Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/11486
WINE BRIEFS Tall ‘Tails Y Journalist and educator Doug Frost, MW and MS, with Yellow Tail’s Managing Director John Casella at Spago Beverly Hills. YELLOW TAIL HOPS TO THE TOP IN A BLIND TASTING ellow Tail is an atypical brand in Australia’s big wine picture. While other brands fi nd business slumping, this fi ghting kangaroo of a wine keeps leaping ahead of the competi- tion with a force that can’t be attributed just to the brand’s (admittedly clever) marketing. It’s obvious that the yellow- tailed ‘roo must pack its own innate punch. Proving that point, John Casella himself—proprietor of family-owned Yellow Tail—jumped on a whirlwind tour with wine writer and educator Doug Frost, Master Sommelier and Master of Wine, to lead a series of blind tastings across the U.S., pitting Yellow Tail and its new Reserve tier against some heavy-duty international and domestic brands. Among top sommeliers at the blind tasting roundtable, one conclusion was clear: Yellow Tail stands out for its unique fl avor profi les, but its common thread is fruit and more fruit. The Yellow Tail Cab Reserve, for instance, proffers a sweet ripe summer blackberry juiciness with cedar notes threaded through the middle, while the Yellow Tail Reserve Shiraz brims with raspberry/boysenberry from nose to palate. “We launched in 2001 and went from relative obscurity to ten-fold growth,” noted Casella, who has grown the brand to 11 million cases. The somms commented that there’s defi nitely a customer for these wines, with the brand’s consistency in taste and affordability being its best assets. “There’s a Tail for every occasion,” notes Jonathan Mitchell, Assistant General Manager and Sommelier for The Palm in West Hollywood, CA. “In the current economy,” Mitchell continues, “where wine consumers demand great value, the success of brands like Yellow Tail should be no surprise, with its emphasis on ripe, fruit- forward style as well as elegant tannins. As a business proposition, it’s also a slam dunk for wine professionals.” —Meridith May 2 / the tasting panel / june 2010 Yellow Tail Reserve Pinot Grigio, with its dollop of Viognier blended in, per- forms at maximum fl oralilty and fruitiness, with scented honeysuckle, sweet pears and a linear line of lime. World’s Most Powerful Australian Wine Brand According to The Power 100 report by British consultancy fi rm Intangible Business, Yellow Tail is ranked number 4 in the global wine industry and moves forward to number 34 in the top 100 wine and spirit brands globally. This offi cially makes the Down Under phenom the most powerful Australian wine brand in the world. For the study, a panel of leading experts in the drinks industry independently ranked nearly 10,000 leading brands on such factors as share of market, brand growth, price positioning, and brand relevancy, heritage and perception.