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Purchased at Sainsbury's for £4.65

I must admit I chose this wine due to the cool looking penguin on the front of the bottle. Sometimes I like things like this, as it is a great talking point if you are taking the bottle to someones house. Of course it has no bearing on the quality of the wine, but if you are picking up a wine for review then why not?

On the bottle it says "Little Penguin Shiraz is spicy with bold flavours. Pair with pizza or red meat dishes". It also says "Little Penguins are very sociable and often gather to forage for delicacies. We invite you to do the same with the great wines from The Little Penguin". That made me smile, it's like this Little Penguin has a personality!

Ok, the review...

This is not the cheapest supermarket wine, so the bar is set high by the McGuigan Estate Shiraz, Hardy's Stamp varieties, amongst others.

First impressions are good. This is a very rich, fruity wine with strong flavours. They say to pair it with pizza or red meat, but in my mind it would also hold it's own against spicy dishes or a curry. It is not overbearing like some of Shiraz I have taster, on the contrary it is very smooth.

The website says it has elements of chocolate, spice and juice strawberries and this is actually quite apparent, it really is quite nice.

That said, like many others in this price bracket it does not bowl you over as being very "different" to it's competition, it is what I would class as a "safe" wine, one that everyone will like. That is not a bad thing though and I would definitely buy this bottle again.

The Little Penguin did very well here. This is a very nice wine, although I think the difference lies in the branding more so than the wine. It's a good wine with a great brand.