by alec on January 29, 2005
For #2 in the Rotgut Reviews series, I picked the Yellowtail Shiraz ($11.45 at the LCBO). This is currently the #1 selling wine in the US, and therefore worthy of review.
The winery description speaks lovingly of lifted berry aromas, spicy hints, generous ripe fruit, and vanillin flavours delivering a long and soft finish. The LCBO description speaks of blackberry, red licorice (twizzler?), vanilla bean and plum aromas, with flavours of plum and ripe berry and a long spicy finish.
Sounds intriguing. So what’s it really like? Vanilla, vanilla, vanilla. Tannins provide structure, to be sure, but the overwhelming impression is of drinking vanilla extract mixed with grape juice.
by alec on January 14, 2005
This is the first in a series of "Rotgut Reviews". I am on a quest to find drinkable, but inexpensive wine. Last night we pulled the cork on a bottle of Yellowtail Merlot, from Australia’s Casella Wines. This product of the Australian wine lake is available from the LCBO for just $11.85. The LCBO marketing material speaks glowingly of berry flavours, and soft tannins, but what was it really like? Think grape-juice. Powerfully fruity, even a bit grapey – like a tame Manischewitz, but not as sweet. Soft tannins? Nearly non-existant.
The verdict: drinkable plonk — the sort of thing you would serve to guests who didn’t really like wine.
