2010 Yard Dog White

Monday I reviewed a pink purse wine and today I've got a white wine with a Chihuahua on the label. It's turning into Legally Blonde around here. Time to go back to strange organs and weird critters, I think.

But until my next adventure in the odd meats case of the international market, it's time to take another look at a fun little white wine from Australia. Redheads Studio used to have its own website but it now redirects to Laithwaite's, the British wine company that founded Redheads Studio in order to showcase the creativity of young Australian winemakers. I've had the Yard Dog Red in the past but have not seen any of their other products in the local market. And yes, for a change, I did purchase this wine as I happened to be completely out of white wine and needed half a bottle to go into my spaghetti sauce. The remainder was chilled and served as an apéritif for Saturday lunch. Julia loved it and adored the cute label.

2010 Redheads Studio Yard Dog White
McLaren Vale, South Australia
Chardonnay 41%, Sauvignon Blanc 32%, Verdelho 16%, Viognier 11%
$11, 13% abv.

Light and refreshing with loads of tropical fruit, hints of pineapple and apricot. Mild, balanced acidity and a short, crisp finish. Great chilled and while this unoaked wine is fruity, it's not overpowering and provided a garden fresh character to the tomato sauce.

Australian wine calls for Italian-American food, of course. I was craving Ween's Sunday Gravy and realized it had been a while since I'd worked up a big pot of tomato sauce and meatballs.

I made a few tweaks this time, thoguh I did include the browned pork chops (which add so much flavor and texture to the sauce over hours of simmering). A hot Memphis Saturday is perhaps not the best day to spend making sauce for four hours followed by boiling pasta, but at the end it was worth it and chilled glasses of Yard Dog and purse wine helped cool things off.

This sauce was primarily built around Cento canned tomatoes. I usually use their imported San Marzanos, but due to a supply issue at the grocery store I settled for domestic Romas. In the end I was pretty happy with the result and found them to be great for sauce making. I lucked out and found a wedge of Grana Padano cheese on sale, which along with some freshly chopped parsley made the perfect topping for this big plate of comfort food. I made well over a gallon of sauce, so I got to freeze half litre portions for future enjoyment. Hmmm... might need to go thaw out a meatball or two...