Saturday Night – Father’s Day Dinner

This Saturday night we had a change of venue from Mick and Amy’s or our place, as Kathy and I were at her parent’s house for a Father’s Day dinner. Grilled Beef Tenderloin was on tap for the main course and her Dad is a big fan of Australian Shiraz, so we brought a couple of bottles of 2003 Yalumba “Y” Series Shiraz.

We first tried this wine about 3 years ago when it was released and really enjoyed it. We ended up picking up two cases of it as it was a very good price at about $13 a bottle. I still have about 9 or so bottles left.

"Does it still have that magic?"

I hadn’t tried it in awhile and was curious to see how or if the wine had developed. Here is the current LCBO information on the wine, but please note this is probably the 2006 version and not the 2003 covered here in the blog –

LCBO Infromation - Yalumba Y Series Shiraz
LCBO# 624494
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 14.05
Wine, Red Wine,
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Made in: South Australia, Australia
By: Negociants International

Tasting Note - Deep violet colour; blueberry, plum and currant aromas with a hint of anise; fresh, juicy palate with chocolate notes.

Serving Suggestion - Grilled bison burgers, lamb or firm cheese

My In-laws, Glenn and Karen had out done themselves on the dinner. The beef tenderloin was BBQ’d to perfection and the sides of baked potatoes, mixed green salad, corn on the cob, and fresh bread were a great compliment to the beef.

On first blush of the wine, the nose had big notes of black currant, and a berry I couldn’t place. On tasting the wine, good fruit on the tongue with a faint hint of pepper and a fairly good month-feel, it was a little out of balance but still quite good. It was a pretty good match with the meal but at times disappeared against the food.

Coming back to this wine after not trying it for so long, gave me a fresh perspective on why I liked this wine in the first place – it was more like a Merlot than a Shiraz. As I have said earlier on the blog, I’m not a huge fan of Australian Shiraz. I usually find them too big and really dislike the burning sensation they usually leave on the back of my throat.

So if you are looking for a nice, easy drinking red at a very reasonable price, the Yalumba “Y” series Shiraz is a good choice. If you are looking for a big, bold Australian Shiraz then you will probably want to pass on this wine.

Cheers!

Mark