Jim Jim 2005 Barker's White Wine

After coming across Jim Jim's wines, I was a little worried about the quality of the wine that we were about to experience. Jim Jim wine was either going to be A. a cheap wine that tried too hard on marketing the product or B. a good wine with a humorous marketing department. Fortunately, it was choice B. since the white wine that was selected was a smooth slightly tropical flavor much like a Sauvignon Blanc white wine. Unlike other white wines though, Barker's White Wine leaves a burning feeling in the throat a few moments after drinking. In my opinion, the feeling was like taking a shot of vodka or sake. For a beginning wine connoisseur, the white wine was a good selection if looking for something slightly sweet but also with a slight after-bite taste.

This hand-picked white wine is packaged in a humorous light green tinted bottle with a black top screw top and white label. At first, the bottle looks like a conservative bottle of white wine however after getting closer one will notice there are paragraphs of writing at the top front and on the back label as well. The label contents are written in the voice of the dog that is the PR manager in the Australian Vineyard, his name is Jim Jim who is a Labrador Kelpie Mix Breed. He talks about his life on the Southern Australian vineyard and how the wine has been produced. The bottle alone is a great conversational piece at a large party.

Adding to my interest, this wine is produced with two different grapes in a wonderful blend of Viognier and Verdelho grapes. Personally, I had never heard of either of the two grapes however I learned that the Viognier is a French grape and the Verdelho is Portuguese. The French grape, Viognier, is supposed to have an orange blossom flavor while the Portuguese Verdelho gives off a fruit and pear flavor swirl. It is hard to find a good wine made from Portuguese grapes, therefore this is a special treat.

Trying to smell the different flavors, I could not. Thinking back though, I could sense the slight tropical fruit flavor that made the initial taste of the wine slightly sweeter than other wines. It is not as sweet as a desert or ice wine though. In addition, if serving this wine, it must be cold. The first couple of sips right after the wine was taken from the refrigerator was much better than when it got warm. It is one of those wines that can not be left sitting around outside of an ice bucket for parties. It must be served right away!

We tried this wine with cheese and black olive pizza, which brings out a slight sour taste rather than sweet. Additionally, eating pizza and tasting the wine did not decrease the burning after effect that was not appealing. The Jim Jim website suggests trying it alongside seafood, salads, pasta and meats such as chicken and turkey.

For my family, we will stay away from this wine for later drinking since we did not like the after burning feeling in the throat. For those that like to have a slightly alcoholic after-taste, this wine is suggested. Although the price is under ten dollars, we prefer to drink something with more tropical hints and a better after taste.