Houghton Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2006

Pulled the cork (!) out of this without too much thought last night, and ended up enjoying what is a very well judged wine.

There are no harsh grassy aromas or excess acidity with this wine. Instead, the nose offers up juicy lemon curd alongside hints of aromatic herb and tropical fruit. The wine enters cleanly and spreads more lively lemon curd and tropical flavours through the mid-palate with good intensity and medium body. The wine's mouthfeel is both lively and slippery, with crisp acidity that cleanses the mouth whilst retaining a "drink now" balance. The finish isn't especially remarkable in length but continues the wine's line to a gentle close.

Simple, generous flavours, very refreshing. Not bad for under $10. Perfect summer wine.

Hay Shed Hill Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2007

I feel a bit out of it, not generally understanding the appeal of our Margaret River sauvignon blanc semillon blends. I've often found these wines too astringent, aggressively herbal and just plain harsh.

What a pleasure, then, to encounter this wine, which seems to me a balanced and enjoyable style. I don't know the relative proportions of sauvignon blanc versus semillon, but there's an obvious sauvignon blanc influence on the flavour profile. It's all high toned tropical fruit, passionfruity, with some of the herbal notes that add complexity and interest but don't dominate. The palate has a nice fullness and presence that seems quite semillon-like to me, and allows the freshness of the nose to continue on unabated. Acidity is well integrated and delivers a fresh mouthfeel without coarseness. Length is also quite impressive and the wine lingers most satisfyingly on the back of the tongue.

We had this wine with some rather nice Asian food and it stood up well to intense aromatic flavours such as garlic, ginger and chilli. In fact, the bottle disappeared "just like that." I'd give this wine a really high drinkability rating, and it seems to me a brilliantly judged quaffing wine, without in any way becoming overly simple or resorting to cheap tricks like excessive residual sweetness. Great value too.