Rob Horgan
WINE experts worldwide readily offer up their favourite Chardonnay or Merlot, but seldom before has someone dedicated themselves solely to exposing bottles of cheap, toxic plonk…
Enter Jose Olmedo, the founder of Sevilla-based wine company Tierra Nuestra, who has taken it upon himself to warn consumers off bottles that really are ‘scraping the barrel’.
And with over 30 years of experience, Olmedo is better placed than most to cast the damning verdict.
“The issue is a delicate one, but I do not see what’s wrong with commenting on wines that don’t make the grade, or that I have simply found to be bad,” Olmedo said.
“It has always been my conviction that, when a wine is bottled, the purpose is to give pleasure, therefore, it is hard for me to understand when the opposite happens.”
Olmedo adds that there ‘are bad wines at all prices’ and while his study only examines wines under €20, he believes ‘good inexpensive wines do exist’.
Judged out of five, Olmedo tests each wine blindfolded and uses an established vintage as a measuring stick.
Three wines have scored the dreaded zero so far
Costing €7.58 a bottle, Palacio de Aranjuez Ecologico is reviewed as ‘undrinkable’, while Olmedo warns the Sierra de Cazalla at €3.25 ‘may cause sudden death’.
Making up the trio is the €1.30-a-bottle Vino tinto de mesa Sandevid, described as having ‘all the attributes of the worst wine in the world’.
To see more potentially life-saving reviews, visit: www.malosvinos.com
I always say to people we all have different tastes.
I have tricked people a few times. Had couple friends around Males for a curry night. We all had wine we bought. I opened a bottle of mine that I like, a Merlo from the supermarket on special from Australia, they both looked at the label and said this is shit it is only NZ$5 I said I like it.
I went inside and opened one of theirs and emptied the bloole and poured the other bottle of mine into their empty bottle and took it out. They poured a glass each and said now that’s what you call a good wine. I said is it and brought their empty bottle out with their wine in a jug and showed them my other empty bottle and told them, there faces just went limp after I said to them you only know wine by the price.