What do Opal Fruits and a man with cramp in his wrists have to do with a bottle of red wine from Southern France? A Rasteau wine review, if you have 2 minutes…

It’s 2006 and a hot summer’s day in the south of France.

18-year-old me, my mum and dad and family friends were enjoying an evening stroll through the local town of Rasteau, when suddenly a lycra-clad man on a bike stopped, leaned over his handlebars and had some sort of episode.

He’d overdone it (as most amateur cyclists do when Le Tour is on), he was dehydrated and cramping up big time.

He started shouting ‘SUGAR, WATER” (sucre being sugar in case you wore earplugs in French class).

So we turned to our friends’ Opal Fruit-obsessed 10-year-old son, told him to open his backpack and “get some out, quick (sic)!”

“Not the purple ones, Dad,” he whined, as he unwrapped the sweets with all the dexterity you’d expect of a reluctant child.

Impatient, the Dad snatched the sweets away and opened them with all the dexterity you’d expect of a panicky adult.

By the time we’d Englishly sprung to the man’s aid, about 23 disparaging locals had already sorted him and he was back on his bike, cycling away with renewed Lucozadey vigor and vim.

We visited the winery as well, whilst we were there. But honestly, I can’t remember whether I liked it or not because at 18, you’re a) not spitting the samples out or b) interested in the taste.

15 years later, I haven’t really got much more to say about it other than it’s ‘alright’

Maybe the nostalgia got the better of me – might be why I tasted blackcurrant Opal Fruits when I had a swig 🤣

In all seriousness, at £9 there’s loads of better wines knocking about so it’s a thumbs down from me, this week👎

Have a great weekend and stay hydrated, sucres.

Origin: Southern France 🇫🇷

Supermarket: Lidl 🇩🇪

Grape: GSM 🍇

Price: £8.99

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