Hasn’t this year just flown by?
It’s time to start thinking about Christmas presents, and just who is on your nice list for this year.
For twenty seventeen EES are partnering up with Ugly Duckling Wines. A Western Australian local family company just like us. This year we are gifting two of their finest wines, the Chenin Blanc and Red Duck.
Ugly Duckling are a small boutique vineyard and cellar door located in the picturesque Swan Valley, thirty minutes north east of Perth and have been producing their own wine label since 2007.
Don’t let the name fool you, these wines are beautiful in flavour and world class, they have certainly made their mark on our lucky office tasters.
Firstly let’s take a closer look at the white on offer “Chenin Blanc”.
This is one of the principal varieties in the Swan Valley Region. In this climate the wine produced has a certain luscious richness, which responds well to bottle age, producing a full-flavoured white of voluptuous dimensions.
Ugly Duckling’s Chenin is a perfect homage to this lovely grape and is explained by the wine maker as “dry and refreshing with characters of Granny Smith apple and citrus. It also notes a long crisp finish”.
Here’s what our staff thought of this wine:
“Light and crisp.”
“Fruity and fresh!”
“A summers drop.”
“A lovely apple aftertaste”
“Quaffable.”
“Would be perfect with pork.”
Next up is the “Red Duck”, a blend of Shiraz, Cabernet and Merlot.
The most amazing feature of Swan Valley Red wines is their incredible softness and drinkability at an early age. They are generally picked quite ripe accounting for the sweet fruit, and have lower tannins than wines from other regions. Both Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon are the most successful and thriving grapes in this region.
Ugly Duckling’s knowledge and skilful execution of these varieties is no exception. “This one is listed as a classic Western Australian non-vintage blend. It is very approachable with characteristics of each variety discernible with none dominating.”
Here’s the office tasters comments:
“It has an instant smell of rich ripe plums.”
“Smooth and full bodied … velvety!”
“Rich in flavour.”
“Light on the tannins.”
“Beautifully packaged.”
“Would be perfect with steak!”
If you’re looking for a classic gift for someone in your life, we’d highly recommend Ugly Duckling Wines.
We’d like to thank Ugly Duckling Wines for supplying our wine this year. All opinions on this review are our own.
