Make Room For Hopes End Fine Australian Wines
After giving up hope of finding an affordable but delicious red wine blend, I discovered a lovely Australian wine called Hopes End Red Blend.
Hopes End winery is the outgrowth of a journey taken by thousands of 19th century free settlers who left England in search of a better life. Landing at a place called Port Misery, South Australia, tired and weary settlers thought they’d surely reached the end of their rope. A dark swamp like nothing they could have imagined, a place of “lawlessness, low morals and vice,” it was nothing like the new beginning they hoped for.
Since hope brought them there, they named their dismal new home Hopes End. With the settlers were the Angove family that included a young doctor, Dr. William T. Angove. He started mixing elixirs, and later, wine as “the perfect antidote to adversity.” His patients kept ordering more wine than elixirs, so the Angove family became winemakers in 1886.
The fifth generation of the Angove family, now one of the oldest winemaking families in Australia, recently started distributing their wines to the U.S., including Texas. With Victoria Angove as executive director and Richard Angove a winemaker, Hopes End is committed to creating premium wines from South Australia’s best regions.
“Some of the most legendary wines from South Australia have been blends of varieties and regions,” said Richard Angove. “We wanted to go back to these ideals, and bring it into the present, defying convention by crafting something dark and brooding. We reckon we cracked it.”
Hopes End Red Blend 2015 grapes are primarily from McLaren Vale, Barossa and Murray Valley. The blend is Shiraz-based with Grenache and Petit Verdot added for richness. With Malbec for a deep, dark fruit and structure, the blend has intriguingly intense flavors. Even better, the Red Blend retails for just under $12, making it my new favorite house wine.
Hopes End Red Blend 2015 comes in an attractive 750ml bottle, and is 41 percent Shiraz, 36 percent Grenache, 17 percent Malbec and six percent Petit Verdot. A bright, deep purple red in color, Hopes End Red Blend is laced with new American oak. It has aromas of boysenberry and cherry jam, with a hint of vanilla and rich chocolate for a velvety, smooth finish.
What should be paired with this delightful wine? Anything–or nothing at all!
