Mac & Fitz 2016 Mac's Badass Red

A photo before a pour!

I recently went looking for a bottle of Mac & Fitz Shift's End as it has quickly become a favourite cheap and cheerful weekday wine. I was disappointed to find that my local BC Liquor Store was no longer carrying it and ended up grabbing something else.

I'll be sure to tell you all about my substitute wine selection another time, but for now, let's focus on what I found the next time I went looking for a bottle of Shift's End.

Assuming that perhaps I could find my old favourite in another BC Liquor Store, I took to their online catalogue. My searches yielded no exact results, but it did lead me to another selection from the same vintners: Mac's Badass Red.

I can't seem to find the breakdown of this red blend, and I think that may be because it changes based on what's available year to year. There's nothing wrong with this method, in fact, it's quite common — if you don't list the percentage breakdown or the varietal breakdown, you're free to tinker with what's available to you and produce a great, inexpensive table wine every season.

While I appreciate what the Mark Anthony group are doing, I will say that I preferred the Shift's End to the Badass Red, if only because it was a touch less sweet. Unfortunately for me, the Shift's End seems to be no more. 2016 has brought us the Badass Red, and she's here to stay.