It’s #WineWednesday again!  I’ve been seeing Australian wines and vines all throughout my social media feeds.  It makes sense – this time of year is the end of their harvest season.  Here in California, we’re experiencing the opposite vine cycle, bud break, where all of the vines beginning to wake up from their winter slumber.  In Australia, grapes are being plucked and are in their beginning phases of wine.  So, it seems appropriate to feature an Australian wine today.

Details:

Yalumba

“The Y Series”

Shiraz Viognier

2015

96% Shiraz, 4% Viognier

13.5% Alcohol

South Australia

Red Wine

 

Tasting Notes:

I couldn’t wait to taste this wine after I found it.  With the addition of the Viognier (a white wine varietal) to the Shiraz, I expected it to have some roundness.  Strangely enough, the place I noticed the Viognier the most was in its aroma.  It smelled earthy with a touch of vanilla and lilac.  The wine was a beautiful deep ruby color in the glass and tasted of berries with a dusting of pepper and baking spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves at the finish.  It was well balanced with strong tannins and good acid.  It would pair nicely with pork.

 

Trivia:

This wine went through cool fermentation with whole grapes that were not pressed.  There was no oak in the winemaking process.  It is VEGAN friendly!  Strangely enough, this is difficult to find in wine since most go through a fining process, where agents such as egg whites or fish oil are used in the wine to absorb unwanted particles.