From Gallo. An addition to the Garnet Point range. launched two years ago, it has become one of the fastest growing wine brands on the market.
Price £4.99
Abv: 13%
TARGET CONSUMER
Liz Ross Martyn, 25, is marketing manager at JCDecaux. She lives in east London.
I'm a fan of New World white wines you can be fairly sure to get a decent tipple from the West Coast, and this was no exception. It's quite a trendy brand, and the bottle looks good, saying clearly that it contains a decent wine from a vineyard to be trusted, certainly worth drinking.
It smells like fruit salad, a medley of aromas, and from the first taste you can tell there's more than Chardonnay in there. I couldn't pick out the individual fruits that the label claimed were in there, but I could certainly taste honey on the finish, in texture as well as taste. It's a syrupy, dangerously drinkable wine at a good price, and I would buy it again, with no qualms in taking it to dinner parties.
Rating out of 25 18
Sally Easton
Master of Wine and wine buyer for Berry Brothers and Rudd
This has a diffuse lemon colour and a wide colourless rim suggestive of dilute fruit. The nose is neutral and slightly peppery and the palate reflects this somewhat anonymous character; there is some spicy round texture to the palate offered by the glycerol content but the wine lacks intensity, concentration and almost any varietal character of Chardonnay or Semillon. The acidity is soft and the sensation short-lived. As an addition to the Garnet Point range and with significant marketing support to reach a large proportion of customers, it is likely to do very well. Success rating out of 25 18
Graham Shearsby
Board creative director, graphics, at Design Bridge
It is unbelievable to think that on top of the New World wine mountain there is room for yet another Creeky, Hilly, Pointy, Ridgy brand. Saturation point must be near. This is part of the Gallo empire and the pack has a corporate feel about it.The presumably mythical, Garnet Point illustration and overlaying diamond shaped labels have a tightly structured system that appears to be straight out of the How to design a typical New World wine' manual. It's all here see through capsule, flange top bottle, neck label. It works to a certain point but it's all a bit too Stepford Wives' and lacks any real soul. Success rating out of 25 10
Steve Mayes
Category controller at Landmark
This is a sad flabby wine. Spectacularly unimpressive. Maybe I had a duff bottle or was having a bad palate day, but a Chardonnay Semillon from the New World is supposed to be a lively, zesty number.This was dull as ditchwater with no fruit and a short finish. The presentation is akin to the rest of the range which is pleasant enough. Apparently Garnet Point is successful and it is likely this extension will succeed but it doesn't do Gallo's reputation any favours. I wouldn't list this as there are far better wines coming out of California. Success rating out of 25 10
Total score out of 100 56
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