[yellow tail] Moscato

Moscato. "Serious" wine drinkers (me included) make fun of it. Moscato is a varietal, easy to grow, easy to make into a lightly sweet white wine. When moscato is vinified, it's stylistically a rather simple drink, almost always with that sweet taste. Recent studies have shown that most people's palates prefer sweet flavors to bitter or astringent ones, therefore a wine made from moscato would be something that a lot of people would prefer, right? The folks at W.J. Deutch & Sons think so and have begun importing a moscato from [yellow tail] into the United States.

Perhaps we shouldn't make fun of moscato. The moscato grape is now the fastest growing varietal in the United States. AC Nielsen reports that the moscato category has jumped an astounding 96.2% in sales volume from last year's. Whole vineyards are being ripped up all throughout California's bulk-wine producing Central Valley, and guess what they're being replanted with? Sure the logic might be a bit faulty, since those moscato vines won't produce viable fruit for 4-6 years and by then tastes may change, but the point is clear.

Enter Yellowtail, or [yellow tail]. The original "critter wine", a $5 shiraz that almost single handedly redefined both a varietal and a wine market. A wine that introduced millions of new wine drinkers to red wine. This is their Moscato. Similar in style, eerily similar to low-priced moscato from Asti, Italy. Those are known as Moscato d'Asti or Asti Spumante. A wine like this [yellow tail] appeals to a giant swath of the population looking for a fun, easy to drink beverage that still carries the "wine" designation yet isn't expensive, complex, pretentious, or hard to drink.

(img src http://www.prweb.com/releases/yellow_tail)

Yellowtail advertises their moscato as: "Lil' Sweet. Lil' Fizzy" and that is certainly the case here. Ripe peaches and fizz define the smell and the taste. I picked up a hint of something tropical, like mango juice, as well, further sweetening up the [yellow tail] moscato to the point where it was a bit overwhelming. As someone who enjoys dry sparkling wine, I couldn't drink a full glass of this on it's own. This isn't a dessert wine though, so it doesn't reek of residual sugar the way a late harvest riesling might.

What did happen was inspiration, because I think the Yellow Tail moscato is perfect for cocktails. Mix it with a citrus based soda and some vodka, add two drops of bitters, and enjoy. Another recipe is to use just the moscato, some frozen, blended peach, and a couple of ounces of light rum. Still one more is to just do the moscato and vodka, with a lemon twist. That's called a "Moscatini"The point is to experiment and find recipes that work.

I'm not trying to sound like this [yellow tail] moscato is undrinkable! Just for my palate, it's something I'd avoid, along with 99% of all moscato. Add to that my hesitation at even considering the [yellow tail] brand, and it's hard to recommend this as a summer sipper. Why then did I accept this sample? Professional curiosity, the chance to taste something new, and the desire to experiment with wine cocktails.

Sure, the price is good, $6.99 for a 750ml bottle, and throughout it's existence, Yellowtail has always been very affordable. What it's lacked is identity, uniqueness, a sense of place. Admittedly those are hard when your wines cost $5.49 at Trader Joe's, and I am taking the low price into account.

With that in mind, if you are looking to drink (or serve) a light, airy, slightly sweet wine, this might be a wise choice. You get name recognition from your guests (or yourself), solid quality, and an easily quaffable wine. All for a real-world price of around $5. Hard to ask for more at that price point. As they say in the land of Oz, good on ya', [yellow tail].

This wine was a media sample for review purposes.


Beau Carufel

Tasting Australian Pinot Noir and Shiraz From Wyndham Estate

Australia..Home of wine with kangaroos on it, and Penfolds Grange. To some people, a country that produces ridiculously over-ripe syrah (shiraz, mate!) and nothing else. There's far more to Australian wines than kangaroos and Penfolds though, from some wonderful white wines like semillion and riesling to an increasing focus on terroir-driven red wines. After suffering through a time when demand dropped almost off the table, we're seeing Australia's wine market make some effort to reset itself and better position it's products among the pantheon of wine producing countries.

I was sent some samples of wine from Wyndham Estate, their Bin 333 pinot noir and Bin 555 shiraz. Both can be found for under $10, so this was an exercise in evaluating the quality of admittedly cheap Australian wine that isn't called Yellowtail. Still, cheap doesn't always equate with horrifically bad wine, so I was intrigued to see if these wines showcased anything interesting (at their price points) that would make them potentially great values.

Wyndham has been around for a long time, George Wyndham planted the first syrah cuttings in 1830. His estate, located in the Hunter Valley of Australia's New South Wales territory, is considered to be the birthplace of Aussie shiraz.

2009 Wyndham Estate Bin 333 Pinot Noir
Very pretty color, pale ruby-red and clear all the way through. Looks like a young Burgundy or Dundee Hills pinot. Not a bad start, this is the first or second Aussie pinot that I have tasted this year.

Good aromas of wild strawberry, red cherry, and baking spice. There's a touch of green, stemmy scents too and I certainly don't mind the added dimension it brings. Plenty of acidity comes out on the nose too, making my mouth water and giving me the impression that this will be a highly acidic pinot noir.

That impression was confirmed with my first sip, lots of acidity but unfortunately not much else initially. There were a whole host of secondary flavors, cola, rhubarb, sour cherry, and spices but nothing ever came out as the primary. Also, despite the 13% alcohol, I felt it as a flabby, boozy weight across my palate, a clear indication of lack of balance. One positive was the impressively long finish, the sour cherry and spice notes tapered off quite nicely. That didn't make up for the boozy weight and hollow front-palate though. C+, PASS recommendation. There are better $10 pinot noirs out there, especially from Chile and California.

2008 Wyndham Estate Bin 555 Shiraz
I wish I had more to report on the color, the Wyndham Bin 555 is very much a shiraz, dark and opaque. Beautiful purple hue, but on the other hand we've seen this color before.

What I did enjoy was the nose, brimming with menthol, blueberry, dark earth, and black pepper. I  enjoyed how the menthol or eucalyptus aromas kept the ripe blueberry from dominating everything. Dark earth and black pepper were secondary but help up very well, enhancing the overall sense of this wine. Very, very pretty bouquet.

On the palate, strong flavors of eucalyptus and toffee show up first, followed by blueberry preserve and rounded out with a peppery spice. Wyndham's Bin 555 is lush, smooth, and very rich, a testament to the ripeness of the fruit and time spent in oak barrels. I would classify this is a "drink now" type wine, the tannins were silky and not out in force. Sweet ripe fruits made the finish nice and fun, without veering into the stewed-fruit part of the flavor spectrum.

A very solid effort and at around $10, worthy of a B and a BUY recommendation. The Wyndham Estate Bin 555 is a wine I'd happily open while sitting around and grilling up some steaks or burgers. Better yet, add bacon to the mix and explore the possibilities.

(img src: http://cia.gov)

The Australians are still making cheap wine, both of the Wyndham Estate wines are under $10 at most stores. They're imported by Pernod-Ricard, ensuring distribution across the United States. While neither are stunning deals, the Bin 555 shiraz offers a wonderfully budget-friendly summer red wine. The pinot noir needs work though, or may be just some time in the bottle. I hope to taste through the higher-end Wyndham Estate wines in the future, to see how good they can be.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel