Review: Olly Smith Charm wine glasses
Olly Smith (wine expert, Mail on Sunday columnist and personality) has launched his own range of wine glasses. Currently available at Dunelm for £14 for a set of 4 Charm red or white wine stemmed glasses, these German-made crystal glasses also have others in the range: a Champagne flute, a gin and tonic stemmed balloon and a short-stemmed beer glass. But how do they fair when in use?
Standing at 22cm in height, the red and white tulip-shaped clear wine glasses are similar in size to other wine glasses designed to be part of the dining experience and have enough length of stem to grasp confidently. The bowls are large enough to hold half a bottle of wine, but as wine connoisseurs you’ll know that it’s better to under fill a glass as this allows the swirling and sniffing of wine without spilling it on the table cloth.
Being made of crystal glass there’s a good sounding chink when you want to salute your wine companion, which bodes well for the durability of the glasses as they go through the dishwasher. Which they do with no problem.
But what does Olly Smith have to say about wine? Let’s compare his wine reviews with those from wineuncorked.co.uk. We seem to be pretty much in agreement. But I’ll let you decide.
Wine reviews from both wineuncorked.co.uk and Olly Smith
Tesco Low Alcohol Garnacha Rosé 2020
£2.75 Tesco
3*
With a colour more of a light red than a rosé, this dealcoholised Spanish vino doesn’t taste like a wine but its sweet strawberry and bubblegum flavours are quite pleasant.
Olly Smith says: Fruity and easy, a drinkable glimpse of low-alcohol wine’s bright future.
Monsigny Champagne No.III Brut NV
£13.99 Aldi
3*
A slightly above average tasting Champagne with dominant flavours of sharp apple followed by lighter notes of digestive biscuit and milk chocolate.
Olly Smith says: Stunning value for a rich zinger to turn fright night into fun central.
M&S Found Nerello Cappuccio 2020
£6 M&S
4*
The Sicilian Nerello Cappuccio makes a wine that tastes rather like Port with flavours of raisins, black cherry, liquorice and cocoa dryness. Interesting and cheap enough to try at £6.
Olly Smith says: This lesser-known, rare grape variety native to Sicily is firm with peppery, cherry exuberance, excellent spice and character. Totally splendid for pepping up a chilled autumn day.
Jam Shed Shiraz 2020
£7 Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s £7.75 Morrisons
3*
Simple but tasty. And of course expect it to taste sweet with a name like “Jam Shed”. A slight cough sweet element which matches the spice and blackberry that has a distinct weak coffee edge.
Olly Smith says: For a crowd-pleaser, this sweet, gluggable red is a no-brainer bargain.
The wineuncorked.co.uk wine rating system uses a maximum of 5 stars:
5* outstanding – the top rating given by wineuncorked.co.uk
4* very good wine
3* good wine but over priced
2* a disappointing wine
1* little to offer
0* avoid – pour down the drain
Visit wineuncorked.co.uk for more wine reviews, wine explanations and newsletter
Tweet me a wine question @wineuncorkeduk or email paula@wineuncorked.co.uk
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© Paula Goddard 2022 www.wineuncorked.co.uk
