Description
19 Crimes Red Wine 2016
Our red blend bears the same traits as those banished to Australia. Defiant by nature, bold in character. Always uncompromising. It’s a taste you’ll never forget.
Nineteen crimes turned criminals into colonists. Upon conviction British rogues guilty of a least one of the 19 crimes were sentenced to live in Australia, rather than death. This punishment by “transportation” began in 1783 and many of the lawless died at sea. For the rough-hewn prisoners who made it to shore, a new world awaited. As pioneers in a frontier penal colony, they forged a new country and new lives, brick by brick. This wine celebrates the rules they broke and the culture they built.
The men on our labels are not those of fiction. They were flesh and blood. Criminals and scholars. In history, they share a bond Рreceiving “punishment by transportation.” It could have shattered their spirits. It didn’t. Today, we toast those men and the principles they lived by.
Bright red to crimson hues. Intense lifted vanilla aromatics balanced with ripe red to dark berry fruits. Full and round on the palate with a distinct sweetness giving a rich and round mouth feel. The vanilla aromatics carry through on the palate and compliment subtle flavors of chocolate and a cedary spice. The palate finishes soft and fruity with a pleasant lingering freshness.
Story behind the label: John Boyle O’Reilly was an Irish born poet who was arrested for mutiny in 1866. Sentenced to 20 years servitude in the Australian penal colony of Bunbury, O’Reilly eventually struck up a romantic liaison with the constable’s daughter. Although the relationship ended badly, O’Reilly was never destined to spend his life in one place and struck a deal with a Catholic priest who helped him arrange a daring escape plan. With his creativity and commitment to romantic adventure, John Boyle O’Reilly truly embodies the poetic history of Australia and 19 Crimes wines.
