The highlight of my (and, apparently, Stephanie Rice's) weekend was watching the Wallabies finally find some luck on the high veld of Sarth Iffrica. A yarpie called Flip flopped on a ruck. Kurtley kicked the winning points with a thoooousand metre penalty at the death. And I enjoyed it all in the company of a saucy little blonde.
Peter Lehmann's 2009 Barossa Blonde that is.
I wouldn't usually tuck into white wine at 2 o'clock on a Sunday morning. But by half-time, having polished off all the loose beers in my fridge, I decided I might as well also finish off the $10 bottle that had gone into the risotto earlier that evening. "Waste not, want not", my grandfather used to say.
The Barossa Blonde is a bit of a mongrel mix - riesling, chenin blanc, semillon and sauvignon blanc. It seems Mr Lehmann may be familiar with my grandfather's motto as well.
But they don't call him the Baron of the Barossa for nothing. He knows what to do with whatever grapes come his way - and for the price, this is a most agreeable drop.
The label continues PL's Queen of Clubs theme and sports an attractive little charmer. Looking a lot like a young Ita Buttrose, she's sweet and pure - and I bet her tongue nevers touches her lips either. Hmmm mmm, I think I'd like to take her out to din-ner.
Anyway...what's in the bottle? It pours almost as crystal clear as water, but is tinged with a subtle verdancy.
The nose is as green as Bob Brown, but infinitely more likable. There's some citrus action and a scrape of freshly cut passionfruit.
In truth, there's more smell than taste - but the drinking is pleasant and easy, without any touch of bite. And happily, unlike a lot of other cheap plonk, it doesn't make the mistake of trying to achieve this by excessive sweetness.
It's as nicely balanced as a good margarita - and in fact, if you felt compelled to add wedge of lime and a little salt to the rim, this little lady may well take you straight to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.
But it really doesn't matter what I think.
What we all want to know is, "What does our favourite twit, Ms Rice, have to say on the matter?"
"Suck on that...", is apparently her carefully considered opinion. And something about a bundle of sticks.
Couldn't have put it better myself.
Rating: 7.5/10
Drink with: British meatballs. And Rice.
Price: $10
http://www.peterlehmannwines.com/
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