Tasted 4 May 2011

New World Whites

Taste the Difference Fairtrade Chenin Blanc 2010 £7.99
100% Chenin Blanc grapes from from 13 year old vines grown on granite soil in the Wellington region of South Africa. Fermentation takes place over a 3 week period in stainless steel tanks, with no oak aging. Bentonite filtration is used and then the wine is cross flow filtered making it suitable for vegans and vegetarians. This wine is fully Fairtrade accredited.
Residual sugar: 2.75g/l. Winemaker - Petrus Bosman
New, available now, 430 stores, exclusive, screw cap 13.5%
Little on the nose. A little wet wool. Perhaps a little lacking life. Bitter on the finish. Not great.

Taste the Difference Fairtrade Sauvignon Blanc 2010 £7.99
100% Sauvignon Blanc, grown in Fairtrade certified vineyards in the Piekenierskloof region of South Africa’s Western Cape. The fruit is sourced mainly from bush vines. The grapes are hand harvested and fermented in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperatures. This wine is fined with bentonite and filtered prior to cold stabilisation before bottling. Residual Sugar: 2.5g/l.
Winemaker - Jaco Brand at Citrusdal Wines, one of the first Fairtrade certified wineries in South Africa
New, available now, 444 stores, exclusive, screw cap 13.0%
A little sweaty on the nose. The taste is quite sweaty and tart. Finishes a little spring oniony. Not great. Pity.

Castillo de Molina Sauvignon Blanc 2010 £7.99
100% Sauvignon Blanc from vineyards Viña San Pedro. The vineyard is located approximately 20 kilometres from the ocean. The vines are trained using a vertical trellis system with drip irrigation. Grapes are hand picked in the last 2 weeks of March. The grapes are destemmed, cooled and macerated in the press for 4-6 hours at a temperature of 8ºC. Fermentation is carried out with selected yeasts at controlled temperatures of 10-11ºC. Residual sugar: 2.8g/l.
Winemaker - Marco Puyo
New vintage, available now, 430 stores, screw cap 13.0%
Lovely fresh asparagus nose. Very inviting. Hint of fizz. Bright, exciting and just a touch sweeter and with more body than NZ.

Taste the Difference Awatere Valley Riesling 2010 £8.99
100% Riesling. Grapes are grown in the South Island’s Awatere Valley of Marlbrough. The wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel in Yealand’s carbon neutral winery. The wine is fined with casein. Residual sugar: 15g/l. Winemaker - Tamara Washington at Yealands - the largest privately owned vineyard in New Zealand
New, available 1 June, 321 stores, exclusive, screw cap 11.5%
Not screamingly Riesling on the nose. Off dry and nicely pithy. Grapefruity but it’s ripe grapefruit, perhaps pink. Tangy and nice.

Seifried Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2010 £9.99
100% Sauvignon Blanc from two different vineyards sites. The Cornfield vineyard, adjacent to the winery, is planted on gravelly, sandy loam and the Bridgewater vineyard has rocky and gravelly soils which helps to retain the heat of the sun. The grapes are machine harvested and cool fermented in stainless steel to preserve the fresh vibrant fruit character. Residual sugar: 1g/l.
Winemakers - Chris and Heidi Seifried
New, available June, 103 stores, exclusive, screw cap 13.0%
Creamy, sweet fruit nose. Quite phenolic and savoury and nicely long. Good.

Taste the Difference Coolwater Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2010 £8.49
100% Sauvignon Blanc hand harvested from a variety of Wairau Valley vineyards with a range of soils from shallow silt loams overlying river gravels. Cool stainless steel fermentation is followed by a period on yeast lees to enhance texture and weight. Residual sugar 2.9g/l.
Winemaker - David Sax at Grove Mill, the world’s first carboNZeroCert™ winery
New vintage, available now, 572 stores, exclusive, screw cap 13.5%
Nice fruity nose, although not particularly of gooseberries. Full-flavoured, savoury and quite macho.

Taste the Difference Single Block Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2010
£9.99
100% Sauvignon grapes picked entirely from Grove Mill’s McCallum Estate lying 3.5 kilometres south east of Blenheim and deep in the Wairau Valley. The vineyard’s soil is deep alluvial with a sand and clay base and this vineyard enjoys a cool, maritime influence being situated less than 5km from the sea. Residual sugar 5.4g/l. Winemaker - Dave Pearce
New, available now, 223 stores, exclusive, screw cap 14.0%
Light, floral nose. Not enough varietal character on the nose for something Ttd. Tart, intense, typical taste. A bit sweet on the finish.

Jackson Estate ‘Stich’ Sauvignon Blanc, 2010 £11.99
100% Sauvignon Blanc. The wine is cool fermented with a neutral yeast strain and then left on its light lees in tank for 4 months. The wine is then blended again and prepared for bottling late in August. Residual sugar: 3.2g/l. Winemaker - Mike Paterson
New, available 1 June, 271 stores, exclusive, screw cap 13.5%
Light, fresh and typical nose. Nice flavours. Just the right taste. A hint of phenolicky structure and nice light freshness. Good.

Wither Hills Chardonnay 2010 £9.49
100% Chardonnay. The grapes are taken from seven individual sites including the pea gravel based Rarangi vineyard, the alluvial Ben Morven and Taylor River which sit behind the winery. The fruit is gently pressed and racked into French barriques where wild and selected yeast strains are added. The lees are stirred and the wine is aged in barriques for a further 10 months. The final blend of the parcels is then fined and filtered. Residual sugar:1.5g/l.
Winemaker - Ben Glover
New, available from June, 430 stores, screw cap 13.5%
Wow, a very full-on nose. Oaky and appealing nose. Some oak in the mouth, but not too chewy. Sweet, ripe. Good of its type.

Taste the Difference ‘Redbridge Creek’ New South Wales Chardonnay 2010 £5.99
100% Chardonnay. Grapes are carefully selected from those vineyards showing superior flavours of melon and stone fruit. This wine is cool fermented over a 2 week period with American and French oak staves. Residual sugar: 5.5g/l. Winemaker - John Coughlan at De Bortoli
New, available 1 June, 531 stores, exclusive, screw cap 12.5%
Fresh, clean, melony nose. Some structure from the oak. Lacks freshness on the finish.

Peter Lehmann Semillon Chardonnay 2010 £8.99
62% Semillon, 28% Chardonnay and 10% Sauvignon Blanc are carefully selected from the Peter Lehmann vineyards in the Barossa Valley. Following cold fermentation in stainless steel tanks the wine is clarified, filtered and bottled. Residual sugar: 5.6g/l. Winemaker - Andrew Wigan
New, available 1 June, 223 stores, exclusive, screw cap 11.5%
Appealling nose. Quite light in the mouth with a hollow middle. Disappointing.

Plantagenet Hazard Hill Semillon Sauvignon 2010 £7.99
69% Sauvignon Blanc grapes are sourced entirely from Pemberton and 30% Semillon is sourced from the Blackwood and Geographe regions in south west Australia, complemented by a dash of Riesling. The wine is cool fermented in stainless steel and then lightly filtered before bottling.
Residual sugar: 2.2g/l. Winemaker - John Durham at Plantagenet
New, available from 1 June, 103 stores, screw cap 14.0%
Nice label. Lovely nose. Savoury and pithy but draws you in. Good taste. Really exciting. Bright, clear and with nice Semillon pith. Mmm *

d’Arenberg The Hermit Crab Marsanne Viognier 2008 £9.99
72% Viognier and 28% Marsanne. 92% of the grapes are picked from the McLaren Vale and the rest are from the Adelaide Hills. The McLaren Vale vineyard mainly consists of limestone, formed by the calcareous remains of the local marine fauna, hence the name ‘The Hermit Crab’. Cool fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks with a small percentage of the Viognier fermented in aged French and American oak. After fermentation the varietal components are then blended. Residual sugar: 4.6g/l. Winemaker - Jack Walton
New, available 1 June, 127 stores, screw cap 13.5%
Nice savoury aroma. Spicy, interesting. Off-dry and pretty fruity. Too much for me but might work with food.

Taste the Difference Hunter Valley Semillon 2006 £8.99
100% Semillon. Hand picked grapes are sourced from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. No oak treatment is used to ensure pure fruit expression. The wine is fermented using natural yeasts and after 1 month the wine is stabilised and filtered. The wine is then bottle aged to gain complexity. Residual sugar: 1g/l. Winemaker - Gareth Stephens from McWilliams
New, available from 1 June, 223 stores, exclusive, screw cap 10.5%
OK, the best aroma at this tasting so far. This is just lovely. You can tell it’s got a bit of bottle age. It has so much varietal character. Very fresh, but with weight and fruit flavour, without being sweet at all. Bloody love it. *

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2010 £18.99
100% Sauvignon Blanc. The grapes are destemmed and then fermented at low temperature in stainless steel tanks. Only a small portion of the final blend is barrel fermented in old French oak barriques to enhance the mouthfeel and palate weight. The wine is fined with isinglass.
Residual sugar: 2.7g/l. Winemaker - Tim Heath
New vintage, available now, 175 stores, screw cap 13.5%
Light and gentle nose. Just a touch of gooseberry. Full-flavoured and very exciting and long. Really, this is very good.

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