I recently had the opportunity to try the full lineup of wines from a relatively new producer in South Eastern Australia named Friday Monkey.  These wines are fairly typical of what you would expect from Australian value wines.  They are very much “new world” wines in style in that they are simple and fruit-forward.

Occasionally I like to comment on the marketing approach that wine producers take, and this is one of those cases.  I like the name Friday Monkey, just for the unique factor.  I was also amused by the inclusion of a “critter” on the label.  Of course it is a monkey in this case, but I’ve noticed a trend with Australian wines of using critters on the labels.  Yellow Tail, Little Penguin, Alice White, Black Swan and others all use critters and bright colors on their labels.  Is the same design company coming up with all these logos?  I guess they have a good reason… critters sell wine!  In fact, one of my colleagues just said to me a couple weeks ago, “I’m a sucker for wine with critters on the label.”

Tasting-wise these aren’t extraordinary wines, but they are reasonably priced at $7.99-8.99.  They are quite comparable in quality to other Australian critter-labeled wines.  The one I enjoyed the most was the Cabernet Merlot blend, which was quite a quaffable wine.  Here are the notes on the full lineup.

Friday Monkey Chardonnay 

The nose is a rather tight, which seems to be the case with most of the Friday Monkey wines.  Although subtle, the aromas on the nose are pear, honey, apple and a bit of mineral/wet rock.  The palate is very sweet and fruity.  The fruit is mostly pear flavors, but there’s a bit of yellow delicious apple too.  The mineral that was on the nose is also found mid-palate.  There isn’t any oak, so although it’s not labeled as such this appears to be an unoaked chardonnay.  It is lacking acidity a bit, which makes it rather flabby—particularly on the finish.

Varietal: Chardonnay
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 14% 
Rating: 77
Retail Price: $7.99-8.99

Friday Monkey Merlot

Wow.  This Merlot has an intense, perfumey nose with loads of dried fruit and herbs.  Sage and dried cherry are the dominant aromas, complimented by some blackberry.  This is the one wine from Friday Monkey that doesn’t lack intensity on the nose.  At first I found the nose to be overbearing, but give it a few minutes and it’s not so aggressive.  The palate is enjoyable with strong dried cherry flavor accented with blackberry, spice and a touch of strawberry.  I would have liked a bit more tannin to give it a richer mouth feel, but the acidity is good.

Varietal: Merlot
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14% 
Rating: 81
Retail Price: $7.99-8.99

Friday Monkey Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine has brick red color and bright clarity.  This isn’t as big and bold as a lot of other cabs, but it’s a decent medium-body Cabernet.  It has black pepper, plum and subtle strawberry aromas with a little bit of oak underneath it.  The palate is very blackberry.  The fruit is abundant on the palate.  As I said before, these are fruit-forward wines.  So you might say it’s a blackberry jam palate.  There aren’t really any other discernible flavors on the palate.  The tannins are smooth and enjoyable.  There is a bit of a pucker factor on the finish, which is quite long (the finish, not the pucker).

Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14% 
Rating: 82
Retail Price: $7.99-8.99

Friday Monkey Cabernet Merlot

This is my favorite of the Friday Monkey wines.  It has good color and clarity.  There is a strong leather aroma on the nose.  It’s like cracking open a new wallet and taking a whiff.  There is also a bit of straw, cherry and a subtle bubblegum aroma.  And I do mean subtle, normally the bubblegum aroma would turn me off, but it’s not too bad here.  The palate is very much a new world, fruit-forward experience, but it’s not quite at the “fruit bomb” level.  In other words, it’s not too sweet.  There are clear blackberry and cherry flavors and soft tannins.  There’s not a ton of complexity , but it’s a very quaffable wine.

Varietal: Cabernet Merlot
Vintage: 2006
Alcohol: 14% 
Rating: 84
Retail Price: $7.99-8.99

Friday Monkey Shiraz

Leather, tar and raspberry jam make up the nose on this one.  Although those are all rather subtle as again the nose lacks intensity.  The palate is very jammy with nondescript berry flavors.  There’s also some black pepper and a bit of salami flavor.  Overall, there is a lack of complexity.  The tannins are dry.  There’s a bit of a metallic aftertaste on the finish, which turned me off a bit.  It’s subtle, but noticeable for at least the first couple sips.

Varietal: Shiraz
Vintage: 2007
Alcohol: 14% 
Rating: 81
Retail Price: $7.99-8.99