“Sweet vanilla gives way to the sassy love child of a strawberry and a raspberry. Just when you think it might all get a bit silly, there’s some oak. It’s not sophisticated but it doesn’t care.”

The Sunday Times

I read a lot of positive wine reviews and naturally I don’t buy everything that’s recommended so I have to admit to buying 19 Crimes partly because I was intrigued by the name and partly because of the price – I can live with a £6.50 experiment.

19 Crimes is a 2014 Australian wine made from Shiraz grapes, weighing in at 13% ABV. It’s so called because of the 19 crimes listed by British courts which, once committed, could result in transportation to Australia rather than death (although many died on the journey).

Does the wine live up to its history?

A couple of Saucy Dressings tasters helped out with this research.

“Bright, fruity, surprisingly refreshing, citrus notes, sweet blackberry aftertaste, light and lively” commented one with relish, adding “it’s extremely good value considering the quality, I think I might buy some myself”.

The second taster gave an even more forthright assessment. “All of the punch but none of the skank of some Australian wines that contain a lot of sulphites”, was his candid opinion, and he went on to further elucidate, “plum notes of hoisin sauce but zingier with a touch of lemon”

Recommended then!

This post is dedicated to Johny Cuffe.

Video to watch

There are two great Australian detectives – one is Arthur Updike’s half Anglo-saxon half Aboriginal Napoleon Bonaparte (made into a television series but not available in Europe) and the other is Miss Fisher – ridiculous, delightful. Get a taste in the clip below.