Three wines from innovative Aussie producer First Drop (see their website here). They specialize in alternative varieties, but also do a pretty good job with their more conventional wines. The packaging and marketing is spot on. These wines have just become available in the UK, so RRPs are attached. I’m chasing up where they are available from.
First Drop The Big Blind Nebbiolo Barbera 2008 Adelaide Hills
14.5% alcohol. Not deeply coloured. Very open, intensely aromatic nose, with ginger, warm spices and some fresh dark cherries. The palate is midweight and quite elegant with open, sweet berry fruits and an interesting savoury, spicy dimension. Good structure and acidity. Ripe and warm, but still has some Italian allure. 91/100 (£18.99)
First Drop Minchia Montepulciano 2008 Adelaide Hills
15% alcohol. Deep coloured. Assertive, dense, spicy, robust blackcurrant and plum nose is very appealing, but perhaps a bit tight and reductive. The palate has dense, focused blackberry fruit with a firm, savoury, spicy edge. It is sweet and rich, but the savoury spiciness provides a nice counter, keeping things balanced and fresh. Amazing concentration and richness, with potential for development. It just about carries the high alcohol, and the freshness and definition prevent this from straying to the dark side. 92/100 (£18.99)
First Drop Mother’s Milk #4 Shiraz 2008 Barossa
14.5% alcohol. Rich, forward, vibrant blackberry and blackcurrant fruit nose. Sweet and pure with some meat and tar overtones. The palate is dense, concentrated and sweetly fruited with some grippy, spicy structure and subtle mint and tar notes, as well as a bit of creamy vanilla richness. A little angular at the moment, but showing a lovely concentration of summer pudding fruit, with great purity and some supporting oak. Joyful. 92/100 (£14.99)
Hi Jamie
Just curious why you mention the ABV on two of the wines but not the Minchia?
Jayson, that was an oversight, now corrected. Thanks for the alert.
Jamie,
have a look at what minchia means in sicilian,
cheers
Sean
Sean, I have just checked – slang for ‘penis’ I gather.
hangingditch concur that these are fab wines! They are all available from us & we currently have First Drop Arneis & The Big Blind available by the glass in-store!
For a limited amount of time we are offering a six-pack (in a gorgeous wooden box) of our 6 favourite First Drop wines for £99.99 instead of £130!
Hmmm, very Some Young Punks-ish, at least in terms of packaging and approach. Wonder if there is a connection? Have you had a chance to try a few of the SYP wines yet Jamie? Be interesting to see if the similarity extends to the juice in the bottle.
Skips
Oh, and I love the approach of First Drop too, which I forgot to mention. Great that the wines stack up as well.
Did you deduct any points for the headache after drinking 15% wine remembering that’s probably rounded down.
Stockists:
Cambridge Wine Merchants – Hal Wilson
Main branch:
42 Mill Road
Cambridge, CB1 2AD
01223 568993
Head office:
29 Dry Drayton Industries
Scotland Road
Dry Drayton
Cambridge, CB23 8AT
01954 214528
hal@cambridgewine.com
Hanging Ditch Wine Merchants – Ben Stephenson
Britannic Buildings
42-44 Victoria Street
Manchester, M3 1ST
0161 832 8222
ben@hangingditch.com
The Secret Cellar – Mike Watson
43-45 Church Road
Tunbridge Wells
Kent, TN1 1JT
01892 537981
mike@thesecretcellar.co.uk
These look interesting. How much would they retail for in oz? Seems amazing that oz wine prices are being maintained in the uk given the exchange rate.
How much of a hit are they taking?
Went to the tasting at Cambridge Wine Merchants of the full portfolio of First Drop wine, tasting notes can be found in http://vinoremus.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-drop-wines-cambridge-wine.html
Generally high quality wines, top end Fat of the Land and The Cream were excellent and will develop for a long time. Unfortunately, I felt that it was somewhat pricy across the range, the entry level red is the Mothers Milk and its £15, maybe this is fairly common among virtual wineries.
Wineracd – The Minchia – big but balanced! I like to describe it as sexy & rich! Everyone needs one in their life! My advice would be to have smaller sips, and have it with some great Italianesque food…!
Skippy – by the way Jen & Col from SYP – are pals with Matt Gant from First Drop!
Cheers, Ben
Hey thanks for the intel Ben, sounds like a cool little posse they got going on!