Saturday Night – Kathy’s Birthday Dinner

This past Saturday, Kathy wanted to celebrate her Birthday with a romantic dinner for two at home.  She had two requests for the night – 1. Middle Lamb Loin from Cumbrae’s as the main course and 2. She wanted to pick the wine for this dish.

 

The Middle Lamb Loin from Cumbrae’s is locally raised lamb and is about the size of a decent sized Beef Tenderloin.  I marinate them in olive oil, Balsamic vinegar and chopped fresh rosemary for about 6 hours before grilling them.  To cook them, get the BBQ up to maximum heat and then sear them on each side for about a minute and half per side, then turn down the BBQ to ¼ heat and cook for 17 minutes at about 350-375.  This will cook them to rare to medium rare.

I did boiled baby potatoes and green beans as the sides and served the lamb with a nice helping of Zippy Sauce on the side. 

Kathy’s choice of wine was a 2003 “The Signature” by Yalumba which is a Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz blend.

The Signature was a dark inky purple colour that was very dense.   The nose on the wine was a rich mix of black cherry, cinnamon, white pepper, dark chocolate, eucalyptus and lead pencil.  Tasting the wine, dark berry (blackberry?), spice, oak and coffee are the main flavours.  Structure-wise the wine came across a touch thin but was very smooth and had a finish that lingered around for a very long time.  The only reason I say it was a bit thin as with the deep colour and the rich powerful nose I was expecting this wine to be a monster and have a huge mouth-feel but it was more of a medium bodied wine.  It was a lovely pairing with the lamb and the potatoes but was a little sharp with the green beans.

Here is the group rating for the wine -  Mark - 90, Kathy – 90, Overall – 90.

Here is LCBO information on the wine –

YALUMBA THE SIGNATURE CABERNET SAUVIGNON/SHIRAZ 2006
VINTAGES 528356
750 mL bottle
Price $ 51.95
Made in: South Australia, Australia
By: Negociants International
Release Date: Sep 3, 2011
Wine, Red Wine
14.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Varietal: Blend - Cabernet/Shiraz
Sweetness Descriptor: XD - Extra Dry

Tasting Note -  The 2006 The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz is composed of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Shiraz. Deep garnet-purple in color, it offers intense notes of blackberry preserves, warm cherries, black currant cordial plus an earthy / gamey undercurrent and nuances of marmite toast. The tight-knit medium to full-bodied palate is firmly structured with a high level of grainy tannins, high acid and just enough savory flesh giving a long finish. Approachable now, it should be best 2012 to 2018. Score - 91. (Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW, erobertparker.com, Dec. 2010)

*Please note that the 2006 listed is the current release and not the 2003 reviewed here

It looks like the LCBO is pretty much out of stock on the 2006 “The Signature” as they are only listing 4 bottles in the entire province.  If you do come across a bottle of this wine, pick it up as at $52 a bottle this wine is a heck of a value and can compete with wines at twice that price point.

It was a really fun night and I hope my lovely wife enjoyed herself as much as I did.  It is appropriate that this is a wine blog, as like a good wine, my wife gets better with age.

Cheers!

Mark