Cullen Amber

I was looking forward to tasting the unusual 2014 Cullen Amber wine. I have sometimes lamented the fact that wines do not have enough personality. Well, this wine is certainly different. It is a blend of two thirds Semillon, one third Sauvignon Blanc, but it does not taste anything like the typical Margaret River blend of these grapes. The wine is made like a red wine and sees 4 months of oak. 'Amber' might suggest this is an 'orange' wine, but this is not true either. While the grapes come from biodynamic vineyards, the wine is (lightly) fined in the winery to give it stability. So what is it like?

The colour is a deep gold of great purity. The nose does not give much away. On the palate, this is a full-bodied wine. It carries quite a punch. The high alcohol (15%) gets absorbed by the fruit and oak, though, and is not especially noticeable. Nor are the fruit flavours very pronounced. This wine is very dry, and has some similarity to a sherry or some white Rhone wines. It is about  texture and balance. I am not quite sure what the best occasion for this wine would be, but lobster or crayfish would go well with it. It will be interesting to see what age will do to this wine. I will certainly try it again.

Score: 91/+++

Eden Road The Seedling

Eden Road is quite a new Canberra district winery which arrived on the scene with well made and inexpensive Shiraz and by winning a Jimmy Watson last year for one of them.

The 2010 Eden Road The Seedling Semillon Sauvignon Blanc is the first white wine I tried from them and I reckon it is equally good. The freshness of the Sauvignon Blanc and the weight of the Semillon are both quite present in this wine. Lime fruit dominates, but it is not an overly fruity wine. This wine has great texture and length for such a young wine. A trifle more acidity would balance it perfectly. Highly recommended!

Score: 92/++

Andrew Thomas 'Two Of A Kind' SSB

The 2009 Andrew Thomas 'Two Of A Kind' is an attractive Semillon Sauvignon Blanc. It is different from the WA versions, with a stronger Hunter Semillon feel. The blend is 59% Hunter Valley Semillon and 41% Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc. The wine has a good lemon and lime core and is not as pungent as other wines of this variety. The wine is softer, but has sufficient acidity and finishes dry.

Score: 91/+

Cape Mentelle

Apart from the Cabernet tasting, I went to the winery tasting room to look at the rest of Cape Mentelle's range. They currently have a second outstanding wine on offer, which is the 2006 Wallcliff Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (SBS). This wine is barrel fermented and fashioned on similar wines in France.

The wine is very smooth and creamy. It has excellent fruit complexity, mouthfeel and length. I thought it was superior in terms of its balance to the similar SBS from Cullen or the Voyager Tom Price SBS.