In my Aussie values piece I recommended Yalumba was one my five favourite Oz wineries for consistent good value wines. While tonight's wine comes from the pricier "Hand Picked" series, it still offers another example of the great values coming out of this house.The 2002 Yalumba "Hand Picked" Shiraz + Viognier (91% Shiraz, the rest Viognier) comes from Australia's Barossa Valley, famous worldwide for its Shiraz. This wine was a deep, dense, tooth-staining purple in colour, with substantial sediment in the bottle after a decant. An explosion of beautiful aromas burst from the glass, evolving and changing throughout the evening - tobacco at first, with violet and blackberries, earth, mint, musk and leather, pepper, vanilla and butter, smoke and flint, even some almonds - life is good! On the palate it was full-bodied with leathery fruit and firm tannins, very well balanced, engaging. While unapologetically New World in style, it was surprisingly less flamboyant than I had expected, ever so slightly rustic. A stunning match for some spicy lamb kebabs fresh off the barbie. Drink now, but should be good for a few more years.
14.5% alcohol
Score: 18/20
Price: C$40 (LCBO)
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4 comments:
Joe,
Agree with your thoughts regarding Yalumba. Well priced, though the $40 you paid seems a little steep.
Are there many shiraz viognier blends in North America? It seems the fashionable thing in Oz.
Hi Edward. Yep, looks about $43.50 in Australian dollars, but that includes all taxes...the regular Yalumba Shiraz+Viognier (not the Y series) is about C$20, with the Y Series around C$15. I somehow suspect that Aussies will find all of my Oz reviews pricey.
I wouldn't call them fashionable just yet - The Laughing Magpie has been available for a while, and we are starting to see more Shiraz/Viognier blends. Of course there are always the Rhone versions! I think even the Yanks are starting to make a few.
Cheers!
Thanks for the review Joe, this looks very tasty. The regular 'Y' series Shiraz/Viognier is excellent, so I'll have to keep an eye out for this one.
Hi A. I haven't had the Y-series Shiraz/Viognier, but I would buy anything made by Yalumba. I highly recommend the regular Shiraz/Viognier (about 5 bucks more than the Y) as well. Yalumba wines are always above average at each price point. Ontario has more Y-series, we don't have them in Quebec
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