Oh well, tomorrow is some Austrian reds that should correct the situation. I was a bit disappointed tonight:We started with a recent arrival, the Bernard Series Whole Bunch Grenache Blanc with Viognier 2009 a 60/40 blend with lots of alcohol (14,5% abv) and a little bit of RS (7g/l). These are not grapes I associate with high acidity, but this does have quite a bit (8g/l)! When I see figures like this (and the note about some new oak) I of course feel a little faint and become frightened of spoofulation. Peachy aromas; crisp yet full bodied palate. The acidity doesn't seem at all out of place in this wine - but can these grapes really have such high acidity naturally? Or is it added? I should of course say that this is horrible, spoofy stuff, but I actually quite enjoyed it.
Sadly the other two, older wines that I think are sold out from Alko, were much more expensive than this little white and were also much less to my taste.
The Maverick Chenin Blanc 2006 was available here years ago. I hated it then, but remember that some at the tasting back in 2007 just thought it needed a few years to sort itself out and that the underlying wine was nice. Well, I still hate it: nothing but bitter oak aromas; slight RS I would imagine, too, but don't anymore have any technical information on this. Despite quite high acidity, this just tastes annoyingly bittersweet. If possible, worse than in the previous tasting almost three years ago.
The Maverick Syrah 2005 was certainly more interesting than the Chenin, but not one to my taste anyhow. Lots of dark, sweet fruit, mulberry and oak - a Barossa lookalike. Very full bodied, the high alcohol was well hidden, a fruit bomb style. Not really my stuff, but unlike with the disgusting Chenin (which for me was something to spit out immediately), this I can easily understand the appeal of. A well made wine in a style I just happen to not get excited by.