More about [yellow tail]

A friend of my wife's gave me an article from the New York Times about the rise of [yellow tail]. It's an interesting story; the winery basically went from completely unknown to being one of the largest imports in the U.S. in 5 years - in other words internet time. According to the article the wine agrees with new, younger wine drinkers. I'm not sure I buy that image.

Even though wine drinking ages in the U.S. are trending downward, you're not going to find a good Burgundy at the next kegger. The average age of a wine drinker these days is more likely than ever to be 30-something or even 20-something. Still, according to the most recent survey I could find at least half regular consumers are over 40. In the end it was the article as well as this demographic that prompted me to give [yellow tail] a try again.

The wine I'm trying right now was lent to me by my father, who's qualified to join AARP. He's been a wine drinker since at least his grad school and post-doc days, some of which he spent in Paris. There he learned a bit about French wine some from illustrious tutors. If I get the chance I'll try to collect a few of the more colorful stories and relate them here. Suffice to say that he has an opinion about wine and is a regular consumer.

He really likes some of the inexpensive Australian products now available of which [yellow tail] is only the most widely distributed. There's also Jacob's Creek, the Little Penguin, Black Opal, Bonny Doon, Rosemount Estates and so on. A French competitor in the low-price market is Fat Bastard. Do these wines have anything going for them other than the price? That's what I aim to find out, starting with the largest and most available.

I try not to be a snob when it comes to wine, and to look past the price tag. That's often hard to do; if you pay a premium for a wine you'll justify the purchase in one way or another. The same sort of defensiveness applies to houses and cars and is a well-known trait of consumer psychology. Most of the wine I drink and review falls into the "inexpensive" category (for wine), under $30 a bottle and usually under $20. I'd be happy to pay even less for items of similar quality. For me, though, [yellow tail] just doesn't quite measure up.

In particular while the 2005 [yellow tail] Shiraz has a nice color the aroma leaves something to be desired. Some fruit elements are there but also something else that I find unpleasant, a raw and almost chemical smell. It has a medium-sweet flavor with an interesting vanilla-tinge but not much else. The finish is quick - too quick. Within seconds you can't really tell you've had a glass at all. It goes down easy, but doesn't leave much of a memory.

What do I expect for $6? In this day and age of high-quality wine, about what I got. Compared to a number of wines that come in boxes or other odd containers [yellow tail] is of higher quality. If I'm looking for a cheap drink, a substitude for a 6-pack, it's a good choice. What I anticipate when I drink wine is a memorable experience and a bit of history. [yellow tail] delivers a nice history lesson in supply and demand, the power of markets, and globalization. It fails to deliver a memorable experience.

So if offered a glass of the Shiraz at a bar I'll take it for what it is. When I'm ordering something to go with a special meal or when I'm entertaining friends I'm going to seek out something far more interesting for a few dollars more.