I haven’t participated in Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW) in a while.  Partly because I forget to check and write it down.  I was on top of it this month – the topic this month is Australian wine, but more specifically from the Barossa Valley and under $30.

I have to admit and I’ve said it before I am not a big fan of Australian wines.  With that being said, I have recently been turned onto some wines produced by Yulumba and have been very impressed.  For this WBW I wanted to try something different from a producer I haven’t had before.  Let me tell you it was slim pickings, everywhere I turned there was a bottle of Yulumba and not much else.

I did find a bottle for St. Hallett 2006 Gamekeeper’s Reserve and it stood out, so in the cart it went along with a 2010 Yulumba unoaked Chardonnay.  Ok, I couldn’t resist.  I’m like a kid in a candy shop when I’m in the wine store.  Cost for each bottle above was $12.99

St. Hallett is located in the Barossa wine region in South Australia.  It was established in 1944 and they focus on producing full-flavored textured wines from 100% Barossa fruit.

The Gamekeeper’s Reserve is made from 60% Shiraz, 32% Grenache and 8% Touriga National.   The glass was filled with aromas of plum, blackberry and a hint of wood.  The palate found dark berry fruit with some black cherry showing mid palate. Very fruit forward and no tannins left.  The wine had a strong plummy finish with a slight hint of menthol.

I look forward to trying more Australian wines in the future.