Grand Cru (Perth) tasting group - Alternative Whites Feb 2016

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

After our successful Chardonnay tasting in January, and while summer is still with us, we thought this tasting should also focus on whites. This time, however, mainstream white varieties were excluded. No Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, or Semillons - much as we love these varietals (and blends thereof), we wanted to look at the possibly lesser known varieties. So, the theme was to bring on the Pinot Blanc (not the more common Gris or Grigio, they're mainstream these days!), Viognier, Chenin Blanc, Muscadet, Fiano, Gewurztraminer, Silvaner, and dozens more I may or may not have heard of (or tried) in the past.

What we actually came up with was:

John Duval Plexus Marsanne Roussanne Viognier 2013 (Barossa Valley): 13.5% alcohol and 6 months in ‘the best French oak’. Pale yellow in colour. An oak dominant nose over honeysuckle and lemon pith. There’s also butterscotch and a hint of soapiness. The palate is quite warm climate chardonnay-like, soft and moderate acidity, some lanolin, and slightly short finish.

San Lorenzo Verdicchio 2013 (Marche, Italy): 13% alcohol. Yellow with a slight pink tinge. This provoked considerable discussion, with a slight sherry flor character, burnt sugar, and marmalade on toast (i.e. a hint of yeast). Strongly tart acidity was followed by some savoury spice, leading to a medium finish. One taster described the wine as elegant.

Michel Leon Gewurztraminer 2012 (Alsace, France): Straw in colour. Textbook traminer, with musk sticks, lychee, Turkish delight, rosewater, florals and spice on the nose. The palate is rich and intense. Cleansing acid and a swathe of fruit sweetness (13% alcohol indicates low residual sugar) leading to a reasonably long finish.

Marq Vermentino 2014 (Margaret River): 10.1% alcohol. Extremely pale yellow colour. The nose shows green apple, citrus and pear. There’s also some florals and a hint of dustiness, and if tasted blind, we wuld pick this as a riesling. This went through to the palate, with very high acidity, lime ‘riesling-like’ characters, leading to a clean dry finish. It’s a subtle wine in some respects, and light-bodied.

Next was the Fanny Sable Aligote 2012(Bourgogne, France). Pale yellow colour. More green apples and pears on the nose, with some orange peel, lemon pith and some florals. The palate showed quite tart Granny Smith apples, accompanying the high acidity. There was only a moderate length to the wine, however.

The oldest wine of the night was the Tahbilk 1927 Vines Marsanne 2007 (Nagambie Lakes, Victoria): For a nearly 9 year old wine, this shows a youthful pale yellow colour. There’s a rich and intense nose of lemon, lanolin, with one taster opining ‘under ripe pear’ and another got a delicate whiff of smoke. The palate is defined by the clean acid, and the fruit weight (one taster went for ‘crushed nashi pear’). There’s a fair amount of citrus leading to a reasonably lengthy finish. Youthful for a 9 year old.

The Peel Estate Chenin Blanc 2012 (Geographe, WA) is possibly this winery’s flagship white. ‘Wood matured’ has long been the labelling hallmark, and this is apparent in the wine – oak, and formic acid (crushed ants) on the nose, along with lanolin and cola. The palate is more specifically toasty oak with cola lollies. There’s moderate acid, but this is not lifting the palate, which is flat and unexciting to most tasters. A shame – I’ve had lovely aged versions of this wine.

The final wine was a quirky one – the Alberto Tedeschi Pignoletto 2010 (Emilia Romagna, Italy). This was either considerably ullaged, or only a partial fill (around 500 ml in a 750 ml bottle). It’ dark orange in colour, very cloudy and full of sediment. The nose shows ginger beer, apple and pear cider, lots of yeast autolysis, and some nuttiness. The palate drew comments of vegemite, radicchio bitterness, and showed very low acidity. I thought this was ullaged and oxidised, but apparently the wine is supposed to be naturally orange and sparkling. Let’s just say this was not an entirely successful experiment.

The wine of the night was the Tahbilk 1927 Vines Marsanne 2007. As usual, my compliments to the Terrace Hotel for fin service, setting and food, and most of all thank you to the tasters, for their imaginative offerings, incisive tasting comments, and fabulous company. I’ve said this before, but I still can’t think of a better way to spend a Wednesday evening.

Cheers
Allan