The Auswine Forum

I notice that an online retailer in the UK is offering "Benson Rise Cygne blanc"

For those of you who don't drink wine you can see through, Cygne blanc is a white variety developed by the late Jack Mann in the Swan Valley. Mann Winery use it to make a sparkler. A few years ago a lot of it was planted in the Limestone Coast region.

My questions. Have any auswiners tried the SA stuff? Is it available in Australia? Who is/owns the Benson rise label?

Have seen it for sale in one independent in Perth. Was curious but ended up getting distracted by another wine. I believe it is Jack Mann's son and his wife that have developed it. Don't know who owns the winery though.

cheers

Carl

darby wrote:For those of you who don't drink wine you can see through, Cygne blanc is a white variety developed by the late Jack Mann in the Swan Valley. Mann Winery use it to make a sparkler. A few years ago a lot of it was planted in the Limestone Coast region.

Need to get your facts right.

The variety was not "developed" per se.

Cygne Blanc originated as a sport that grew on the Dorham Mann property in the Swan Valley. It had cab sauv leaves but grew white grapes. Dorham is the son of Jack Mann. As an aside, the othe Jack Mann descendendents own Lamonts.

He makes a sparkler and a still version, neither of which I personally find very appealing, and despite the amount of press the variety recieved in its early days, especially with the supposedly large plantings in SA, it has not come to the forefront as the next great thing.

Still waiting.

In Langhorne Creek - Cleggetts produce a Shalistan (their colourless sport / mutation of Cabernet Sauvignon).

You occasionally hear of that in the news also.

No comment on the wine quality

Sorry Davo, you are right.

We need to get our facts straight. The variety was not developed. But neither is it a result of a sport. It arose from a seedling, not the same thing at all.

The Shalistin and Malian, white and bronze Cabernets at Cleggetts in Langhorne Creek did arise as sports.

As far as I know Dorham Mann is still making the wine in small quantities in the Swan Valley.

But the real point of my post was to try to find out about the South Australian wine. I knew a largish vineyard of Cynge Blanc had been planted near Robe but I was unaware any wine had been made or released form it.

darby wrote:
We need to get our facts straight. The variety was not developed. But neither is it a result of a sport. It arose from a seedling, not the same thing at all.

Actually, that is exactly what it is. A mutant seedling is a sport.

You may wish to have a read here as well.

http://www.mbva.com.au/grapevarieties.htm

That's a coincidence. I'm picking up a bottle of the 07 of this on Satruday; possibly from the aforementioned retailer. I'll let you know how I go when I crack it.

Halliday did a thing on this a little while back from memory. I think it's Derek Hooper and a few others down in Mt Benson. Maybe buried in The Australian website archives or perhaps on Halliday's site. I'm pretty certain it was Halliday.

I bought a bottle of Cygne Blanc from an independent in Perth called La Vigna (which is an absolute treasure trove of wines).

I haven't tried it as yet, but I have had the sparkling that Dorham Mann makes out of it, and I bought the still wine on the strength of that. It is only available cellar door (or by mailing list one imagines) and it sells out fairly quickly.

As far as the quality is concerned, I love the stuff and would rate it up there with some of the best sparklers in Australia.