The Brique Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon - our impression March 2009

Hmmm wine from a sort of milk carton - evil from the depths of hell or not a bad idea?  Sure it's a question nobody has asked but we intend to answer it anyway.  The short answer is .... no you can read the whole article, it won't take long. 

Punters in the mist.

Recently some of us decided to see how well our soft, city bred bodies would cope with some serious wilderness.  Since the Overland Track, which runs from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair, is part of the World Heritage Area in Tassie and is listed in those '101 things you must do before you die' books we decided it was just the thing we needed. 

The plan was simple, we would cover approximately 67 km of undulating alpine and thick forest country over 5 days.  No showers, no changing of clothes and freeze dried food - who could ask for anything more? (how about showers, real food and clean clothes! - Ed).

The planning was going exceptionally well until someone pointed out that since wine bottles weren't really practical in a situation where you had to carry everything you needed on your back, we would have to go 5 days without wine (the screams of fear and horror went on for some time! - Ed).  Clearly this is a breach of our human rights so what we needed was a drinkable red wine in a very light container.  We thought of casks or putting our favourite vintage into a coke bottle but then we stumbled across an alternative. 

Enter the one litre recyclable container of Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon from Brique.  There are other brands, such as Long Flat, but the approach is basically the same.  Put a cheap wine into a milk carton like container and market the thing to within an inch of it's life.  We have asked people (see the interview with Matt Pooley) about the move into this type of packaging and usually the response is "it has it's place but I would never agree to have my wine in it".

The way of the future?.

Still desperate times call for desperate measures so we took the Brique with us and put it to the punter test.  

What does the winemaker say?

Since no one has put their name to this drop we can only guess the identity of the winemaker but looking at the side of the package you get the following:

"Brique is the simple, easy and convenient way to enjoy a glass of fine wine. Brique is sustainable packaging that hasn't conceded on quality.  Brique is not a gimmick.  Brique is the future. Brique is fresh. Brique is different. Brique has taken something good and made it even better" (Brique has cured cancer - sorry couldn't resist - Ed).  

Buried deep in this sort of stuff is a brief mention that the wine "balances spicy black pepper notes with blackcurrant and cherry flavours"

What do we say?

This is not a gimmick! Despite the truly annoying and over the top marketing spiel on the packaging we have to say that it does deliver.  It is a surprisingly drinkable red wine in a very light and convenient container and yes the blackcurrant and cherry flavours with the peppery finish did appear as promised. 

To sum up lets answer the Punter questions:

Should you buy this wine?

At $7 a litre you can't say you have been over charged.  In fact in the right circumstances it truly is "one litre value".  Of course we do stress the caveat "in the right circumstances".

What will it taste like in a real situation?

To get the most out of this wine go bush, walk 24kms with a full pack in the rain and snow and prepare yourself some freeze dried food.  Sure it's food and wine matching at it's most primitive but it works. In any other circumstance this wine is pretty much like any other cask wine.

Will the object of your desire be impressed?

Pull this out on a first date and you will be going home alone.  However if you meet the desired one on a bushwalk then you are in with a chance as long as you follow up with a quality Tassie wine once you get back to civilisation.

What do you think? Send us a comment