Well, this is it. This is simply the most impressive wine I have tasted since I came to Canada two months ago. This Yering Station Shiraz/Viognier 2005 (LCBO 897351), an Australian wine from Victoria region, Yarra Valley, is everything a red wine should be: garnet-red with purple highlights, aromatic, velvety, luscious and still powerful, fruity and spicy at the same time, lingering on the palate. I actually couldn’t believe my luck when we opened it – and all for the very moderate sum (for such quality) of $19.15.

Actually I bought it in the first place because I wanted to know how the Australian experiment in French-style wine-making is progressing. This blend of red Shiraz varietal and white Viognier has a very long history in the Old World, and the Côte-du-Rhône Valley of Southern France, where they do one of the most hyped French wines, the glorious and elusive Côte-Rotie.

Côte-Rotie literally means toasted hill-side, and one part of its terroir has dark chocolate-brown soil - Côte brune - and the other part has soil almost blond in colour – hence its French name, Côte blonde. It is an immensely complex wine but unfortunately it takes many years to open and display its wonderful personality, and by the time that happens, the price of the wine is, alas, sky-high (although it’s not very moderately-priced to begin with).

All my tastings of Côte-Rotie were rather disappointing – even though I had an opportunity to visit several really famous producers in France, like Guigal etc.. And that’s because the Côte-Roties I was offered were not old and open enough. Whereas this Australian rip-off (or shall we be PC and say “emulation”?) was unbelievably glorious. I simply couldn’t stop drinking it. Especially with New Zealand lamb – I braised some lamb shanks but I am sure that it will be lovely with lamb cutlets. Just remember to let your Shiraz/Viognier reach room temperature so that all its flavours can unfold and engulf you.

I am off to put another bottle out to warm (or as the French say, chambrer) for our Saturday dinner. Next time we’ll be talking about another Côte-du-Rhône emulation “Goats do Roam” wine of South Africa.