Recently, several of us winos were discussing our "old days," and the plonk
that we ingested in the name of wine, while discussing how folk eschew Rosé
wines, because of built-in prejudice against "pink wine." We ran down the
usual suspects, Mateus Rosé, Lancer's Rosé (I even did certain amounts of
Lancer's "white," in a green bottle, but that was more to keep my wife happy,
as I was starting to get into "real" reds about that time.), White Zinfandels,
and other "unmentionable" near-wines, and the like. As we recounted our battle
scars, I began to catalog the wine-like beverages that I'd brought home. At a
point in the evening, one hit me, that I had not thought about for years—many
years, Matilda Bay. This was a bag-in-a-box wine-blend. IIRC, it was actually
FROM Australia, though that may have just been a marketing ploy. This had to
be in the late 70's, or very early 80's, and Crocodile Dundee had not yet been
released, but Koala's were hitting the US market for Quantas Airline, as I
remember. These were pre-Outback Steakhouse Days. Anyway, back to the Matilda
Bay. It came in a brightly colored box, almost "Miami Vice" in scheme. I do
not recall the US importer, nor any data, regarding the production of the "
wine." It was probably something like "fruit-essence, water, and ethanol... "
Is there anyone in AWF, who remembers this wine? Trying to de-construct my
memories of the beverage in that box, I'd give a big nod to Muscat, Viognier,
and who-knows what white wine base, Chard? SB? Sémillon? It had a very floral
nose (though I wasn't much into "smelling" my wine, back then), a very
slightly sweet aspect, and actually a couple of layers of flavor. I recall the
flowers, a bit of citrus, some minerals.

Now my questions: does anyone else recall this wine? Was it, in fact, a
product from OZ? Was it just marketed to the US market? Does anyone recall/
know the blend of grapes?

Doing the mental re-construct years after the last taste, I'd liken it to
Caymus Conundrum a few vintages ago, but lighter, with fewer nuances.

Thanks,
Hunt