This is a very tidy release from Yelland & Papps. Increasingly, I’m interested in the wines I choose and the reasons why I might feel like one style versus another. Tonight, I didn’t want to be challenged. I wanted a wine to caress my palate with generosity and warmth, ripe fruit, lighter coloured berries. The trade-off with these styles can often involve limited complexity and an obviousness of structure that can mitigate one’s full enjoyment. But I reckon this one’s got it about right.

There’s no doubt this is is a buxom, fruit-driven wine, as befits its varieties and regional origins. The nose is full of stewed plums, fresh raspberries and other fleshy fruits, all tinged with a hint of earthiness and the sort of alcohol heat that may be objectionable to some but to me, tonight, promises guilty enjoyment. But it’s the fruit that’s the star in this aroma profile, pulpy and ripe and more than a bit loose.

The palate is a genuine continuation of the nose, flavours translating authentically to middle and after palates of some lushness. It’s not as intense as one might like, and this fact leaves me wanting a little more with each sip. So, in this sense, the wine never fully delivers on its olfactory promise. No matter; a slippery mouthfeel adds the requisite sense of luxe to one’s experience, and there’s enough prickly acidity to prevent ripe plum and red berries from overstaying their welcome. Slight, powdery tannins overlay a finish that is part heat and part hollow. It’s all over much too quickly.

I’m enjoying this beyond what is reasonable and, despite its flaws, feel this really works.

Yelland & Papps
Price: $A19.95
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample