A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece about Jason Bowyer, the Wine Whisperer at ALDI who roams the country and the world to find bargains for the supermarket chain. This piece is about another wine whisperer: David Reberger at Kemenys, Australia’s largest independent liquor store.
David is described in the press as chief financial officer for the family-owned company, and he’s clearly an effective arm twister judging by some of the deals he’s done. The fact that he towers over me despite my six foot four height may give him an unfair advantage. Anyhow, Kemenys has a unique concept: a range of wines sold with a ‘Hidden Label’. These are not cleanskins but branded wines under a plain wrapper. The labels even invite you to guess whose wines lurks under them, and that’s often possible with a bit of sleuthing.
Uncovering the labels behind the labels
Many of these hidden label wines have reviews posted on their Kemenys web pages, which you can stick into your search engine. Often, you will find another site that associates that review with the original label. It’s easier when multiple reviews are listed. Here’s an example:
Hidden Label Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2012. When we copy and paste James Halliday’s quote into Google, Winestar comes up on top of the results page, because its web page uses the same quote from Halliday to sell the wine: Wynns Coonawarra ‘The Siding’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2012. It’s not always that easy and, when there’s no review quoted, it’s pretty well impossible to guess the wine’s identity.
Huge Bargains
The reason I spend a lot of time digging into this range of wines is simple: they offer some of the best value in Australia. In the example above, you can see how the hidden label saves $3 a bottle. From the list below, you can see that savings on other wines are much greater. The comparative prices I’ve used are best available on the street, not RRP.
For some reason, the whites are harder to decipher on the whole, so I’ve made some educated guesses and added a * to these.
| Hidden Label Barossa Valley GSM 2012 – $14 | Hewitson Miss Hary GSM 2012 – $20 |
| Hidden Label Coonawarra Merlot 2013 – $12 | Leconfield Coonawarra Merlot 2013 – $20 |
| Hidden Label Hilltops Shiraz 2013 – $13 | Moppity Lock & Key Reserve Shiraz 2013 – $17 |
| Hidden Label Hilltops Cabernet S. 2013 – $13 | Moppity Lock & Key Res Cabernet 2013 – $20 |
| Hidden Label Marg River Cab Sauv 2012 – $13 | Franklin Tate Alexander’s Cabernet 2012 – $21 |
| Hidden Label Margaret River Shiraz 2012 – $12 | Franklin Tate Alexander’s Shiraz 2012 – $21 |
| Hidden Label Barossa Valley Shiraz 2012 – $15 | Elderton Barossa Shiraz 2012 – $20 |
| Hidden L. Langhorne Creek Cab Mal 2012 – $17 | Bleasdale Frank Potts Cabernet Blend 2012 – $27 |
| Hidden Label McLaren Vale Shiraz 2012 – $13 | Gemtree Uncut Shiraz 2012 – $18 |
| Hidden Label McLaren V. Shiraz Gren 2012 – $13 | Paxton AAA Shiraz Grenache 2012 – $17 |
| Hidden Label Res. Coonaw. Cabernet 2012 – $18 | Leconfield Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 – $27 |
| Hidden Label Cent Vic Shiraz Mourv 2012 – $12 | Basilisk McPherson Shiraz Mourvedre 2012 – $17 |
| Hidden L Spec Res Mac Vale Shiraz 2012 – $19 | Gemtree Obsidian Shiraz 2012 – $60 |
| Hidden Label Special Reserve Martinborough Pinot Noir 2011 -$29 | Craggy Range ‘Te Muna Road Vineyard’ Martinborough Pinot Noir 2011 – $60 |
| Hidden Label Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2013 – $11 | De Bortoli Gulf Station Pinot Noir 2013 – $16 |
| WHITE WINES | |
| Hidden L. Mount Barker Sauv Blanc 2013 – $11 | West Cape Howe Sauv. Blanc 2013 – $16 |
| Hidden Label Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris 2013 – $13 | Sidewood Pinot Gris 2013 – $19 |
| Hidden L. Adelaide Hills Sauv Blanc 2013 – $10 | Nepenthe Sauvignon Blanc – $16 |
| Hidden L. Marg River Sauv Blanc Sem 2014 – $11 | Miles from Nowhere Best Blocks Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2014 – $19 |
| Hidden L.Marg River Sauvignon Blanc 2014 $10 | Miles from Nowhere Best Blocks Sauvignon Blanc 2014 – $19 |
| Hidden Label Pemberton Chardonnay 2014 – | Bellarmine Chardonnay 2014* |
| Hidden Label Yarra Valley Pinot Gris 2013 | De Bortoli La Boheme Act 3 Pinot Gris 2013 – $19 |
| Hidden Label Botrytis Semillon 2008 375ml – $10 | Nugan Cookoothama Botrytis Sem. 2008 – $19 |
This is a shortlist only, and here’s the full list of Hidden Labels. Kemenys will ship pretty much anywhere in Australia for reasonable charges. Once again, let me stress that I promote these wines because of the value they offer, not because I have any affiliations with Kemenys.
Kim
