TN: Blacktongues - Semillon & Sauvignon Blanc 26/2/05

[n4sir]

This is the third white tasting in succession, so maybe the black tongues are turning a slightly lighter shade of purple?

Keith put together this mixture of Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and blends for us to assess. As usual all the wines were tasted blind, and after about an hour everyone voted for their most preferred, next two most preferred, and their least preferred wines.


2004 Wither Hills Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc $20: Very pale yellow/green colour. A ripe mixture of tropical fruit on the nose; passionfruit with hints of pineapple, asparagus, grass, and a bare touch of sweat. The moderate sized palate is soft and ripe, with hints of stewed apple and passionfruit, and a good fruity rebound. To me this was a lot riper than the style I would normally associate with NZ, but it’s not overdone by any stretch.

My Ranking: 4th place
BTs: 3 most preferred, 6 second, 0 least


1998 Tyrrells Vat 1 Hunter Semillon $40: Light Yellow with a touch of green. Citrus characters at first with hints of bees wax, then changing between lifted florals, toast/wax and some butter. In contrast the palate was very consistent with simple tangy lemon characters during the tasting, which I frankly found boring; after the voting it started to develop some nutty complexity, but by that stage it was too late. Nobody picked this as the Tyrrells on the night – I find it rather elemental right now and prefer the 1997.

My ranking: 6th place
BTs: 1 most, 1 second, 2 least


1998 McWilliams Mt Pleasant Elizabeth Hunter Semillon $32: Mid-yellow colour (the darkest of the group) with just a bare touch of green. A developed, very deep and complex nose of roasted nuts, butter and orange peel, with a hint of bottle stink at first that blew off quickly. The palate is superbly balanced, with lemon/orange citrus characters and soft nutty complexity, finishing with the best length of the group. My top wine from the very beginning.

My ranking: 1st place
BTs: 6 most, 4 second, 1 least


2004 Shaw & Smith Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc $40: Virtually colourless, almost like vodka. A vibrant, fresh and floral/tropical nose with gooseberry, lychees, passionfruit and some sweat. The palate is sweet and ripe on entry with capsicum and tropical fruit salad, but finishes bitter which gets worse with air. I got the impression this was an overblown style with too much skin contact/extract for my liking.

My ranking: 8th place
BTs: 1 most, 4 second, 1 least


2004 Houghtons WA Semillon Sauvignon Blanc $10: Almost as colourless as the Shaw and Smith. There’s those fresh gooseberries and lychees again, but the nose is a fraction more restrained and probably better for it. The palate again has fruity similarities with the preceding wine, but finishes far more polished with a hint of mineral freshness as opposed to the sweaty bitterness. For the price this is a great wine, and not out of place in this group.

My ranking: =5th place
BTs: 0 most, 0 second, 1 least


2003 Cullen WA Semillon Sauvignon Blanc $36: Very pale yellow/green colour. A spicy nose of pickled chillies, lime and a hint of grass. The spicy palate opens quite nutty, more than likely to some French oak influence, but it’s elegant and complex with grass, capsicum, roasted nuts and mineral. I found this to be the most elegant and complex of the obvious Sauvignon Blanc styles, but quite a few of the panel found it over-oaked.

My ranking: 2nd place
BTs: 0 most, 3 second, 6 least


2003 Cape Mentelle Semillon Sauvignon Blanc $23: Very pale green/yellow colour. The nose is quite sweet, with an attractive mixture of tropical fruits and perfume. The palate is elegant and spicy on entry with capsicum and apple, but turns extremely bitter on the finish with sweat and asparagus. This was my least favourite wine.

My ranking: 9th place
BTs: 0 most, 0 second, 1 least


2004 Katnook Estate Coonawarra Sauvignon Blanc $29: Pale green/yellow colour. An elegant nose of pickled capsicum with a hint of chalk. The palate is spicy and slightly nutty, very restrained at first, with a burst of fruit mid-palate, finishing chalky with capsicum.

My ranking: =5th place
BTs: 0 most, 4 second, 2 least


1998 McWilliams Mt Pleasant Lovedale Semillon $36: Mid-yellow colour. This started out with the strangest nose of the group, resembling chemicals/texta markers, before settling down to an elegant mix of sweet perfume, lemon and mineral. The palate likewise is a little stinky at first, then complex and elegant with great balance and length; hints of vanilla and grass, then becoming riper with breathing with citrus and butter. This was one of my least favourites to begin with, but won me over with a little time.

My ranking: 3rd place
BTs: 4 most, 7 second, 1 least


Cheers
Ian

[707]

Praise be to Bacchus that January and February are now past us as are those dreaded c-through tastings.

The REAL Blacktongues get back into gear on 2nd March with the much awaited 2002 Barossa Cabernet tasting. I've been so impressed with so many of these that it will be very interesting to see them in a single tasting.