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Leeuwin Estate Sauvignon Blanc Semillon Blend

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What comes to mind when we mention Australian wines?  Fun wines, full of fruit, high in alcohol, easy to enjoy . . .   Bold rich Shiraz, buttery oaky Chardonnay . . . Wines for easy drinking at the beach with a few “shrimp on the barbie?”

Indeed Australia is known for large wineries that blend across regions and make large quantities of reliably delicious and approachable wines year after year.  Teams of highly trained graduates from the University of Adelaide go to work in wineries owned by experienced northern hemisphere industry leaders.  State of the art wine making equipment blends that art into the science of making wines to please.  With over 60% of the country’s wine business coming from exports, pleasing the crowd pays the bills.  Pleasant is good.  Pleasant is sometimes even great.  Isn’t it fun though when we find something outstanding?

In the Western Australian State a great swath of beautiful land boasts a very small wine production.  Here we find rocky coastlines, hopping kangaroos, green forests and a boutique wine industry which produces only 3% of the country’s wine.  Three percent that win 30% of the wine awards.

 

One of the most famous wine regions in Western Australia is Margaret River.   Margaret River’s climate is like a “great” year in Bordeaux – EVERY year. So a climate like a classic French region minus wet harvests and frosty springs.  Plus the longer growing season make it possible to grow more varietals.  Winds in the spring can reduce the crop but this just results into more highly concentrated fruit.  Okay the kangaroos do try to eat up the buds but there has to be some downside, right?

 

Leeuwin Estate is known to be among the best wineries of the region and for good reasons. Their site was hand picked by Robert Mondavi who acted as consultant.  The business is family run.  They have good dirt.  Gravelly soils drain well – which is great for the vines.  They have state of the art facilities – a trademark of Australian winemaking in general.  They value quality over quantity carefully choosing which blocks of land produce fruit for their desired styles.

 

We wanted to be a little different and offer a break from the big reds, so we showed up at a recent Australian wine tasting with a 2006 bottle of Leeuwin Estate Siblings Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend.  This blend is more common in the Bordeaux region of France and is executed beautifully by Leeuwin Estate.  Jalapeno pepper and grassiness dominate the nose.  The fruitiness of New World Sauvignon Blanc comes through with aromas of fresh pear.  A slate(y) minerality is reminiscent of Old World style Sauvignon Blanc.  The Semillon makes its presence known on the palate lending lots of body and richness that leans the wine toward off dry and balances the zesty acidity of Sauvignon Blanc.  The mineral notes return on a lingering, complex finish.  The most interesting thing about this wine was the age.  Vintage 2006 and it was as fresh as the morning dew. (By the way this is an example of wine that’s concentrated fruit and acidity allow it to remain fresh, but you would not wish it to change – see Pour or Store).

 

We enjoyed sipping this wine but were anxious to try it with food.  We could not decide between fish in an herb sauce and pasta with Alfredo so we made both.  At the last minute we threw in some bread and goat cheese plus a green salad with creamy dressing.  Pairing fish baked in chimichurri brought out more fruit in the wine and made the herbal sauce really pop.

Handmade pasta swimming in Alfredo sauce brought out the grass and pepper flavors and rounded out the acidity.  The best pairing was the goat cheese.  The acidity in the wine made the goat cheese even creamier and the subtle Semillon flavors were more pronounced.  The result was a very luscious mouth feel.

Leeuwin offers three “tiers” of wine brands, Siblings, Prelude Vineyards, and Art Series.  For wines with distinctive character, try Leeuwin Estate or other Margaret River wineries.

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