Yalumba "Y Series" Riesling 2005

Yalumba "Y Series" Riesling
2005
Barossa Valley
Australia

That picture isn't very good! Apologies. I normally take photographs of the bottles I buy but unfortunately this one got recycled before I photographed so I am borrowing from the internet.

I am becoming a bit of a Riesling fan. They seem to offer wines that can have all the interest and pleasure of a white Burgundy but at a fraction of the price. The difference, in my opinion, is the white Burgundy can often be very much a story of the wine makers skill whereas a Rieslings quality is much more an expression of the grapes origin and climate. Of course, Chardonnay and Riesling are two very different grapes and in fact Chardonnay more than any other grape reflects the terroir(as the French like to call it) so maybe I am talking rubbish.

This was bought in the Shinsegae department store next to the Express Bus Terminal. We were on a mission to buy sausages and growlers(pork pies) from Gavins sausages that the excellent zenkimchi has posted about. We looked. And looked. I was exhausted and had a cold. We looked. I had auditory hallucinations and the sweats. We looked. We didn't find any sausage.

I bought two Australian wines, the Riesling of this post and a Barossa Shiraz. The two bottles cost 40,000Won. This represents pretty good value, Barossa is one of the really noted areas for Shiraz and often they come at a pretty high price.
As it happens the Riesling is also from Barossa. It is pale in colour as you would expect for a young Riesling, a clear and bright yellow.

The nose is pretty much all about the citrus with a really fresh limey kick to it. Perhaps as close as you will get to limes in Korea?? It also has a hint of the petrol so associated with Riesling. Just a hint though.
On the palate it is again a lovely, light bodied, citrus affair that would be well suited to some grilled oily fish on the barbecue. Yalumba talk about generous length and tropical fruit in their official tasting note. I disagree with both. Length was almost non-existent, it was a fleeting pleasure and I got none of the tropical fruit flavours, only the citrus.

Still, it was a W17,000 bottle and was a real quaffer. Definitely recommended for the summer.

Oh and we emailed Gavins and they do indeed operate out of Shinsegae, the Meyong-dong one.
Pork Pies this weekend? If only I could get some Piccalilli.

Tonight is all about a New Zealand Pinot Noir and Sushi, a pairing I have been led to believe works well. We will see.