2006 Yalumba, Shiraz-Viognier, Barossa Valley, Australia

Terry post:

Yalumba is a very-well established Australian brand of which most of you have never heard.

While Australia has been foisting “critter wines” featuring cute animals on the label to the wine buying public - certain winemakers have continued to hone and perfect their craft. This is where Yalumba comes in.

Yalumba is a hand-crafted wine and has been such for over 160 years producing a wide variety of reserves, single vineyards, and interesting blends. I first became aware of the brand a few years ago when one of our wine reps brought in a bottle to sample. I’d never heard of Yalumba at the time and didn’t know quite what to expect - what I sampled was one of the Yalumba blends (not sure which one) which nocked my socks off. The brand has remained on the wine list since that first tasting.

My impressions: Dark purple in the glass with an expansive nose of raspberries. Busy, in a good way, with crushed red fruit giving way to a certain earthy wet-rockiness reminiscent of a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The earthiness grows as the wine opens up. Strawberries arrive late. Medium-long finish with soft tannins reaching the stage just as the curtain falls - a pleasant ending. Highly recommended.

While there is a significant amount of fruit in this wine it also has sufficient tannic structure to stand up well with food - and you know that I think that is crucial. It is not fat, nor flabby: it is a food-friendly Shiraz which I’d recommend with the typical pairs for medium reds: would be PERFECT with rack of lamb.

95% Shiraz and 5% Viognier - co-fermented (!).

$19.99 at The Wine Seller, Herndon, VA.

~ Terry

2006 Beringer Merlot California Collection

Terry Post:

Over the years I have enjoyed many bottles of wine and have come to believe that humans have never lived in a time with more, higher-quaity and less expensive wine. We live in a time when it is almost impossible to find a bad bottle of wine. Like I said, almost impossible.

The truth is, the 2006 Beringer Merlot California Collection is not a bad wine or an awful wine: it just isn't a good wine.

My impression: Medium bodied with astringent mouth-drying tannins on the tongue and rich plum on the nose. Vegital and medicinal on the finish. Not pleasant to drink.

I paid $6.99 for the 750 mL bottle at my local wine store. Easily the least enjoyable wine I have drank in quite some time.

~ Terry

Estrella Chardonnay 2006

Terry post:

Lest you think that I like all the wines which I taste, let me assure you that I have tasted some downright awful wine over the past few years and a few (for one reason or another) still find their way onto the winelist.

In an earlier postining I'd noted that there is alot of crap on the average winelist. A classic example would be that of a down year for a usually superior wine. For instance, the 2002 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Sinards, Perrin & Fils. This year was awful: bitter, fruitless, herbal with no depth whatsoever (a blessing acutally). This Châteauneuf-du-Pape is 9 times out of 10 a superb wine reflecting all that is great about this winegrowing region. But like a lot of other restaurants we purchased several cases in advance of bottling and advance of reviewing and were stuck with a dog. Of course we put it on the wine list, but we did discount its price somewhat. So even restaurants such as "213" will carry a less than great wine for one reason or another.

A second reason you'll end up with a sub-par wine is profitability. Take for
instance a bottle of Estrella Chardonnay 2006. This less-than-stellar wine will cost a restaurant about $3.50 to buy and sell four pours at $6 to $8 per pour. The first pour pays for the bottle and the remaining pours all contribute to the nightly gross. At "213" Estrella was the low priced leader and we sold it only by the glass for those individuals who wanted wine but would not pay the $30 or more per bottle to buy a carefully selected wine which, in most cases, was a vastly superior wine.

My impressions: Pale yellow color. Some fruit but more earthiness than I have come to expect from my white wines. A little apple. Crisp, perhaps too crisp. Refreshing. A great value, but a chardonnay engineered more for sipping in the shade than pairing with food.

Oh. An another downside of Estrella: it is widely available and the customers know how much a bottle costs at their local grocery store.

~ Terry