A Wine Lover's Weekly Review Of $10 Wine - A Mass Market Australian Rose
We will go to the New South Wales region of Australia, in a sense following in the footsteps of Filippo and Maria Casella who immigrated there from Sicily in 1957. These third generation Italian winemakers purchased a farm in the Riverina region of New South Wales in 1965 and a mere four years later opened what has become Australia's largest family-owned winery. The Casellas are responsible for 15% of the country's wine exports and claim that 2 million glasses of Yellow Tail wines are consumed every day. By the way, their website offered no indication of the grapes used to make this wine, which seems to be a blend of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The companion wine is an Australian rose at about twice the price.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price..
Wine Reviewed Yellow Tail Rose 2009 12 % alcohol about $7.
Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. "Tasting Note: Pale strawberry red in color, the nose shows light aromas of red cherry and strawberry. On the palate, it is fruity and soft on the finish. Serving Suggestion: Baked ham with sweet potatoes, turkey dinner." And now for my review.
At the first sips this wine was round and very refreshing. It was long, and quite dark for a rose. Japanese Wasabi crackers made no changes except that the wine lost some of its darkness. The initial meal consisted of veal chops baked in a tomato sauce. Now this libation tasted of burnt sugar, citrus, and strawberry. When it was paired with spicy French fries the wine shortened but was intense and fruity. Fresh strawberries for dessert filled the rose with strawberries.
My next meal was a packaged baked Ziti Siciliano doused with grated Parmesan cheese. In response the wine's sweetness was dominant and I did taste some ripe strawberries. Dessert was frozen high-quality French-style custard pie with a buttery crust and strawberries. In response this drink was dark for a rose and presented nice acidity.
My final meal started with salted pistachios. The Yellow Tail answered with strawberries. It was round. Then I consumed an omelet, which was perked up with cayenne pepper and garlic powder. Now the wine was long. It was lightly acidic presenting strawberries that tasted cooked. The side dish of spicy guacamole sweetened this liquid, which could not adequately handle the spices.
When it met a marbled cheddar cheese the wine was forceful and tasted of cherries, a welcome change from all those strawberries. A goat's milk cheese covered in bruschetta rendered the libation long and somewhat dark.
Final verdict. I am really not the greatest fan on earth of rose wines. And this offering did absolutely nothing to change my mind.
About the Author
In his younger days Levi Reiss wrote or co-authored ten computer and Internet books, but he prefers drinking fine German or other wine with the right foods and the right people. He teaches computer classes at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his global wine website http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly column reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about (theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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