Olly Smith (wine expert, Mail on Sunday columnist and personality) has launched his own range of wine glasses. Currently available at Dunelm for £14 for a set of 4 Charm red or white wine stemmed glasses, these German-made crystal glasses also have others in the range: a Champagne flute, a gin and tonic stemmed balloon and a short-stemmed beer glass. But how do they fair when in use?
Standing at 22cm in height, the red and white tulip-shaped clear wine glasses are similar in size to other wine glasses designed to be part of the dining experience and have enough length of stem to grasp confidently. The bowls are large enough to hold half a bottle of wine, but as wine connoisseurs you’ll know that it’s better to under fill a glass as this allows the swirling and sniffing of wine without spilling it on the table cloth.
Being made of crystal glass there’s a good sounding chink when you want to salute your wine companion, which bodes well for the durability of the glasses as they go through the dishwasher. Which they do with no problem.
But why buy these Olly Smith wine glasses when there are others at similar price and design?
Dunelm itself stocks the Olly Smith range alongside others, including the Connoisseur set of 4 crystal wine glasses (white £15 and red £18) plus the Ravello set of 4 for £10. All have similar sleek designs.
But what the Olly Smith wine glasses have is the brand guarantee of a celebrity with someone who has an entry in Who’s Who 2022.
Although now known for his wine recommendations (see below), Olly’s background is in music. He attended Charterhouse public school on a music scholarship and was a chorister at King’s College Cambridge. But there’s more to him than singing. He also wrote for TV (Wallace and Gromit and Pingu) and has a brother who is a comedian (Will Smith).
So quite an interesting chap. But what does he have to say about wine? Let’s compare his wine reviews with those from wineuncorked.co.uk. We seem to be pretty much in agreement. But I’ll let you decide.
Wine reviews from both wineuncorked.co.uk and Olly Smith
Tesco Low Alcohol Garnacha Rosé 2020
£2.75 Tesco
With a colour more of a light red than a rosé, this dealcoholised Spanish vino doesn’t taste like a wine but its sweet strawberry and bubblegum flavours are quite pleasant.
Olly Smith says: Fruity and easy, a drinkable glimpse of low-alcohol wine’s bright future.
Monsigny Champagne No.III Brut NV
£13.99 Aldi
A slightly above average tasting Champagne with dominant flavours of sharp apple followed by lighter notes of digestive biscuit and milk chocolate.
Olly Smith says: Stunning value for a rich zinger to turn fright night into fun central.
Fairtrade Irresistible Organic Malbec 2018
£7.50 Co-op
The heavy bottle and the organic/Fairtrade credentials make this wine worth a try when it's priced at £7.50. And it delivers. The inky-purple colour reveals aromas of blackcurrant, high-cocoa content dark chocolate and damp wood - add in cherry to that list and you have the flavours. This sharp and dry wine needs a food dish that contains a hearty tomato sauce and black olives.
Olly Smith says: There’s an exotic aroma and liquorice depth to this ace value Fairtrade gem. Seek it!
M&S Found Nerello Cappuccio 2020
£6 M&S
The Sicilian Nerello Cappuccio makes a wine that tastes rather like Port with flavours of raisins, black cherry, liquorice and cocoa dryness. Interesting and cheap enough to try at £6.
Olly Smith says: This lesser-known, rare grape variety native to Sicily is firm with peppery, cherry exuberance, excellent spice and character. Totally splendid for pepping up a chilled autumn day.
The Wine Society’s Exhibition Carmenere 2019
£10.95 The Wine Society
An organic and deeply flavourful Chilean red. Concentrated blackberry with a hint of clove is intense but not overly rich while the aroma is all about earthy leaf mould, ham, sloes and darkly toasted bread.
Olly Smith says: An early glimpse of how joyful winter warming red wines can be. With black fruit pastille and white pepper aromas, firm spice and aromatic clove persistence this grippy, satisfying red is a glorious glass to raise to the changing of the seasons.
£7 Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s £7.75 Morrisons
Simple but tasty. And of course expect it to taste sweet with a name like ‘Jam Shed’. A slight cough sweet element which matches the spice and blackberry that has a distinct weak coffee edge.
Olly Smith says: For a crowd-pleaser, this sweet, gluggable red is a no-brainer bargain.
