Why should kerosene character in riesling be appealing?

[Daryl Douglas]

A couple of cheapies - Blass Eaglehawk 02 & Tahbilk 01

Maybe it's bottle/batch variation. Shared a bottle of Tahbilk 01 last weekend that was significantly more golden in colour than that tasted tonight; showed obvious aged characters after a bottle of Stoneleigh sauv blanc 02. A touch of TCA? My palate's not educated enough to know for sure. Murray can demonstrate the inconsistencies that even Tahbilk's Maranne bottlings can manifest. But back to the subject, well, sort of because it's developing to be more about bottle variability than just kerosene character in riesling.

But back to the subject.

The Tahbilk 01 tasted tonight is just about as good as Nagambie Lakes riesling gets, including (another favourite) the benchmark Mitchelton Blackwood. I've previously enjoyed the Blass product, one of my favourite white cheapies along with Peter Lehmann semillon. But tasted after the Tahbilk, the Blass just put me off with the upfront kero on the palate.

Does anyone really enjoy riesling that has a kero taste?

daz

[Geoffrey]

Daryl
Kerosene characters (a term we use best to describe those flavorous and not nessacarly true to the said crude petroleum product) if in balance in the wine with fruit, acid and sweetness which tend to be a bit of botrytis can be very pleasant, but if the the Kero flavorous dominate with out much of the fore mentioned the wine can be most unpleasant and that being the case one is best to pour it into the tank of your lawn mower

Cheers
Geoffrey

[Guest]

Daryl,

My general rule of thumb is that if the kero is showing up when the wine is young; it's going to become more obvious; with the risk of predominating, as the wine matures.

I think kero in Riesling is a bit like VA in reds.

A bit is OK, as long is it is in balance with the rest of the wine, moreover it can add complexity to the wine.

However if there's too much then it is a flaw.

The Mitchelton Blackwood Parks are coming along nicely, there's a 1996 'classic release' around that is excellent, and just has a slight touch of kero. The current 02 is also great.

Murray

[Murray]

Daryl,

My general rule of thumb is that if the kero is showing up when the wine is young; it's going to become more obvious; with the risk of predominating, as the wine matures.

I think kero in Riesling is a bit like VA in reds.

A bit is OK, as long is it is in balance with the rest of the wine, moreover it can add complexity to the wine.

However if there's too much then it is a flaw.

The Mitchelton Blackwood Parks are coming along nicely, there's a 1996 'classic release' around that is excellent, and just has a slight touch of kero. The current 02 is also great.

Murray

This was from me (forgot to sign in)

[SueNZ]

God, there's gotta be a better name than 'kerosine'. While some rieslings, and not very ones at that, have really obvious jet fuel, others are nothing like it. Yet nearly everyone still says 'kero'. Sometimes, for these wines, all I'm get is really concentrated lime aromas, sometimes toasty lime characters - but no woolly nightshade (Kero) characters.
PS Do you get the stinky woolly nightshade in Aus? The pungent, toxic smell is just like kero - but definitely nothing like Riesling.

[RogerPike]

"Kerosine" characters in Riesling are the result of sunburnt fruit and are much less common these days due to improved canopy management. For some of us the occasional kero riesling is a nostalgia thing!