Wolf Blass - Chardonnay (Eagle Hawk) 2008 (Australia)

Whenever there is food, there is always wine! I have always believe that there is always wine that will go well with whatever food there is to be served. A pig-out session recently with family and friends saw a need for a affordable wine for many. Off I went to NTUC in search for a suitable wine. This group I was having a meal with is a more matured groupd whom do not appreciate a fruity and sweet wine like the Moscato that I had rambled on for so many post (Sometimes, I feel this blog should be named Moscato Lust instead =P).

One of my aunty recommended Wolf Blass, but... I had never been a big fan of this "overly-factory-manufactured" wine. No doubt, in today's industralised world, its hard to find anything that doesnt involve any machinery. However, the fact that Wolf Blass omits the cork packaging totally puts me off sometimes. I sometimes feel that the cork packaging is one of the important defining factor of a wine. Obviously, Wolf Blass doesn't think so.

Well, since a guest (My aunty) asked for it, I had no choice... This baby here did not come cheap at all! At a price of $49.00, I was wondering if it was even worth it.

It turn out to be quite a nice wine to go with flavourful food. More on the dry side, this wine would fit well into a slightly more matured group of drinkers who would prefer a taste with less tannin in it.

A surprisingly tannin-free after-taste I would say. I would love this wine to go with a heavy cream-based pasta. Aglio Olio might also go well I guess. I guess it is worth that 50 bucks after all.


Now, for my usual ratings, high on taste but low on value:

Fragrance: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
After-taste: 7/10
Value-for-money: 6/10 ($49.00 @ NTUC)

Long Flat - Moscato 2009 (Australia)

It was Christmas Day and we had a small little family lunch gathering at home, so I thought a wine would add a nice touch to the really scrumptious meal that we were having. I needed something light, something that would appeal to the masses since I did not exactly have a wine-loving group. Champagne? Nah... Don't recall Champagne being very cheap.


That was when I thought of a wine that me and my friends would enjoy over a nice afternoon chat. Moscato! I wanted to get a Moscato from Brown Brothers because I had heard so much about it! Alas... It was such a popular wine that I couldn't get one on Christmas eve itself. Oh well... A review on Brown Brothers Moscato had to wait I guess. However, I did manage to find a Moscato from Long Flat instead.


The Moscato wine, made from the muscat grapes species, was supposed to be a sweet and light wine highly suited for easy drinking. At a low alcohol level of usually 5-7% (as compared to 12-14% in usual wines), you could almost drink it non-stop! However, if you like your wine dry and heavy-bodied (that's the opposite of sweet and having a heavier alcohol content in wine language), this might not be something you will want to get.


The Moscato from Long Flat is one that is readily available in most supermarket in Singapore and is a great complement to a nice afternoon gathering. Refreshingly sweet, the Long Flat Moscato is fruity but not too sweet. It isn't as fragrant as your typical wine, but there is a faint fruitiness in its light fragrant. Oh did I mention that this is actually a spritzy wine, kind of bubbly like a champagne but a fraction of the price (the intensity of the "spritzi-ness" is also a fraction of that in a champagne). So if you feel like getting a champagne for any occasion but find that the price is kinda steep, a Moscato might be a good substitute.


I did find a certain faint bitterness in its after-taste though, however, it is so faint that many would probably miss it. Overall a great complement to any gathering that is looking for a wine for easy drinking. The label did say it would go well with "spicy asian dishes, fruits or cheese platter". Hmm... Spicy asian food with this wine, it would be interesting... Well, in any case, it might be a good wine to put out the fire in your taste buds if the spiciness gets out of hand (destroying your chance of enjoying the wine at the same time).


In my opinion the Long Flat's "rendition" of the Moscato gets:


Fragrance: 5/10
Taste: 7/10
After-taste: 6.5/10
Value-for-money: 7.5/10 ($19.00 @ NTUC)

Final Words: Good light wine! Might be an interesting substitute for champagne (go easy on the comparison). Slight bitterness in after-taste seem quite negligible.