Hope Estate, Verdelho 2007 (Hunter Valley, Australia) $NA, 12.5% abv

Jet Blue. Center seat. Next to a fussy seven-month old. Entertainment system broken.

Alcohol needed.

I find ‘meh’ white wine easier to swallow than ‘meh’ red wine, so I ordered a mini bottle of white and, well, color me surprised when I was presented with a Verdelho! From the Hunter Valley! That seems so random to me that I fully expect their red selection is a Blaufränkish from Lodi.


Swirling from my small plastic cup, I found the wine had medium intensity aromas of lemon peel, grapefruit, orange, lychee, wet stone, and a hint of green herbs. The body was a little fuller than medium, oily in texture, and seemed slightly off-dry on the palate (mind you, I have a blind spot on residual sugar). Acid was soft and flavors agreed with the palate and further included menthol, which I interpreted as higher alcohol (though the bottle said 12.5%).

Alternative package alert – this was bottled in a seriously solid plastic bottle (like, I couldn’t dent it or destroy it with my hands. Hey, the famous Jet Blue entertainment system was down).

This unexpected little wine option made me think what a great time in history it is to enjoy wine.

Lighter wine bottles being introduced in the UK

Decanter reports that Tesco is using 300g screwcap bottles on its own-label Australian NV red wine. The standard glass bottle is 420g.

A step in the right direction for saving on carbon emissions, but I wonder if it's a solid enough bottle to become a real alternative packaging option. The article says the lighter bottle has the same resistance as a regular bottle, but Tesco is only risking its finest Australian NV red for now. So if it break they lose, what, $0.15 of product?