Unfussy Wine Enthusiasts | Wine Reviews & Articles

As we go through our roster of wines from the 2014 NSLC Port of Wines Festival we get to try wines that stood out on the day.  The Italian table was a bit of a hit and miss group of wines wrapped up with a lot of really nice but expensive Amarones and Barolos.  This Sicilian wine came in at the middle of our price point at $21.79 which is a little high for Nero d'Avola but this is a nice wine.  According to Wikipedia this grape is the most important grape for the island at the tip of the boot of Italy. In the glass this wine is a lighter bodied red which is typical of this grape.  It is very purple in colour and in the glass you see it has a slight transparency for a darker red.  Again this is typical of the grape. The nose is very smokey and has a strong leather sensation when you breathe deeply.  There is a very plummy undertone to things and it makes it an enticing smell.  Really quite nice. Nero has Pinot No...

This is yet another selection from the 2014 NSLC Port of Wines Festival.  We didn't get to a lot of the Australia table overall but there were some highlights and we felt like this wine was one of them.  Australia gets a lot of attention during the show with very drinkable and palate friendly wines but for a few years we didn't feel like they deserved the hype.  We found a lot of over ripe and hot wines with too much jam in their reds and over-oaked whites.  We think Aussie wineries are getting the message that some jam and oak are great but too much doesn't keep people coming back for more. This Cabernet has a deep purple verging on black colour in the glass. The wine is very thick in the glass though the legs on the swirl are super speedy. It looks like a rich, thick luscious wine. The nose on this wine is pure strawberry jam. We're wary of that jam smell but it is combined with blackberries and black cherries and is quite attract...

We use our Instagram mostly as a one off quick wine tasting platform so sometimes our Blog Followers don't see them.  So we thought we'd show them here for a Holiday Wine Selections Post and we'll break them down by Food Pairing.  This isn't all of them but a good chunk. Here's to you having a wonderful Holiday Season filled with family and friends, laughter and joy and lots of wine! Get ready to scroll!   :) Turkey and Seafood Wine Pairings: Our last 2011 The People's Sauvignon Blanc: all the tropical smells you can handle in a glass! #nzwine rocks! A photo posted by Chris O'Shea (@unfussywine) on Oct 10, 2014 at 3:37pm PDT Yup this on tap for turkey dinner. Can..not..wait! #calipinotnoirrocks A photo posted by Chris O'Shea (@unfussywine) on Oct 10, 2014 at 10:50am PDT There will be a Blog post, oh yes... A photo posted by Chris O'Shea (@unfussywine) on Aug 8, 2014 at 7:02pm PDT 2011 Se...

This is one of the last wines we had from the 2013 NSLC Port of Wines Festival.  It sat for more than a year in our rack waiting for its turn.  We remembered nothing of the wine because it was so long ago but we were glad to see our way out of the stock from 2013.  We have had Sileni Pinot Noir as well and found that to be a great wine was well. In the glass, the wine is light yellow in colour and show a very slight effervescence which is interesting.  The other main characteristic we noticed was that the wine looked a lot less watery than we normally see if NZ Sauv Blanc. The nose is full of pears and peaches with a hint of mint.  The one main note we get is....wait for it....stinky feet.  That's right, there is a crazy amount of stink in there and it just works.  Why?  Because it's followed by a very cleansing mist of alcohol.  It is really cool. The flavour profile is a lot more traditional with a lot of pin...

‎This was a purchase at the NSLC Port of Wines Festival this year. It was an interesting taste profile so we picked up a bottle for closer inspection.  Frank Nobilo carries on the tradition of Ernie Els, Mike Weir, and other Pro Golfers who have ventured into the wine business with his Nobilo Wines .  This version is a good one. In the glass the wine is pale yellow with a green hue.  It is a watery wine and is very clear.  It looks like a Summer wine and certainly makes one want to drink it.  We miss Summer...if you couldn't tell. The nose is tropical though and through which, if this is your first review of ours you're reading, we love.  There's mango and papaya front and centre.  Beneath all that is a lemon peel element that really rounds out the nose.  Very nice smelling wine. The flavours are interesting to say the least.  It is a typically tart and crisp Sauv Blanc.  There is a citrus component on palat...

This wine was on the roster for Mer et Soleil  at this year's Port of Wines Festival and we had a chance to try it both freshly opened and with a little time open.  Overall, it was a nice drinking wine but definitely develops more when the bottle is open for a while.  We would go as far to say it is better to decant this wine to open it up a bit. Bright crimson is the best was to categorize the look and colour of the wine.  There are slow legs in the glass on the swirl and it seems to stick to the sides as the wine comes down.  It has an oily look to it as well which make you feel like this will be a big wine. The nose hit us with cherry blossoms and violets as the dominant building blocks of the bouquet.  We also see light oak and vanilla notes underlying all of that.  It's a solid nose on this wine. The oily nature of the wine in the glass continues on the palate. It sticks to the tongue quite readily.  This com...

This was a late in the show NSLC Port of Wines Festival selection. Palates were exhausted and there wasn't enough bread to bring it back. We knew we wanted to hit the South Africa table before we left and we wanted to find a Pinotage to take home. Well, mission accomplished with the Beyerskloof Pintoage ($18.49 locally). It still stood out with tired tongues but to be honest we weren't sure if we were gonna love it when we tried it. Well good news... Pinotage tends to be a lighter coloured red wine and this one is about average though it has transparent edges which is an interesting effect. While not as thin as it's cousin Pinot Noir, there is definitely a clear structure to the wine. We have found Pinotage to be nutty to the point of dark chocolate or even coffee.  This wine however is not as nutty as we might expect. There is a touch in there but this reads more like a Grenache with distinct notes of Cherry Twizzlers and vanilla in there. ...