Annette's Place
Tasted Monday, March 26, 2018 by Heynetty with 175 views
Impact Compounds Pyrazine and Rotundone are well sought after in wines of several of the world's most popular white and red varietals.
Whilst pyyrazine compounds give aromas of crisp green bell pepper, green peppercorns and chocolate mint, they may also give notes of old asparagus. Done right, these pyrazines are so desirable in wines like Sauvignon Blanc that the 2nd biggest wine producer in South Africa, was busted in 2004 for illegally adding pyrazine flavouring to its Laborie and KWV Reserve Sauvignon Blancs.
Rotundone compounds give aromas of black pepper, white pepper, marjoram and cocoa powder. They add spectacular signature spice to several white and red varietals but some 20% of the population are unable to detect them even at very high concentrations. Can you?
In this week's tasting, we tackle wines containing one of these compounds and see if you can detect them, taste the difference between pyrazines and rotundone or separate one peppery varietal from another.
Fasten your seatbelts, its going to be a SPICY night!!!
2016 Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc Single Vineyard Te Muna Road Vineyard 88 Points
New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough
Tasted Blind
A: Pale lemon green and bright.
N: Grassy, gooseberry, guava, passionfruit, lime. Youthful with pronounced intensity
P: Dry, medium (+) acidity, medium alcohol (13%), medium body, pronounced intensity and medium (+) finish.
C: Not complex but ticks for Balance, Length and Intensity. A Very Good Quality wine.
Could keep but this style of wine is for early drinking. Its a good one. Never tried SB from the North Island before and so this was a treat.
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2016 Pierre Archambault Sancerre
France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
Tasted Blind
A: Pale lemon
N: yeast, lemon, apple, very slight capsicum. Youthful and pronounced.
P: More capsicum, lime, wet stone.
Dry, high acidity, medium alcohol (12.5%), medium body and finish. Pronounced intensity.
C: BLICt? Its isn't complex but its a Very Good Quality wine. Balanced, intense and typical of Sancerre. I find it a little underwhelming. Drink up.
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2016 Kurt Angerer Grüner Veltliner Kiesling 89 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Kamptal
Tasted Blind
A: Pale lemon
N: SMOKE, butter?, is that vanilla? maybe not. Perhaps some brioche, jasmine, tart apple, lime, asparagus, white pepper and earth. Youthful and medium (+) intensity
P: Aromas confirmed. Dry, medium (+) body, medium alcohol, medium (+) acid, medium intensity and medium finish.
C: BLIC? Ticks everywhere. i wouldn't say this was typical however. I think its an outstanding quality wine and the lees aging has given it some great body. The yeasty brioche i think is lees aging and MLF. Its wonderful and i didn't guess what the heck this was at all in terms of grapes. I thought it was a chardonnay from Northern Burgundy. Thats common for older grüner apparently but not for something this young. ATYPICAl but absolutely delicious.
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