The Thousands

The wine world has a rep for being snooty, so everyone gets in a panic about making wine more “approachable” (approaching wine? Most of us have problems walking away!). And then the knee-jerk strategy tends to be – mess with the packaging (Tetrapacks! Wine in a can!) or slap on a “funky” label.

Cake Wines feature labels by Australian artists, (currently Beci Orpin and Kill Pixie, with talk of more down the line by Hollie Martin and Kevin Tran). Rather than being simply a contrived attempt to be approachable, they’re making an effort to involve and benefit the local creative community. The resulting product is easy to like. They’re brand-blingin’ new: Musica was their debutante ball, and they’ve been popping up all over the place ever since. Some kind of holy alliance is still in the lab with Inertia, and best of all, from every bottle sold 25 cents goes to FBi Radio.

With all the alliances in order, what of the wines themselves? Sourced from the Adelaide Hills, the 2011 Sauvignon Blanc is dry, and as green and grassy as a picnic, which incidentally would be a perfect occasion to drink it. The 2009 Cabernet Merlot is full and fruity on the nose, but still remains a bit savoury to taste. But at this price, these wines were made for drinking, not swilling and spitting.