3 Oysters - Red Wine

3 Oysters Red Wine - Ink drop

3 Oysters Red Wine is from the Delicious series, and those are two names that go together quite well! Inks in this series are dye-based and inspired by food and fashion. They come in nice, 38 ml bottles with a cut corner that allows you to stand the bottle at an angle for easy filling.

3 Oysters Red Wine fountain pen ink color range

In color, Red Wine compares closely with Iroshizuku Yama-budo. It’s slightly undersaturated, which makes it a bit lighter but still very similar. I’ve seen images online showing a much more burgundy red, but on my screens, my images match what I see on the page perfectly.

Ink Swatches on Cosmo Air Light and Tomoe River

This is a lovely, slightly reddish grape (more Beaujolais than Merlot in the wine world). There’s good variation on all paper types, but shading is more dramatic, both light and dark, and more defined on coated papers. There are hints of sheen in the splatter image, but don’t find much at all in writing. I think this is a very attractive ink.

Nice shading on Cosmo Air Snow paper

In flow, Red Wine is a moderately dry ink. I wouldn’t call it overly dry. I found it very comfortable and consistent in a wet pen. Stroke profiles were sharp on almost all papers tested. There was a bit of micro-feathering on Oasis and cheap office copy, but it’s not something to really worry about. Drying times were always average or better, and show through was very light, overall.

3 Oysters Red Wine ink writing samples

This is a good-looking ink with nice writing performance, particularly in juicier pens. You can find the 38 ml bottles at many online retailers for US$16.

3 Oysters Red Wine - Swatch Card

3 Oysters Red Wine - Comparisons

3 Oysters Red Wine - 38 ml Ink Bottle