Perfect Winter Warmers from Sense of Taste!
Yalumba honours its own and significant others in the Australian wine industry through The Signature collection, and we have a great offer for members to get their hands on a bottle.
The 2016 Louisa Rose Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz is on special for $55 (a saving of $13) for members only.
Louisa Rose is chief winemaker at Yalumba after starting her career as a cellar hand at the winery for the 1992 vintage.
The first vintage release of The Signature was in 1962 and since then this outstanding wine has acknowledged many signatories, people who have enhanced the culture and traditions of Yalumba.
The Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz blend is distinctively Australian and historically much of it was shipped back to Europe as claret.
Tasting notes for the 2016 Louise Rose suggest it’s one of the best in The Signature collection, vibrant Barossa aromas of dark fruit and spice and a concentrated palate that is long and deeply flavoured.
Still on Yalumba, I followed Matt from our Tarragindi store’s recommendation and tried Yalumba’s Eden Valley Roussanne during the week - one of the very few expressions of single variety Roussanne in Australia.
Yalumba started work with Viognier in the 1980s, so it was a natural progression to plant some Roussanne vines – the other perfumed and exotic variety originating in the northern Rhone.
Matt offers the perfect description for this wine, saying “if pinot gris and chardonnay had a one-night stand, this would be the result’’. It was enough for me to buy a bottle.
The Roussanne has all the bright pear and apple characteristics of a pinot gris but the palate weight and mouth feel of a chardonnay.
It was very easy to drink and I enjoyed it with a pasta marinara.
Matt has chosen the Langmeil Orphan Bank 2019 Shiraz as a Manager’s Pick at the Tarragindi store this month.
Orphan Bank is testament to Langmeil’s commitment to preserving old and rare Barossa vineyards.
Ten rows of shiraz, planted pre-1860, were saved from the developer’s bulldozer and replanted alongside the original Langmeil vineyard on the banks of the North Para River.
These 10 rows are called the “Orphans’’.
Matt says the people who helped save and replant the vines were able to buy a vine for $100. In return they received a six-pack of wine for each vintage, for the first 10 years.
Port Melbourne distiller Starward has released its limited-edition Ginger Beer Cask whisky.
Crafted with Starward’s signature single malt whisky, the Ginger Beer Cask is finished in barrels that once held the distillery-made ginger beer.
The result is a perfectly sweet and spicy flavour to complement the quintessential Starward tropical notes.
Starward suggests serving the whisky alongside a rich and sticky dessert (like tiramisu) or mix it down in a tropical cocktail loaded with fresh pineapple and citrus.
A couple of other newbies on the whisky scene include the Glenmorangie A Tale of Winter and Ardcore’s Islay Single Malt.
The Glenmorangie screams winter with its striking label – a throwback to the kitsch Christmas woollen jumper.
The 13-year-old single malt has been finished in Sicilian Marsala wine casks.
The flavours of Marsala encapsulate Christmas – apricots, vanilla and brown sugar. Festive spices feature for a lingering spicy aftertaste of cinnamon, clove and ginger. A real winter warmer.