Barossa Wine Taste & Tweet

Last weekend was the Barossa Wine Taste & Tweet, a virtual wine event organized by Sommelier Rick Bakas during his Australia visit.  It was a fun and interesting experience, as wine lovers from around the world were able to follow the event on Twitter while sipping our own bottles of Barossa wine and posting our tasting notes.

The wine I chose for the event was the 2007 Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache, which was a bit hard to find but thanks to the always-accommodating staff at Hamlet Wines & Liquors in East Setauket, I was able to get my hands on a bottle, and I posted tasting notes, photos, and observations throughout the tweetup event.

2007 Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache

I usually experience Grenache in Rhone blends and Spanish blends, with Syrah, Mourvedre, or Carignan; this time I got to enjoy Grenache on its own.  The wine is fairly light in color, an almost ruby red with a lighter rim.  I poured it into the decanter and let it sit for nearly an hour before sampling it.  The first aromas to reach me were those of ripe red fruits and berries, raspberry, cherry, and perhaps a touch of blackberry and plum, followed by some gentle oak, spice, and smoke, and some earthiness and saddle leather.  The flavors reflected the red fruit and berry characteristics.  I found the texture to be soft and very enjoyable, the wine is nicely balanced, not overly tannic, with a long finish reminiscent of sour cherry and darker fruit.

I would highly recommend this wine for Pinot Noir lovers, as it is a soft wine with lots of red fruit, light spice, and a bit of earthiness, and I would also recommend this Grenache for anyone who wants to experience something a bit different from what we usually taste from Australian producers, which seems to be mostly Shiraz.  I enjoyed it very much and if I can locate another bottle, I would like to try it with roast chicken, duck, or lamb.