Hope You Like It!

On sale! woo hoo!! I had a good experience with Hope's Ripper Shiraz last year, so when I saw their "no-name" shiraz and "cracker" cabernet on sale at 25% off, I filled the basket up. The Shiraz, 2005 is from the east coast of Australia. It's purple, smells of sweet thick fruit and tastes like blueberry compote followed by cherries. Very soft tannins hide in the background. A simple fruit blast, zero complexity. A straightforward fun drinking wine, good for what it is. OK value for the on sale $15 pricetag.
On a different tack is the Cracker, Cabernet, 2004, from Western Australia (the juice is trucked over to the east coast for fermentation - cold soaking for 4 days...) . More brickish, much more elegant nose with cedar and pine notes. Medium-full bodied with chewy cassis, nice medium long finish. This is quite different from the shiraz, I prefer it given a glass of both. Also good, and good value at $16 on sale.
Cheers!!