Three fascinating white

A wine from the Loire Valley in France opened the tasting. The Cheverny from Domaine des Marniéres 2008 is a blend of 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Chardonnay and this is the most affordable Sauvignon wine from this region on the wine list. A fresh cool breeze pleased my nose straight away with some Acacia, then some fruity characteristics appear in the name of peach and gooseberry. A butter element was present while bringing the nose very deep into the glass. The palate show a good concentration balanced by a crisp acidity, the acidity brings up flavours of green fruit like lime and granny smith but also a grapefruit element, the finish is long. A good food match would be with the goat cheeses from our trolley.

It was interesting to compare with the second wine which was a 100% Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough in New Zealand, the Spy Valley 2009 was so much more aromatic on the nose with a vegetable twist, just like the previous wine, green was coming to my mind with green pea, green pepper & asparagus. There was a bit of ripe passion fruit too and some hints of petroleum. We could smell more of the alcohol than in the Cheverny. On the palate, there was more common characteristics with a definite lime component. The wine was softer on the palate with more sweetness. Unlike the French wine, the crisp acidity was only appearing toward the finish. We found some similarities with shampoo(oh dear...) but also a spicy side with some white pepper and a ticklish finish.

The last wine was very different. Mas Nicot "La Valière" 2009, Coteaux du Languedoc is an organic wine from the South of France and is made from a blend of 3 grape varieties, Marsanne, Grenache and Viognier. The nose was quite unusual with apple candy, white flower, petrol and aniseed. The aroma was complex and some of us also found some peach character. On the palate, again, an unusual taste took time to grow on everybody. This is a powerful wine with some cereal and yeast which reminded someone of whisky. In fact, we were using the small opening glasses and the wine was going straight to the back of the throat which enhanced the bad sides of it. I tasted the wine later with a very large opening(burgundy glass) and the better sides came up with a creamy texture and a wider spectrum of flavours while loosing most of the heating up in the throat. A very interesting white wine which could be great with spicy fish dishes or washed rind cheeses.