It might be the thin edge of the wedge. Southcorp has just released its Thirsty Fish Sparkling Red, described by its publicists as a ‘vivacious sparkling red wine set to rock your taste buds and tantalise your senses’. Its sweet, simple taste of jammy Riverland shiraz and cabernet with a shot of vanilla oak is supposed to be ‘contemporary’, even ‘elegant enough to be enjoyed with the finest of meals’. What PR balderdash! And why do I sound a little peeved? Because about thirty years ago wine companies began releasing an entirely questionable product they called Cold Duck which, like the Thirsty Fish Sparkling Red, was a sweet, fizzed up version of very ordinary red wine. Cold Duck effectively killed off the market for what we then called Sparkling Burgundy, ringing the death knell over generations of fantastic wines. Don’t buy this wine and tell your friends not to. Now that Australian sparkling red is back in town, don’t let’s kill it off again.
