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.

Vasse Felix Shiraz 2004

I remember having this wine at a tasting a few years ago and really liking it. I just opened the 2004 to have with roast beef.

I love how expressive this wine is on the nose -- not at all like the Voyager Estate Shiraz we had a little while ago. Deep black berry fruits mingle alongside herbal edges and toasty, cedary oak. It's a big nose, but not over the top or clumsy. On the palate, there's a bit of tingly fruit sweetness that livens an otherwise dark flavour profile, with more black fruits and a lot of oak. The wine's mouthfeel is thick and chunky, but not clumsy due to its rather sophisticated slipperiness. Very fine tannins provide a drying finish that could do with a few years to mellow out a bit.

For my taste, the wine's showing too much oak at present. But this wine isn't a quaffing wine and one has to accept that, in its youth, it may not drink easily. A lovely full-bodied red wine to sip and think about.

Suckfizzle Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

Interesting wine, this one. It's almost like a pastiche of different wines and styles -- not to imply it lacks integrity. It's actually quite delicious in its way.

I was a bit put off by the nose, which is a predominantly meaty and stewy. It's "hot" in the sense of "overcooked," and that's not a flavour profile I tend to go for. The palate, however, is less stewed, medium bodied and has a beguiling silkiness and elegance. The wine rushes over the tongue and has an elegant lightness of touch, without sacrificing intensity of flavour. There's a greenness that almost threatens to become unbalanced, but never quite does, thanks in part to ultra fine tannins that dry the palate without feeling unripe. Most remarkable is an intense sourness that is mouthwatering and is reminiscent of pinot noir.

Two young reds

Had two very different wines last night with a chicken and haloumi salad.

Ravensworth Sangiovese 2005

A fun wine with a good whack of moderately varietal fruit flavour. I do enjoy the distinctive savouriness of sangiovese and it seems that Australian versions never quite have enough of it. They are usually so "shirazified" they end up being quite different from Italian wines. Maybe that's the point. Anyway, this one had enough of a savoury edge to bring a smile to my face. Medium bodied overall, relatively fragrant, not terribly structured but who cares?

Voyager Estate Shiraz 2003

Completely different wine. This one was very tightly wound; it's one of those wines that tastes like you're sensing everything from behind a thick veil. It's all there, but not expressing itself much. Quite nice coffeed oak frames dark fruits and a solid line from nose to back palate. Tannins and acid seem in balance, and the wine's mouthfeel is smooth, considering how tight the wine is. I still have about 1/3 of a bottle left and will try it again tonight to see how it's evolved.