Cheap Wine 2 of 6 - Jacob's Creek

As I opened the bottle of Jacob's Creek Shiraz/Cabernet I was optimisitc. They use a higher-quality synthetic cork than either the [yellow tail] or the Fat Bastard reviewed recently. The cork is not designed for a wine which will age; you can tell that due to the "cork" length.

I've found at least 3 different kind of synthetic in use for cork these days, as well as the real deal and screw-tops. Like many wine reviewers I'm pro-screw-top. The cork, while an ancient tradition, just leads to problems. Real cork is susceptible to fungal and bacterial contamination, it can dry out and crumble leading to leaking or spoilage (via oxidation), it can swell and become impossible to remove or it can half dry out and break when you're trying to remove it. Basically it's a technology with lots of potential problems. This site has a good background article on how corks are made. FYI, synthetic corks are recyclable.

Synthetic cork gets around most of this. It's not subject to contamination by fungus and won't dry out. It comes out in one piece. My objection is that once you use a synthetic, why use a cork at all? Just put an air tight screw-top on the bottle like every other bottle we get from a store.

Regardless, wines that are designed to age for an extended period of time have longer corks, to protect the wine from all the problems I mentioned above. So far all of the < $10 wines reviewed have very short synthetic corks; they are obviously intended to be drunk now.

That's what I proceeded to do with the Jacob's Creek. I was again disappointed in the aroma of the wine. There is the barest touch of fruit scent and something like vanilla, though it's ephemeral. The scent is not harsh or inorganic but it's not encouraging either. The flavor is better. (A mismatch between armoa and taste means something about quality; something to explore later). Due to the addition of Cabernet this wine has more character and strength than the pure Shiraz's. It's also drier with a more traditional (i.e., French) taste profile. The wine is lacking in several areas, including mouth-feel and finish. It's a step up from the [yellow tail] and Fat Bastard in both of those categories.

This wine is one of the most expensive of my under $10 batch, lying right at the border. Apparently for 50% more you get get 50% better quality. Of the wines tried so far the Jacob's Creek is the only one I would buy again. I don't recommend this wine for entertaining or a special occassion. If you're looking for something to just have around or if you need to serve a crowd cheap I'd check it out.