Honey Badger Sweet Red Wine – Don’t Like Sweet Red Wine? Honey Badger Don’t Care!

95% Shiraz and 5% Pinotage from Western Cape, South Africa.

This is a new release with an SRP of $9. It will be available widely soon. Sample received courtesy WineSource International for review purposes.

From the bottle:

“Lured by the Honeyguide Bird to the tempting dangers of the beehive, Africa’s Honey Badger attacks with little regard for the stinging consequences reaping the sweet reward of teamwork.

This undeterred attitude and unlikely partnership inspired the identity of this boldly sweet red that panders to those who prefer their wine rich, ripe and sumptuously fruity. Smooth, succulent and simply delicious socially or with red meat on the BBQ, mature yellow cheese or berry inspired desserts.

12.5% Alcohol”

The crazy Honey Badger don’t care if you don’t like sweet red wine! Actually Honey Badger Wines do care and it’s the reason they’ve created this wine. Their goal was to create a sweet wine for drinkers who enjoy full bodied reds but also want a little extra sweetness. This market is big and growing fast. If you don’t believe me, just witness the stunning popularity of wines like Apothic Red. The question remains; however, aside from the rather awesome marketing how does this sweet red taste? (And if the whole Honey Badger thing is foreign to you, check out the video at the end of this post.)

The 2011 Honey Badger Sweet Red Wine begins with a nice full aroma featuring smoky ripe berry with a touch of oak and dark chocolate. The wine tastes smooth and sweet with lots of dark berries, a little mulberry and spice. The extra sugar in sweet red wines tends to dampen any bitterness or harsh tannins resulting in a very smooth quality, which is exactly the case here. On the finish some woody, oaky notes become more prominent and help to offset some of the sweetness. I can see this easy-to-drink wine becoming quite popular even aside from the hip marketing. Serve slightly chilled for the best experience.

See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.

Find out more about my rating system and check out the Wine Ranking to find all my reviews! You can sort by type of wine, cost, rating, etc. in the interactive database.