Wine Review: The Winesmiths Shiraz 2012 2lt Cask

I had never heard of the Winesmiths. I had worked in the wine industry for 3 years (as a cellarhand, vineyard worker, distribution manager and production manager), had an appreciation of wine (read: MASSIVE appreciation) for the last 25 years, and yet this is my first encounter with Winesmiths.

Their website, http://www.thewinesmiths.com/ is very rudimentary, it almost looks like a work in progress.

It appears that the company is new, it boasts no bottled wines. 

"The Winesmiths want to give you reason to believe in the cask. It ensures a consistent quality, and the certainty that every glass poured is a true representation of the wine we’ve worked so hard to make.

It’s clever: there’s no wine pack which is more convenient, lightweight or portable. It’s great in your fridge or to take camping." (Ohhh yeah.. cask of wine next to the campfire while spinning a few yarns, nothing better)

Stays fresh: the tap keeps air out keeping your wine fresh for several weeks; from the first glass to the last.

Value: our wines are exceptional value. Bottle quality in a convenient pack."

The subject of todays review - the 2012 shiraz is described as follows:

"Our Shiraz tastes as good as it looks. Bright ruby with aromas of ripe plummy fruit, and flavours reminiscent of cardamom seeds, oak and chocolate which leaves a delicious spicy taste in our mouth long after you've put down the glass."

I particularly like this bit

"But if, like us, you care more about the taste than tasting notes, it's time to stop reading and start pouring"

The tasting notes are pretty spot on. 

Colour was excellent for a cask wine. Nose was pleasing - giving hints of the wines characteristics. On Tasting, there are almost overwhelming plummy characteristics, so if you want to know what that tastes like this will hit you like a length of 4 x 2 in between the eyes.

I detected undernotes of spice, the oak is definately there - likely to have been through the use of staves in a tank, or chips during the ferment. Not sure about the cardamom though. Acid is pretty high, but acceptable.

I reckon its a pretty ok cask wine, suitable for when the in-laws come for dinner or such similar occasions when you want to have a decent wine but something that wont keep them coming back for it.

It gets the Bogan Stamp of Approval for everyday use.

I particularly like their attitude - its in line with the Bogan in all of us - keep it simple, keep it real, don't let marketing, dollars and science complicate things....