I attended a quick tasting with two interesting wines. First up was Julicher Sauvignon Blanc 2008 from Martinborough, NZ. Oddly enough this was pleasantly restrained and even elegant, despite the high abv (14%) on the label which made me expect a hugely ripe, even tropical wine. Nicely mineral, yellow fruit. The back label's mention of having used oak to create "mid-palate richness" was also a bit scary, but once again I was pleasantly surprised: crisp acidity, nice ripeness to the fruit without being in any way over the top. This isn't the stereotypical NZ SB of cat's piss and gooseberry. And it felt moreish enough that I wouldn't have said no to a second glass!
Next was Azul y Garanza "Seis" 2008 a 60/40 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. This is a big wine, purple in the glass - and yet I enjoyed it. I must be going to the dark side! But I didn't sense new oak aromas. Instead I see a purity of fruit despite its size: nice blackcurrant + its leaf -aromas. Some loam and tobacco. Big palate, pure in its fruit, deliciously and palate-cleansingly tannic (but not annoyingly tight as the 2007 of this is). Extremely primary, but enormous fun anyway! I very rarely find anything but boredom from Navarra, but this winery does some very nice things (at least at the lower end of the range where oak is sparingly used if at all).
Any suspicions that I was going over to the dark side were dispelled with the next wine. Wieninger Pinot Noir Select 2004, from Vienna, Austria. When the bottle whizzed past me I didn't catch the vintage, but when I sniffed my glass I realized I could do an easy experiment to find out. I cut a cross section of the wine and counted its tree rings and determined it was 2004. What a shame as Wieninger's whites can be amazingly good.
