Little Penguin - Shiraz

Price: $7.99
Region: Australia
Year: 2006

Nothing too out of the ordinary this weekend. I went out to dinner Saturday night, but to a new Irish pub in town, so I had a half and half (Guiness & Harp). No wine to review from that meal. We did have a nice family dinner on Sunday evening, so in the time I dropped my son off for guitar lessons on Sunday afternoon, I dropped by my favorite wine store which is right around the corner. I only had about 30 minutes before I had to get back to pick up my son, so there wasn't a lot of browsing going on. I knew we were having a chicken and pasta dish, so if I had time to think about it, the smart choice would have been to go over to the Italian wine section, and pick something out to change up the pace a little. Instead, I found a bottle of Australian Shiraz that I have almost bought on more then one occasion, but just always seemed to put it back for some reason. I must admit that in this price range, and when it comes to Australian wines, I always gravitate to Yellowtail, which I find is hard to beat. Which reminds me. Starting soon, I am going to do a few weeks of two reviews. I am going to do my normal weekly review, but am also going to review one of my "default" wines as well. I will create a separate list of my top 5 default wines, which I can guarantee, Yellowtail Shiraz will be one of them.

Now, on to the the wine for this week. The color was very much like a lot of Shiraz, but it seemed to be a shade on the paler side. Nothing too noticeable, but just a little lighter in color then I was expecting. The smell was also reminiscent of an inexpensive Shiraz. It had a little bit of a floral smell to it, but overall generally appealing. Again, not to sound like a broken record, but the first impression after taking a sip, was not overly surprising. Shiraz is usually one of my favorite varietals, and the taste was not bad, but what did surprise me was how short it was in length. That isn't usually a word I would use to describe a wine, and I'm not trying to sound overly complex, but it was almost like the taste was there, and then it wasn't. One of the things I enjoy about a good wine is the smooth finish that tends to linger for a moment. This wine simply did not have that. Overall I would say it was an acceptable wine, but not something I would rush out to buy.

Rating: 2.75 corks (Acceptable, but surely nothing special)