No Animals Were Harmed During This Tasting

After typing away endlessly about fashion and fluffies, I thought it was time to make it a threesome and throw my other lover into the mix: red wine - particularly Shiraz. Besides, nothing says style and sophistication like classily sipping shiraz from your stemless black CB2 glass, while discussing the state of the economy – or Lily Allen’s latest outfit. Yellow Tail has always been a safe fall-back for me. But just like in fashion, sometimes it pays to take risks.

This weekend, I decided to branch out and put some bottles to the test with a Shiraz “Battle of the Bottle Animals” wine tasting. After selecting four fierce contenders, I set to work, sipping away. They were judged based on several criteria, such as price, alcohol content, taste, smoothness, and drinkability. It was also imperative that the name not only contain an animal, but that there was also an actual depiction of one on the 750mL bottle. After much note-taking and debate, the results ranked as followed (by brand, year, animal, alcohol content, and price according to Bottle King):

• 1st Place: the Little Penguin / 2008 / penguin / 13.5% / $7.99
• 2nd Place: Yellow Tail / 2008 / kangaroo / 13.5% / $6.99
• 3rd Place: Yellow Bird / 2006 / cockatiel-looking bird / 14% / $5.98
• 4th Place: Pigs in the Sky / 2005 / flying pigs / 14% / $6.98

My placements also took into consideration the extra ‘bottle bonus points’ awarded:  Pigs in the Sky has a twist off top, so no corkscrew necessary. I don’t know about you, but I usually spend longer trying to open most bottles than I do enjoying them. Also, Yellow Tail and the Little Penguin scored on the cute count by having roos and penquin feet printed onto their corks.

But the overall winner, the Little Penguin, did more than warm my stomach – it also touched my heart. Their name comes from the smallest of the penguins found along the South Eastern coast of Australia. Their label as well as their company mission honors The Penguin Foundation, which was established to proudly protect and preserve these little creatures and their natural habitat. the Little Penguin offers a helping hand (and wing) by donating proceeds from wine sales to the foundation, plus their website urges fans to show support by adopting a penguin or making a donation. I bet you can guess what’s next on my long-distance pet list!