I don’t know who else will be able to relate to this but, when I read the name of these wines, and saw the picture on the label, I immediately thought of Laurel & Hardy, the comedy duo from the early-ish to mid 1900’s.  Now, I’m not that old, but I do remember my parents watching their movies and I thought they (not my parents) were pretty funny.  If my memory serves me correctly, their movies appeared to be ‘budget’ types in the scheme of things, well promoted and were popular with many…very much like these wines.  Just to clarify things, the ‘fat’ refers to big man Mark Hastwell while the ‘skinny’ is Martin Lightfoot.  Mmm, I wonder if there is any similarities between Laurel & Hardy and Hastwell & Lightfoot?

2018 Pinot Grigio

Quite aromatic with it being citrus and pear like.  Palate is Grigio for sure with those expected dominant pear characters.  There’s a little bit of a spicy note there as well and the finish brings with it a touch of acid.  It goes alright and will tick the ‘easy drinking’ box for a lot of punters.

Region: Fleurieu, SA     Price: $22

2017 Picker’s Choice

Very good nose of black and red fruits.  There’s a slight floral note and vanilla like aroma as well.  The better-than medium-bodied palate is where it really shines for me.  Lovely rich-ish dark berry fruits, I thought licorice was in there too and it has very good length to boot.  The oak influence has been well managed culminating in an excellent value wine and my pick of the two reds.

Region: McLaren Vale, SA     Price: $22

2018 The Red Fury

A surprisingly clear bottle houses this juicy blend of Tempranillo and Grenache.  It starts off providing red fruits galore on the nose.  It shows fruity and juicy red fruits on the palate also with some dark cherry influence in there too.  It’s just medium bodied with slightly drying tannins on the finish but there is a good amount of fruit in support.  An easy drinking, easy going wine that has been built for the now.  I enjoyed it and it’ll be a winner with punters for sure.

Region: McLaren Vale, SA     Price: $22

Samples courtesy of Hastwell and Lightfoot and Define Wine