We'll share a bottle

...it better be good, or I'm coming after you.

The 07 is shit! If any of you find an Oz or french number that's 05 - savour it because we are yet to get another good year.

In this universe of variety, the cosmic numbers, the galaxy of competition, the gorillas of the gutter the champions of pioneering industries. More important than nit picking, more important than spirituality and most certainly more important than philosophy ok maybe a little too far there?
I announce the best buy, bang for your buck, no hole in your wallet award winning wine. The Bin 555 Wyndham Estate 2005 Shiraz at $12.99 from Foodtown.
2 Gold medals from Sydney international and Riverina wine shows
4 Silver medals.
International wine and spirit competition 2007
Perth Royal Wine show 2007
National Wine Show of Australia 2007
Royal Hobart Wine Show 2007

This wine is absolutely gorgeous! Full bodied, plum and spice nuances, integrated and complex.
Get one right away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Yalumba is a lovely wine, I definitely recommend storing it for another two years so that the acid (chemically taste) settles a little. Still, it is great drinking now and if you're going to, then try decantering it. It is a beautiful, heavy wine and the added oxygenation will give it a lift of expression!
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Addition.
Of course you don't actually need a proper decanter. The cheap way to do this would be holding the wine bottle a good 25 cm (to avoid splatter) above a clean ice cream container. The wine flows through the air, and whirls itself off the walls! Hence it gets well oxygenated. Then simply use a funnel and put it back in the bottle.

All got 5 stars!

Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz 2005 (Barossa Valley, SA) $33.99 - $34.99
Top Five Australian Shiraz No 1 (Issue 129 July 2008) The 04 edition of this essency Barossa Shiraz won accolades last year and this 05 is a morethan- worthy follow-up – a wine of gorgeous concentration and depth of complex flavour. It opens with delicious plum, boysenberry, warm spice and subtle oak aromas, and the palate is velvety in feel, long in flavour and fine in ripe tannins. Pour a glass and savour just how good old-vine Australian Shiraz can be. Recommended By Cuisine Magazine

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Wolf Blass Grey Label Shiraz 2005 (McLaren Vale, SA) $38.00 - $42.00

Top Five Australian Shiraz No 2 (Issue 129 July 2008) Once oaky blockbusters, Wolf Blass reds sum up the recent evolution of Aussie Shiraz, emerging still full of character but better balanced. Perfect for a hearty casserole, this shows sweetly spicy fruitcake and vanillin characters tracking through a fleshy palate, and balanced, muscular tannins. Cellar 2 -10 years Recommended By Cuisine Magazine.

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Yalumba Barossa Patchwork Shiraz 2006 (Barossa Valley, SA) BEST BUY $20.00 - $22.00

Top Five Australian Shiraz No 3 (Issue 129 July 2008) A great mix of hearty Barossa qualities, this poised young Shiraz by talented winemaker Louisa Rose shows spicy berry fruit and chocolatey richness in perfect harmony. Made for rare rump steak. Cellar 2 - 8 years. Recommended By Cuisine Magazine.
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Serafino Shiraz 2005 (McLaren Vale, SA) BEST BUY $25.00
Top Five Australian Shiraz No 4 (Issue 129 July 2008) A Shiraz of generous proportions from McLaren Vale, with barrel ferment adding a smoky sweetness to a core of juicy berry and plum fruit. Supple texture, long flavour and great balance give it appealing drinkability now, but it should also develop well. Recommended By Cuisine Magazine

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Trentham Heathcote Shiraz 2005 (Heathcote, Vic $27.99
Top Five Australian Shiraz No 5 (Issue 129 July 2008) The Heathcote region’s fame as a source of superb Shiraz rests with wines like this. Concentrated, almost syrupy dark fruits are interwoven with earthy interest and toasty oak influence in excellent balance. A powerful red that needs time to realise its potential. Cellar 2 -8 years .

Shiraz is my favorite too. I tried a bottle of that yellow tale last year. Talk about 'total passion for the total gutter' of wine! Shiraz is a wine full of character, strength, 'spice and everything nice'. Unfortunately the supermarket ones are just heavy, fruit driven, highly alcoholised, vulgarities. However, lovley Shiraz does come from some places in Australia such as the Mclaren Vale. Gemtree Shiraz Uncut 2005 or 06, Bloodstone 2006 or Geoff Merrill Shiraz 03,04,05. Are all good ones to try.
kkulak

Ahhh, Shiraz... as far as I am concerned, it is the king of the reds. I don't care much for a grandiose Cabernet or discreet Merlot so much as for a spicy, lip-smacking Shiraz. At least, it has character, dammit!

-Nullius in verba.-

I've just tried the Nottage Hill 2004 Shiraz and it's not a touch on the Yellow Tail, which is now my benchmark for South Australian Shiraz. It's not horrible, just a little thin. Buy it cheap or not at all.

...but I just tried their Cab Sav, and although it's the 2006, and obviously very young for a Cab, it's pretty damn good. None of the spice of the Shiraz, but very fruity, full and jammy. Worth a gurgle. I imagine it'll be a little pearler in a year or two.

I'm sorry to report that the 2006 version, which has just come into my local, is watered down, seemingly literally. It's KASSless. Maybe just too young to drink?

...it's only teetotalling doctors that say that.

Vino will make you better

Once I'm over the Giardia medication - apparently mixing that stuff with alcohol is a recipe for all sorts of unpleasantness.

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Buy and wear InfidelGear - 100% of all InfidelGear profit goes to SOLO!

...the land of big & light reds. Oh, what a playground!

*You* find out about the Shiraz roses and let *us* know

I have seen 'white shiraz' which looks more like a rose - has anyone here tried that, & is willing to comment?

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Buy and wear InfidelGear - 100% of all InfidelGear profit goes to SOLO!

A deep, dark, plummy, crimsony red.

...by comparison to the Shiraz is what I mean.

I've tasted some Merlots that were thin and not at all mellow. The Yellow Tail was very acceptable in that regard. But considering it sells for the same price as the Shiraz, really, there's only one way to go.

I got a bottle of this yesterday. Not bad at all. Very nice choice for a $7 bottle of red wine. I didn't think much of the other Yellow Tail selections I've had, but the Shiraz is rock solid. Next time I want to seer a few steaks I'll pick up another bottle.

- Jason

Jason D. Quintana is not associated with the Ayn Rand Institute -- neither as a writer nor as a speaker.

Is Shiraz red or white?

> My health regime mandates a bottle per evening... at 500 calories a bottle, ...when at home a bottle uncorked in time for the evening news...If I venture into a second bottle I run the risk of a hangover ... not to mention going on to the Internet and saying things I don't regret. [Linzaroni]

The dictionary defines an alcoholic as "a person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually". Well it's a damn good thing you don't have that second bottle or have it in the morning to get you thru the morning news... Else Kilbourne might call you an alcoholic.

Now, it's nine a.m here and I'm brewing up my fourth rum, vodka, tabasco, and latte mix. Hic... But don't any ho dare call me any kind of holic...

..thas just a mortal insult to say i do sumpithin' to access!!!! I take acception to that @#!$%^&

Besides mine has a lot less calories than yours, Linzaroni!!! And I stop drinking before evening because that would be unhealthy. Speaking of music, wat do you think about global warming?

...Say, let me axe you somesuch...what were we talking about, anyway....?

Oh, Jesus this is bad stuff.

Too much sugar.

Not enuff espresso. I need a nap.

.... their Merlot was shitty, so never tried it.

...was very nice but not a touch on the Shiraz

Oak Oak, more Oak and soil that is not spent.

I find that that Aussie Shiraz wines tend to be a bit peppery and spicy. French syrah wines lack those characteristics and I therefore prefer them. Does anyone share my view or have an explantion?

BTW, I do love NZ's wines, especially whites and Lindauer Special Reserve (great biscuity taste).

So glad you enjoyed. As for the Arizona wine snob, shoot her.

Ross,

Many NZ wines are extraordinary. I find them so, and people with refined palates and expertise (i.e. not me) wax lyrical about them.

I just sound negative about NZ wines because of my reaction against the parochialism. I admit to wanting to avoid ordering NZ wines as a result. However, in a typical display of internal conflict, I sometimes want to order something from a vinyard that I have tried before - and my NZ history makes that usually something from the Shaky Isles. As an aside, I tried a recent Cloudy Bay SB last year and it was spectacular. It was a bit of a slap in the face, given that I've generally been on the 'Cloudy Bay is overrated' bandwagon. Then I had some Pelorus as well, and I was further shamefaced.

I could well be wrong, but I suspect the Cabernet Malbec was heavy on the Cabernet and light on the Malbec. These South West appelations can have a majority of Malbec, with some Tannat as well.

Very nice. Smooth as silk and, at 13.5%, almost as intoxicating

I think it's incredible value at $12, and a solid quaffer. Almost a light port flavor. Very plummy, hardly any tannins and a nice round finish. In fact, I wish I'd had another bottle to help fend off the cool autumn night.

A wine snob I know in Arizona was not too taken with my opinion of the Yellow Tail. She maintained that at US$4.99 it was strictly average, and not a match for Californian Zinfandel.

Well, I liked it, and will drink much more.

Based upon your effusive recommendation, I've just purchased a bottle of the Yellow Tail Shiraz--Woolworths, $12--and shall sample it this evening.

It was funny, though. I was almost at the checkout when I realised I'd picked up a bottle of the Yellow Tale by accident. Close call

"Have you tried some Malbec based wines from the South West of France? If you can find something from the Cahors appellation (they call the grape Auxerrois) then it often has a fantastic dark colour that matches the massive taste."

Best Malbec I've had is the '96 Cabernet-Malbec from Leasingham Wines in South Australia. A stunner for $25.

And, don't be so tough on NZ wines. I don't suffer from wine nationalism but the Marlborough climate is ideally suited for the production of great whites and some good lighter reds. You just have to drink 'em to know 'em.

Let's never forget the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. It's one of the reasons why New World wines no longer have to suffer Old World snobbery and why European wines are so cheap and available these days.

I used to think that Shiraz was an example of Australian/Australasian propaganda about the quality of their wine - i.e. NZ white wines are the best in the world, and Australian reds (read Shiraz) are the best in the world blah blah blah. It wouldn't have annoyed me so much if I weren't aware that the parrots squawking this mantra were drinking malibu wine cooler and something or rather white wine from a box a few years previously.

It turns out I was wrong, and my palate was just a bit girly. Luckily, age clearly provided me with some backbone for the mouth (apologies to any anatomists out there) and I realised that while the first glass (after aperitifs of course) can be refreshing whites, it shouldn't take too long before you serve yourself something that makes your jaw dislocate.

Have you tried some Malbec based wines from the South West of France? If you can find something from the Cahors appellation (they call the grape Auxerrois) then it often has a fantastic dark colour that matches the massive taste.

I still hate that "NZ wines are so good, they get so many medals" bollocks (at what awards? judged by whom? how many medals were awarded? what were they awarded for? who was competing?).

just testing to see if you were awake.

...Casella don't make "Yellow Tale" as you claim--three times--in your post. They do, however, make Yellow Tail.

It seems wine-drinkers can't spell either

I've made my correction, and I'm just off to listen to some Sinatra

That's "pretenSions."

Beer-drinkers can't spell. Wine-drinkers can, even after three bottles (and that's just for breakfast). Musically, beer-drinkers' limit is the very limited Sinatra. A pretty sorry bunch. Thank Galt we don't have beer-drinkers on SOLO. Would really lower the tone.

Mitch—I already said I scoff at all that bullshit. And yes, I love Wolf Blass. But the Yellow Tail is available from my corner grocery for just $13.00 a bottle. That's just $130 a day. How could I pass it up?

Just one bottle a night, Lindsay?

The pretentious nature of wine aficionados--officially oenophiles, but often practitioners of oenophilia--scares many off. I used to belong to a tasting club but left after one ponce referred to a wine as flaccid, causing all around him to nod very seriously.

I don't mind the descriptions of wine that include obvious taste and style references, but the use of silly adjectives just leaves me gagging for a beer.

And here I was thinking that those Iranians were the scum of the Earth! Shame on me.

I have a question though. Why do wine makers take themselves so seriously? This from the makers of the Wolf Blass Shiraz (which I thought was better than Yellow Tail): "scents of liquorice, spice and sweet, ripe berry rise up from the glass and flow into a palate jammed with blackberry fruit, fragrant spice and well-integrated smoky oak. The finish demonstates elegant fine tannins." I mean, couldn't they just say "it tastes good"?

I prefer beer myself. Apart from the obvious difference in taste and the extra quantities one can drink without going on to the Internet and saying things one doesn't regret , one of the reasons for this is that the advertising is just so much better; on the side of a bus shelter in Australia this week was a picture of a bottle of beer and the question: could global warming make England bearable?

Come to think of it, it's about that time