Hardy wines, for hardy times. (Hardys Wines)

Member Name: giksy21

Product:	Hardys Wines
Date:	09/06/09 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, well finished. Some excellent whites

Disadvantages: Red wines are good, but not as good as the whites.

I think that it has long since been a mistake of modern society to think that something good has to be extraordinarily expensive. Perhaps this ludirous notion was born into our previous years of excess, but thanks to the currant economic climate we have had to curb this thought, and settle for less.

The truth of the matter, is that you never have to settle. Good quality can be found, without breaking the bank. The credit crunch need not halt your thirst for the finer things in life. Wine, is one of the few passions in my life. And it is true to say that you will always get 'so called' experts saying that a truly great wine will cost an arm and a leg. My best advice to you, is to not listen to them as nothing could be further from the truth.

to give an example, I remember back to my student days. We lived with a few French guys, and we all became quite friendly. Well, it turned out that his father owned a vineyard, and produced high quality, and very expensive wines. Well, Romain, and Guillome decided to cook a traditional French meal for us, and Romain supplied then red wine to go with the duck that they had prepared for us. We ate, and drank. The wine was undoubtably well paired with the duck. It was a good, hearty red. Full bodied, but in my opinion it was nothing 'special'. When he told me that the bottle we had just drank between us would cost £400, I nearly choked.

You see, a wine is not set in stone. There is no one way to create something that everyone will enjoy. Rather, the wine chooses you. The wine I spoke of above, was very expensive, but really rather dull. It did not suit me, though I am sure it would suit others. I, however, can safely say that I have enjoyed bottles of wine that cost under £4 more, than the botltle that cost £400. You can safely assume, therefore that a bottle costing £400, is not 100 times better than the one costing £4

So, where am I going with all this? Let's get on to hardy's. They have all the proof you will ever need to show you that what is cheap, can also be good. Hardy's have been in this game for 150 years. They are based in Australia, and have produced some really good wines for comparitavely little money. Quality, it seems, is not always compromised for value.

The Australian climate ripens the fruit further, and tends to make them quite strong due to the higher sugar content. But these guys are experienced enough to deliver it to you in a very subtle way. Accross the board, the wines they produce are highly drinkable, and never get too expensive. On of the most popular of their labels, would be the Hardy's stamp range. There are some top quality wines in their, no matter what you favourite grape may be. My own personal favourite of the stamps, would be the semmilon chardonnay, which combines strength, zesty tones, and the chardonny's creaminess, that so often isn't delivered from other winemakers

However, for a real connaiseur I think the best label they own, and ironically one of the cheapest is the varietal range, or VR. These are great for wine virgins, and wine veterans alike. They are uncomplicated (some would say this makes them less interesting, but I disagree.), And give you only the varietal characteristics of the grape you are sampling. Indeed, if you want to learn to recognise the grapes for their own characteristics, then try these. They will help you to get to grips with the notes, and flavours of each grape.

Of the VR's, the best by far is the chardonnay. Great melony flavours, verging on the peachy. Dry to the taste, but with enough ummph to keep it interesting. It is great with pasta, chicken or lightly grilled meats.

Although they do some great little reds as well, I think that Hardy's main talent is what they can do with white wines. It seems, that the Australians are becomeing as successful with white wine, as the californians are with rose. And with prices starting from as little as £3.99 a bottle, you can try these safe in the knowledge that the credit crunch won't crunch you!

Summary: A great selection of wines, that won't break the bank.