Go on – admit it.  At some point, we’ve all hugged the life out of a cheap box of goon and regretted it the next day.  Regardless of that hangover – the humble cask holds a proud place in our nation’s history, it has been the training wheels for many of us who’ve gone on to become wine lovers. Tuesday 24 February 2015 will see this brilliant Aussie invention honoured with a 50th birthday party in the posh Sydney suburb of Vaucluse. The Wine Wankers have started the party early however, by tasting our way through 20 of the nation’s most premium cask wines.  We wanted to know; has the quality of cask wine improved, and if so – what is Australia’s best cask wine?  But before we get to the results – let’s get some background info out of the way, really quickly in bullet points! Invented by Riverland winemaker, Tom Angove in 1965 Invention was finally patented in April 1965 Idea was inspired by from the flexible packaging of old goat skins that stored wine in biblical times

Tom was inspired to store wine in a plastic bag and store it in a box The ‘airless flow’ of the cask is why the invention is genius; wine comes out, but no air goes in. So therefore the wine doesn’t become oxidised! In 1973, before wine casks really took off, each Australian was only drinking 9.8 litres of wine per year. Wine had a “special occasion only” image. After ten years of cask presence, per capita consumption rose to 19.3 litres. In 2015, the cask is still as popular as ever; one in every three glasses of wine drunk in Australia comes out of a cask Contents stay fresh for 6 weeks after opening If you haven’t ventured into the cask section of your local bottle shop lately, you’re in for a treat. Cask producers have responded to the trend of consumers drinking less wine, but drinking better quality.  You’ll now find real varieties and actual vintages, and even popular regions such as McLaren Vale and Marlborough.  What’s more, packaging size has reduced. 

You now find ‘magnum’ sized cask wines; The verdict – Australia’s best cask wines The Wine Wankers tasted each wine blind, by pegging the bladders to a Hills Hoist clothes line and re-enacting a game of Goon of Fortune!A$13 for 2 litres.  I’m not surprised a chardonnay took out top honours, Australia excels at terrific value chardonnay. Great balance with some lovely cool climate flavours of white nectarine, lemon and honeydew melon.  Value plus and very smart. Runner ups – whites Ta_Ku Sauvignon Blanc 2014 (Marlborough). A$24 for 1.5 litres.   Not too bad considering this does herald from a cask, lovely crisp tropical fruit and gooseberry flavours matched with some grassy herbal characters. Yalumba 2014 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc.   This is almost a perfect quaffing white wine blend, definitely a fridge staple! There’s plenty of interesting fresh and lively tropical fruit characters matched with fresh herbs.A$10 for 2 litres.  There’s a party in my mouth! 

This is what you should be buying if you’re having a pool party. Bags of fruity tropical flavours matched harmoniously with lemon and lime zest.  TOP REDS – EQUAL FIRST Debortoli Premium Cabernet Merlot.  A$16.50 for 4 litres.  A sensational wine with amazing balance and delicious cabernet fruit flavour of casis and oak.  Hardy’s The Chronicles Butcher’s Gold Shiraz 2012 (McLaren Vale) A$25 for 1.5 litres.  Terrific varietal flavours of plum and spice with lashings of toasty oak.best white wine with salmon And finally, because we are celebrating a 50th, we should be celebrating with bubbles.  best wine in parisWine cask champagne to be exact.  best red wine to make spiced wine

Take it away Cheryl.Our favourite Specialbuys are online Head in store or shop online and enjoy exclusive offers on homewares, electricals, DIY, clothing and much more. A new range of Specialbuys is released every Sunday and Thursday, offering exceptional quality and amazing value. New stock arrives every Sunday and ThursdayCheck out all of our products > Host Your Own Blind Wine Tasting Party Hone Your Blind Wine Tasting Skills Blind wine tasting is the skill of determining the varietal, region, vintage and producer by only using your senses. buy european wine onlineTo be an expert blind wine taster you need to build keen senses. new world wine strategyFor that you’ll either need:best wine crystal glasses a.) a lot of money – OR –

b.) a couple of good friends who like drinking Read the guide below on how to format your own blind wine tasting party. Becoming great at blind wine tasting takes experience, so we’re revealing the secrets of our best ‘tells’ to wine varietals. If you want to know more about the secrets of wine, check out our posts on the color of red wine and the color of white wine. Setting up a Wine Tasting Party Secret to getting great wines The best way to share the cost of the wine is to have each person bring a bottle. This way everyone involved will only know one of the wines. When we host a blind wine tasting party, we’re always surprised by how people go above and beyond because they want to share something they love. What Are Ideal Wines for a Blind Tasting Party? Even in Master Sommelier exams they have a list of wines you can and can’t use. Nowadays, there are many wines that will ‘trick’ even a seasoned sommelier. With that in mind, here is a great list of recommended wine varietals:

If you don’t have enough wine bags you can use aluminum foil to disguise the bottles. Pinot Noir, Malbec (from Argentina), Merlot (from US), Nebbiolo, Cabernet Franc (from France), Grenache, Syrah/Shiraz (From Australia or France) Sauvignon Blanc (from New Zealand), Chardonnay (From California), Riesling (from Germany), Moscato, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Grigio (From Italy), Viognier Blind Tasting Wine Party Format An awesome party host will have an array of snacks, water, a spittoon and glassware. If you don’t have enough fancy glassware, identical clear glass/plastic cups will do fine. At our first blind wine tasting party we had a bag of pita chips, plastic cups, water-from-the-sink and a nasty old 5-gallon paint jug for a wine spittoon. Today the only difference is glassware. Wrap wine bottles with aluminum foil Hand everyone a glass Separate the whites from the reds and number them. Start with white wine. Pass wines round robin and deliberate results after each wine (before you forget!)

Use the spittoon as much as you can because you will get drunk How Do You Taste Wine To Identify It Blind? Check out 5 Steps to Tasting Wine. Blind Tasting Tricks and Hints These hints are based on observations of thousands of wines. Although sometimes the wine doesn’t show these traits, more than often it will. Do you need to review the 5 basic wine characteristics? Pinot Noir is one of the lightest of light red wines. If you have a wine that’s extremely transparent and the meniscus is more ruby than purple, you may have a glass of Pinot Noir in front of you. Pinot Noir smells like cranberries and pickles… and most of all: wine. I love blind tasting Malbec because it’s usually very opaque. It also has one ‘tell’, a bright pink-magenta rim. Malbec commonly smells like blueberries and vanilla. Merlot is very confusing because it often tastes and smells like young Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Merlot’s ‘tell’ is that it has a slightly orange rim at a young age whereas Cabernet Sauvignon does not.

Nebbiolo is one of the most high-tannin wines out there, yet it still is very translucent. Nebbiolo is a grippy wine while staining orange and being very light-colored. Nebbiolo is from Italy and tastes of bricks, roses and cherries. I like to select Cabernet Franc over Cabernet Sauvignon because it’s more obvious. Cabernet Franc has more peppery and savory characteristics than Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s easy to identify because no matter what region it grows in, it has this classic bell-pepper aroma. Grenache is also known as Garnacha in Spain and is a bit of a chameleon. Grenache produces ruby-colored translucent light red wines. Grenache’s ‘tell’ is candied fruit. Spanish Garnacha smells of candied grapefruit. Syrah and Shiraz are more opaque than other wines. A Shiraz often tastes of black fruits whereas a French Syrah tastes of black olives. Either way, look for black fruits in a Syrah. Sauvignon Blanc tastes like green bell pepper, grass, limes and gooseberries.

Even when Sauvignon Blanc tastes more peachy and passion fruit-y such as many California Sauvignon Blanc’s do, it still tastes a little green. Chardonnay is one of the most full-bodied white wines out there. It will fill your mouth with its flavor. An oaked chardonnay has a smooth creamy taste and a much darker color than other wines. Try to get an oaked Chardonnay for a blind tasting, it will be the easiest to identify. Learn About the Differences High acidity, honey and apricots are the main flavors of a Riesling. Most Rieslings are also slightly sweet. Watch out for Australian Rieslings, they are usually dry (with no residual sugar). Moscato is usually delicate and sweet, tasting of peaches and perfume. The smell of Moscato is very strong, it will fly out of the glass at you. An Austrian wine with high acidity and very green flavors. While some Grüner Veltliner are richer in style, most $10-15 wines have major lime zest and pepper flavors. When I’m blind tasting Pinot Grigio, it’s more a question of what it’s not versus what it is.