Lothlorien Feijoa Wine - Reserve product reviews

I was super thrilled when I happened to visit a wine store with my dad over the last school holidays. I have been a big fan of Lothlorien wines since my first introduction to them via KIWIreviews. But in Hamilton, it is almost impossible to just buy any bottle you like off the shelf. This wine store my dad took me to had almost the whole range, right there for the buying. So I did what any fan of a winery would do, I bought a bottle of the wine I hadn't yet tried.

At almost $20 for the bottle, it is on the pricey side, but this is the reserve which means it's going to be a top notch wine. The best of the best from that winery and I was very pleased with this one! I shared it this evening with my husband. The feijoa characteristics were pleasantly there, but I didn't detect as many sour notes. There is a sweetness, and a floral after taste that reminds me of honey suckle or similar.

The wine went down very easily, and was by far the favourite for me. I just loved that honeyed taste, the delicious sweetness of the feijoa, finishing off with that tart fizz. It really did feel like eating raw feijoa, with a heady mix of summer and fun with friends. The wine itself is a bubbly. There is nothing more exciting than popping a cork. This one is on my buy again list for sure. It would make a fantastic gift, a little gift basket addition or something. Anyone who is a fan of feijoa would probably enjoy this one.

With its self-proclaimed stronger feijoa flavour and bouquet, I was fully expecting this to be my favourite of the Lothlorien wines... and yet I found it slid into a close second place. I can't quite put my finger on exactly why... possibly the extra sweetness, possibly the strong feijoa aftertaste that lingered a tad too long for me... I can't be certain. However, what I can say is that I was still very pleased by the flavour and it went very well in cooking.

Taking a note from a chef I saw at Fieldays - who claimed that no dish is complete unless at least one element has a splash of win in it - I added some of this to some mashed potatoes that were a little drier than ideal. Using half the amount of butter I normally would and a generous splash of this, I came away with a mash so smooth and creamy it was hard to match it up to the near-concrete it was only moments before.

The flavour this imparted to the mash gave it a new level of flavour - a sweet fruitiness that went so well next to the savoury mince and garlic steamed veges, balancing out their respective flavour biases and returning equilibrium to the meal overall. I found myself wishing for a second bottle, so I could try it in one of the #FoodLab cheesecakes, but alas with the taste testing and cooking, there was but a dribble left in the bottle, hardly worth considering anywhere else but in my glass.

Overall, a wonderful wine and probably one most suited to those who enjoy a wine at the sweeter end of the scale. Were it a little thicker, it may well do for a dessert wine, but either way it was a very enjoyable, if not my personal favourite, member of the range.