You know there’s something rotten in the state of the wine industry when you stroll through your local bottleshop and find that sauvignon blanc has its own section, while riesling, semillon and chardonnay — yes, chardonnay, once the absolute darling of the in-crowd — are lumped together in a shelf labelled “other white varieties”.
In fact, sauvignon blanc was the only white variety to get its own section.
Now, I’m not absolutely negative about sauvignon blanc. There are some great wines made from the variety in its spiritual French homeland in the Loire Valley. There are also several excellent sauvignons produced in cooler Australian regions such as the Adelaide Hills, Orange, Margaret River and, of course, Tasmania.
And yes, there are some fine sauvignons from New Zealand’s Marlborough region, where the variety seems to have proliferated to almost weedlike proportions. But there is also a swarm of Marlborough sauvignons that, to be kind, are pretty average drinks made from green, under-ripe fruit that severely tests the palate after the first half glass or so.
Yet these wines simply march out the door — to the point where Australia’s largest-selling wine is a Kiwi savvy — while brilliant rieslings from the Clare Valley, Eden Valley and probably Tasmania struggle to find shelf space.
An excellent example is Grant Burge’s 2009 Thorn Riesling from South Australia’s Eden Valley, high the hills surrounding the much larger Barossa Valley.
It shows absolutely delectable lime and floral aromas whose flavours follow seamlessly on to the palate. It’s a crisp, refreshing dry white that is an absolute joy to drink with freshly grilled fish — and there’s enough mid-palate to make the second or third glass no problem at all.
Can I have some more please?
