6 wines under $10

To follow up on the [yellow tail] experiment I decided to try a batch of the "new" cheap wine. The picture above is a bit blurry; from left to right we have 2005 Fat Bastard Shiraz, 2004 Jacob's Creek Shiraz/Cabernet, 2005 Little Penguin Shiraz, 2004 Rosemount Estate Shiraz, 2004 Black Swan Shiraz and 2004 Black Opal Shiraz. I did what I could to match year and varietal but wasn't able to find a 2004 of the Little Penguin.

The first one I've tried is the Fat Bastard Shiraz. Its aroma is superior to the [yellow tail] due to the absence of chemical smells. I can't say that it provided much else in that department. The wine lacks character, probably on purpose. It tastes like "wine" but not much else. I couldn't characterize a particular fruit flavor, the finish was quick and empty and the mouthfeel was watery. Still there was nothing offensive about it. I feel this wine is defined more by what it does not have than what it does.

So overall Fat Bastard is a worthy competitor to the [yellow tail]. It lacked some of the Australian's quirks but this is not entirely a bad thing. The wine was so hollow that I really can't recommend it, unless you don't like wine all that much. Perhaps a good analogy is light beer. I have friends that drink light beer not because they are worried about the calories, but because they just don't like the taste of beer. Fat Bastard Shiraz falls into the same category - some people probably really like it.