It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

The label is "Naked on Roller Skates" and features a naked blonde hightailing it off the label.  And for good reason, as I was about to find out.

The wine is a Sparkling Shiraz and was a Christmas gift from my brother.  I'm sure the label was the hook that preceded the purchase.  

Naked on Roller Skates is a wine developed by the vintners at Wine By Some Young Punks winery.  If you go to the winery website, you'll find an edgy, annoying site that hoots and hollers about how cool they (the vintners) are, why they chose these retro-labels for their wines and how big their wines are.  Well I'm here to tell you, their sparkling shiraz is as annoying as their website.  (And note to the winery - when you're pushing 50, you might want to reconsider the name of your winery.)

Shiraz is a deep red grape and has been the primary wine grape grown in Australia, since it was introduced there in the 1800's.  After trying many of the trendy Australian Shiraz wines in the late 2000's, I had pretty much grown away from them by 2009.  Too many ended up tasting yeasty and winy, but not in a good way.  However, I love champagne and have tried sparkling white wines, so the idea of a Sparkling Shiraz was intriguing, and I saved the bottle to share on an appropriately festive evening.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.

We opened the bottle last night to share while enjoying the Golden Globes Awards.  It was very fizzy at the pour and the color was beautiful and rich, just what you'd expect from a Shiraz.  It was a deep cranberry color, almost blood-red.  At first sip, I was expecting the usual bubbles and either a dry or sweet taste.  I got neither.  The bubbles quickly fizzled out and the taste was a slight cranberry/espresso with a lot of yeast.  Ugh - not what I wanted from a party wine.  Nonetheless, I tried a second glass.  Again, nothing special.

As I noted earlier, I am no longer a fan of the Shiraz wine, and Naked on Roller Skates adds one more lousy wine to forget when even considering a Shiraz.  Adding fizz to a mediocre wine only makes me feel bloated and dis-satisfied.  Some Young Punks probably like to drink wine, but that doesn't mean they make good wine.