Plus Ones readers, get your shopping list out because we have your summer wine list sorted (and it’s not going to break the budget)!
We spent an afternoon with Eddie McDougall from the Flying Winemaker tasting his range of wines and learning about the stories and processes behind his wine mastery.
If you’ve never heard of Eddie, he’s been around the wine block. He is an award-winning winemaker, chairman of the Asian Wine Review, columnist, and TV personality (he even has his own Netflix show).
With a name like The Flying Winemaker, it’s no surprise he travels a bit. With vineyards in New Zealand, Margaret River, and the King Valley, he is able to create a truly unique range of wines with the best grapes from each region. He is also highly involved in the Hong Kong wine scene, splitting his time between Melbourne and Hong Kong.
What’s the drink of summer 2020, you ask? We think it’s going to be rose, and we’ve got a keen eye on Eddie’s Little Pig Rose.
It’s crisp and refreshing with crunchy yellow apple, fresh red berries, a zesty hint of citrus and a mineral finish, making it a not too sweet, perfectly balanced allrounder. Eddie compares it to “biting a watermelon” bursting with a fresh, juicy, and mysterious flavour.
The wine also has a great backstory. The name “Little Pig” comes from the nickname his Chinese grandmother gave him as a child. The wine was launched in honour of her, and in conjunction with the Lunar calendar’s Year of The Pig, 2019.
Just like us at The Plus Ones, I can tell Eddie is rose-obsessed. “Rose is a great social glue that bonds us together. It is versatile and able to pair with a range of food making it an all-around wine conducive to all occasions and settings,” he tells me.
Eddie is all about bringing good wine to the masses, and it shows. His wines are accessible and non-pretentious. They’re also at very drinkable price points with the Little Pig Rose RRP sitting around $18. It’s a great value for a great wine, in my opinion!
Next month, the winemaker plans to partner with Tian38 in Melbourne to launch bottomless Little Pig Rose and bottomless dumplings (we hear they’re going to be pig shaped).
During our tasting session, we explored 11 wines from The Flying Winemaker. Here are our top picks:
- Little Pig Rose – Dry, floral aromatics, ripe red currants crisp apple and guava on the palate. RRP $18
- Sangiovese – Aromas of sour cherries, baked cloves, vanilla and tea. Velvet-like tannins, a plush fruit presence driven by a plummy richness. RRP $28
- Pinot Grigio – Aromas of white peach, pears, and crushed almond meal. Crisp, refreshing and driven with a citrus acid line on the palate. RRP $22
Eddie McDougall wines are available online, or through independent bottle shops across Australia.
– Ember Mitchell
Ember is an American turned Aussie. Her love affair with Melbourne goes back five years, and she still can’t get enough of this city! Discovering new hideouts and hidden gems around Melbourne is her hobby. Marketing Strategist by day, spontaneous adventurer, brekky enthusiast, and aerial acrobat by night.
Summer is just around the corner and we’ve got hot tips from the Flying Winemaker, Eddie McDougall on the wines you need to be drinking.