wine, stick with the new world. And some of it is damn good!!
Cheers!!