Master of Wine and wine buyer for Forth Wines This smelled stale and musty. The sparkling Californian base wine underneath was probably quite nice but it was ruined by the additives. It had some very medicinal notes and tasted a bit like herbal medicine. The packaging is quite good, and I suspect there are many people who would buy this for its looks. But then they would get a nasty surprise when they tried to drink it. It would take a huge promotional budget to make this one fly. Success rating out of 25 ­ 0 THE DESIGNER Matt Thompson Associate director of Blackburn's a brand packaging designer In a formulaic category, this unexpected offering is refreshing. The name and visual evoke a sophistication of a bygone era appropriate for a sparkling wine with the relevance of the ginseng ingredient from the Orient. It succeeds in saying I'm a sparkling wine with a difference' and thus provokes a trial. But everything seemingly points to a French origin ­ the name, France's reputation for fizz. So it's a pity when it transpires that it comes from California. A distinctive credible provenance gets in a muddle leaving the consumer potentially in doubt of authenticity and quality. Success rating out of 25 ­ 14 . THE BUYER Adam Marshall Licensed trading controller at Nisa-Today's I am reliably informed that this looks, tastes and smells like the cheap champagne' eagerly sold by those nice girls in Far East brothels ­ not that I would know, of course. The label claims that the product is a premium Californian sparkling wine married with ginseng extract', if this is premium sparkling wine' then the stuff served up by Gallo must be nectar! The Art Deco style label also unfortunately adds nothing positive to the experience. The price point on this at £19.95 seems rather high and the taste delivery suggests there are a number of £1.99 sparkling perries it would struggle against. Success rating out of 25 ­ 2 Total score out of 100 ­ 28 {{DRINKS }}

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