Hardys Crest Brut Rose Sparkling NV

Name: Hardys Crest Brut Rose Sparkling

Colour: Rose

Country: Australia

Region: South East

Year: NV

Producer: Thomas Hardy & Sons

Grape Varieties: Colombard, Sultana, Cabernet Sauvignon

Alcohol: 11.5%

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Purchase Price: £5.90 (half-price offer, Tesco)

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Notes:Maker's tasting notes –

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Somnambulist's verdict: We’re on the hunt for bargains, and to date it’s fiendishly difficult to find quality and cut-price in a sparkler. Half-price offers always present the chance of some unexpected value and so I cheerily grabbed a bottle of this Ozzie pink fizz, stuck it in the cooler and lit the barbie… While the prawns sizzled away I took some time to try and appreciate the delicate aromas - boy are they delicate. After a few sniffs I ended up with my conk halfway down the glass, inhaling furiously through my nostrils like a spin-bowler in a night-club dunny, just trying to get a recognisable scent. There’s some ‘gentle’ fruits there, let’s call them Summery: melon and strawberries, perhaps. Pleasant enough, but steamrollered on the first sip. It’s drier than an outback waterhole in a drought, and it's got a vicious acid sharpness. The kind that runs off that spin-bowler’s tongue when he’s busy sledging the opening batsman at The Oval, and which leaves a long, sour, pithy after-taste. Only a chilli-dipped giant prawn (or a six knocked straight back over the cocky bowler’s head) can deal with that…

Chuck this one in the bin of bum bargain bubblies and move on.