When I first started blogging, Australian wines frequented my wine glass.  However, I slowly started replacing my Australian Shiraz cravings with juicy California Zinfandels, and the next thing I knew, there wasn’t a wine from down under to be found in my wine rack.  Clearly, I’m not the only one who started leaving Australian wines behind because that was the topic Wine Blogging Wednesday #76—Australian Comeback Kid-The Barossa Boomerang.

WBW turned out to be the perfect opportunity for me to fix my lack of Australian wine tasting.  Unfortunately, while I drank the wine, took pictures, and put together my notes, a ridiculously annoying cold left me with little energy to actually write the post, and WBW #76 came and went without a post from me.  Still, I wanted to share, so here is what should have been my post last Wednesday…

Sunday evening, after a morning of grocery shopping and an afternoon with finishing my first sweater at my monthly knitting group get together, I came home to a night of blogging, more knitting, and watching my favorite Sunday night TV shows.  Hubby said he was making a beef stir-fry for dinner, so I twisted off the top of my Australian Shiraz and settled in.

Tait The Ball Buster 2009 (winery) was from the Barossa Valley, Australia.  The wine was made from 73% Shiraz, 15% Merlot, and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and had a dark, purplish-ruby color.  On the nose and in the mouth, there were blackberries and black cherries with hints of chocolate dust, prunes, and molasses.  The wine was medium-to-full-bodied with solid tannins and good acidity.

Is this worth a glass after work? Sure…you won’t be drinking anything out of the ordinary, but you’ll have a decent, reliable glass of wine.  At $16, this wine was both food-friendly and Game of Thrones-friendly.  As a matter of fact, it turned out to be an appropriate pairing for last week’s episode, which was a real ball buster in itself.

That said, The Ball Buster didn’t quite live up to my expectations.  On the back label, Bruno Tait described the wine as “broad-shouldered, built like a stallion, and she packs an intensity of flavor,” so that is what I was expecting.  Unfortunately, though, I just didn’t find it.  The wine didn’t have enough body to be the “big, thick, juicy” wine Tait was trying to deliver.  So, while The Ball Buster was good, it just left me wanting more.

Question of the Day: Are you an Australian wine fan?  Have you noticed a change in your Australian wine purchasing habits over the last few years?

Price: $16
Purchased at Whole Foods Market
Overall: 3 Corks