Australian wines are as hot as the country’s blistering Outback, at least if you believe the media. Everywhere I turn (when it comes to wine press), someone is touting products from the Land Down Under.

So it figures that if so many people are falling for Aussie reds and whites, they must be on to something. Well, I recently set out to find out what all of these blokes were fussing about. 

To that end, we enjoyed more than a few bottles of [yellow tail] wine (note: the bracketed, lowercased name is the correct usage) during the recent holiday season. Wine snobs might turn their collective noses up at the colorfully adorned, kangaroo-tattooed products, but damn it if the wine isn’t a good value.

I’m particularly enamored with the 2007 Shiraz (60%)-Cabernet Sauvignon (40%) blend. The wine inside the 1.5 liter mauve-labeled bottle will likely resonate with those who enjoy a slightly tart black-cherry edge to their reds. Honestly, I’ve helped empty three big bottles of this palatable blend over the past two weeks and haven’t tired of it yet. And, thankfully, I can afford to keep experimenting at ~$11 per bottle.

In the meantime, a little about [yellow tail]. As the story goes, the Cassella family had been making wines in mother Italy since the 1820s. In 1951, Fillipo Cassella and wife Maria chased dreams of a new life all the way to New South Wales, Australia. After years of growing and selling grapes to local wineries in and around the town of Yenda, Fillipo decided to start crafting his own wines in 1969.

Today the Cassella’s three sons (John, Joe, and Marcello) run the business. In 2000, Casella Wines joined W.J. Deutsch & Sons to bring [yellow tail] to the United States. That’s the short version of the tale. Those thirsty for more information about the company and its products should pay a visit to http://www.yellowtailwineusa.com.

Ah, but I can’t let you go before answering today’s burning question: Where did the heck did Fillipo and family come up with a name like [yellow tail]? By now, you’ve probably deduced that it has something to do with a certain lovable and bouncy member of the Aussie animal kingdom. As it turns out, the wine’s namesake (and brand) is the yellow-footed rock wallaby, a small, colorful breed of kangaroo that is known to roam the Casellas’ vineyards.

So there you have it mate. I’ll be back with more stories, reviews, and helpful hints, but for now, it’s time to say g’day.

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