I was attending a reunion of the Shamrocks, the name of my Bride’s high school’s nickname.  They were trying to get a group together, and since my Bride is not on social media, I had to request a membership to a closed group, identifying myself as the husband, using my Bride’s maiden name.  I was accepted and I had to relay all the information to my Bride about potential dates and locations.  It all worked out, in the end, and I bit the bullet and tried a glass of Yellow Tail Pinot Grigio Australia 2021, while my Bride was being a social butterfly and reintroducing herself to some of the people that showed up, as I am sure that no one still looks like a teenager.  While I was trying the wine.  I also secured a table for five of us to have dinner.  My Bride pulled herself a way for a bit, to try the wine, as the restaurant only carried wines by the magnum, or double bottle, and the price of a magnum for any of their wines was the price I have paid for a glass of wine in some locations.  I tried the Pinot Grigio, for my Bride and for the record, the wine was a soft yellow, with floral notes, on the palate a bit of fruit (citrus?) and a very short finish of almost rubbing alcohol. It could be, just because the magnum only had perhaps one more glass left, and who knows how long it was between pours; it also didn’t help that the wine glasses were the old-fashioned restaurant utilitarian glass where the wine is filled to the brim.

Eventually all five were seated at the table, as the waitress was coming around to take the orders, and this was a family-owned restaurant that has over fifty years of continuous business, which is impressive.  My Bride and I were going to split an Antipasto Salad and the waitress assured us that the Small would be adequate for us, and she was right, as we let others have some of the salad as well.  The waitress did ask me what type of dressing, and I thought for an Antipasto, that Italian would be the best.  Then we also shared an order of Veal Scallopini, and my Bride had our bowl of Minestrone Soup and we also shared a side order of Mostaccioli with a Meat Sauce.  There was definitely enough food for the two of us, and the other people at the table agreed.  I was surprised that one of the others at the table has to have a Gluten-free diet and at this Italian restaurant they had Corned Beef and Cabbage and Potatoes and she was totally happy.  To finish it off, we all had a slice of the specially decorated sheet cake for the event. 

There was a group of us, and since the price was so safe for a magnum, I made a mental decision between a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Merlot, and of course with my predilection, we ended up with a bottle of Yellow Tail Merlot Australia 2021.  Yellow Tail is a major single-variety wines, as well as sparkling and rosé wines with value pricing. It is now one of the largest selling wines by volume in the world. The Casella family began history in wines back in Italy in the 1820’s.  They moved to Australia in 1957 and began making wines in the 1960’s. The Yellow Tail brand, which depicts a wallaby was formed in 2000, from the juice that they used to produce and sell to other wineries and the bulk of the wines carry the appellation of South Eastern Australia, but the winery and facilities are located in Yenda, New South Wales. By 2003, Yellow Tail was the number one imported wine to the United States of America.  The wine had a nice deep garnet color with mild notes of dark fruit.  On the palate a small taste of red fruit, mellow and a very short finish.  This wine was not the worse red wine that I have tasted, and if it has the ability to eventually get people to try other wines, then I applaud the results.  The odds are that I won’t be attending my high school reunion, even with the monumental number, but I am sure that I will live.