Girls Just Wanna Have Fun! (Lambrini)

Member Name: Gwenick

Product:	Lambrini
Date:	02/02/02 (271 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, drinkable

Disadvantages: probably not good enough for a 'posh' dinner

I’m on my own tonight, as my DH has gone out for a drink with some friends from work (and my brother). I’m not complaining, I think he’s only been out for a drink less than 10 times since Tafara was born (and he’s almost 17 months!). Anyway, I decided that if he was going to go out for a drink then I would buy myself a bottle of ‘plonk’ to while away the evening.

I opted for the cheapest bottle in our local shop (a Londis) which was Lambrini priced at £1.59 for 75cl. It’s comes in a clear bottle with a simple label – well we don’t really expect anything too fancy for a cheap wine do we? - and on the bottle says it was made in the UK (so not entirely sure that Dooyoo have the category quite right). The seal around the screw on lid (no need to try and find a corkscrew) is a lovely gold colour and the labels all have a lovely gold trim……..very girly. Well after all that’s where I first discovered this wine. I was a friend’s house meeting up with some other mum’s. The mum who was hosting the afternoon offered us all wine and of course we all accepted. After consuming several glasses we all commented on how tasty the wine was and really expected her to say some really flashy wine……….but she didn’t – it was Lambrini. I must add here that this particular friend has worked in top catering jobs in London, travels abroad frequently and knows a REALLY good wine when she sees (tastes) it.

Ok, so this wine isn’t THAT spectacular but it’s certainly very drinkable, and is ‘only’ 7.5% vol (in fact if this opinion starts to become very unintelligible it’s because I’ve got a full bottle here which I’ve only just started!). The label describes this wine as a ‘Slightly Sparkling Perry’ – now I don’t know what a ‘Perry’ is really supposed to be, but it’s definitely slightly
sparkling. As you un-screw the lid you do hear a slight fizz and once you’ve poured the golden coloured liquid into your glass there are definitely bubbles there. What’s more you can taste the ‘fizz’ as you drink it (and my son can vouch for that – lol). Now before I go any further I must stress that I know very little………actually I know NOTHING about wines. I know what I like and that’s it. I know of none of the ‘technical’ terms associated with wines and as such my description of the taste and smell could well be a little strange for those connoisseurs out there.

The smell of this wine is really quite non-descript (in my opinion). I suppose there’s a slightly ‘alcoholic’ smell but no really fruitiness or anything like that. Having said that it’s not an overly powerful smell, it’s actually very subtle and as such you can end up picking your glass up and thinking you have a soft drink in there! In terms of taste it’s a very light drink. I guess you really taste more of the bubbles that you do of the booze (but then that may be a good thing considering the price!). What little ‘taste’ you do get it really quite light and fruity tasting. It doesn’t leave any nasty after tastes, or any other type of after taste that I’m aware of. All in all a very nice drink.

So I guess you’re wondering what ‘after effect’s’ it has eh? Well in my case I can drink a whole bottle (still only on the first glass at the moment) and still be able to cook dinner. That’s probably just as well as the most common place for me to drink this wine is when meeting my friends on a Friday afternoon! Even after polishing whole bottles of this stuff on my own (in the evenings) I have never (yet) woken up with a hangover. Now I’m not someone who is prone to bad hangovers (unless I mix my drinks…..which is a BAD idea) but
I don’t know anyone else who drinks this that has had a hangover from it.

So what is the best occasion for this wine? In my opinion this wine is great if you’ve got a small groups of friends over (obviously not for a big dinner party or anything like that) and want to ‘have a laugh’, if you’re having a ‘special dinner’ but don’t have a big budget and can’t afford to splash out on anything expensive……..or just for those quiet evenings in on your own. Many of my friends (and Nick) have commented on what an ‘easy’ drink it is to consume. It doesn’t taste alcoholic, has a lower alcohol % than most wines, and that means you can drink more of it without feeling guilty about drinking ‘too much’. It’s probably also more suited to women as I can’t really see men getting too excited about this stuff.

All in all I’d say that this is a great cheap wine which is definitely worth buying, especially if your getting together with friends at home, or are at home on your own..... :-(

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