¶ Exploring White Wine Blends
Hi and welcome to Wine with Meg and Mal . We are here to help you navigate the world of wine . I'm Malgou Christerman by very dusty Meg Rutland today . A little bit hungover today , honey . You were at a wedding last night , so you've got a good reason .
I was at a wedding of Llewellyn , who I work with at Rob Dolan , who's now at Hirsh Hill , and Krista , who's our videographer , who works for the ABC as a producer . Gorgeous young couple , their wedding . It was just delightful . But lack of sleep and a few too many bevies . You're going to ask me what I've been drinking . I can't even think .
What did you drink last night ? It was all rocked , all in wine .
Yeah , no , you don't want to drink stuff from your own work there was a lovely spritzy thing that they'd made .
You know , those red hard candy lollies that you get . Yeah , it tasted like that . It was really lovely . I don't know , I'm not sure what the kind of spirit thing it was . That was lovely .
And then we had sparkling and some chardonnay , and then I went back to sparkling and then we had a bottle of champagne before we started and what just a verve okay , I like a bit I did like verve . I didn't . I couldn't be bothered . I was running a bit late so I couldn't be driving to dance or anything , so I just got it like my local iga .
So you're not gonna get anything fancy , um , but it was delicious . Actually I've forgotten how good verve is really good because I tend not to drink the big houses . Yeah but they are actually really really good wines oh , hey , I can offer .
So I don't know , I don't know what the um , what it's called . I was gonna say I can offer it was something I've been drinking because I went to gimlet finally . Oh , because we were talking about gimlet a few weeks ago , because they won the best wine list award , so I got there , you've been drinking , I was like hand me that wine list .
Um , well , I started with champagne and then , um , so there was like a floor oxidated wines section by the glass , all these different wines with floor oxidation , and I was like I'm in heaven . So I spoke to the chick and I was like what do in heaven ? So I spoke to the chick and I was like what do you recommend ? And she's like do you want something ?
Do you want like a full sherry style or do you want just like something with a touch ? I'm like just a touch . There's something from Mornington I'm sorry everyone , I'll put it in the show notes .
Um , but it was like a Mornington one so good I can't remember what I drank yeah , well , I had a few because I had a night out without the baby and it's gimlet um when , in Rome , be Roman exactly , but I will say so .
Tom was looking at the list and he was like , um , should I get this thing ? And it was a southern rhone grenache the pod . Oh , neil , neil , we had it with neil . Uh , it was a long time fondue , fondue , summer cat .
Anyway she , I said to tom look , I personally like I think grenache can be kind of risky and southern Rhone might be , but it's Gimlet , so if you order it it shouldn't be too high alcohol , it should be nice . Problem was it came out and because it was a warm day it was too warm and it did it tasted really alcoholic .
Yeah .
And I was like everything else was flawless there . But I was just like maybe they need to have wines like that a little chilled so that it doesn't on a warm day . So that's my only .
But I can say that it was a really good wine .
It has to be Fun Fact , not Fun Fact yeah yeah , oh my God , fun Fact , fun Fact .
No , this is going to be really boring for everyone today .
I can't think of anything off the top of my head either . Oh no , because I did a whole heap of .
I cut and pasted some fun facts into my fun facts document . What was it ? It was a whole article , but I don't have my computer here . I'm not on my best people . I do apologize . I'm just looking up 50 fun facts about wine .
Okay , let me just okay . In ancient Greece would take the first sip of wine to assure that the wine served to guests wasn't poisoned . The act of courtesy is where the phase drinking to one's health originated . There you go that was a good fun fact . Thank you , google Salute . All right , let's push on . Let's hope Meg's brain kicks off . I'll be all right .
I'll be all right as soon as you have a sip of wine here .
The dog will do it . Okay , the dog will do it okay . So we have decided to do um blended . So this actually originated . We got a message from someone saying that they loved our red blends and they've been exploring more red blends , and so we went okay , well , what about white blends ?
No one ever , ever gets white blends , um , so let's see if they can be any good .
There's not a lot , I I've got to say . I seem to remember I got these from a different drop , but I really can't remember . I suddenly remember , oh , I don't remember , but the first one we've got is what is truly Australia's first white blend . It used to be called Horton's White Burgundy .
Oh , really , it was one of the first wines that I ever drank and I drank a lot of it . It was like six bucks back in the day , okay , and it was primarily Chenin Blanc . Oh , that's fun . So it was out of the Swan Valley . So this is now called White Classic Dry White 2023 . I've Googled it to find out what the blend is .
Doesn't actually tell us , it just says it's a blend of aromatic whites , but I'm guessing that there's going to be Chenin Blanc in there .
And I remember , um , when I was studying at wine school , I must have bought a dozen of these and I found them when I was moving back to the Yarra , yeah , and it was about two or three years old and it started to get this lovely honey nougat , like it was good aged wine . That's fun , and it was six bucks .
Okay , yeah , so this is a $10 wine . It's a great wine . I can't even find , wait , who ? Even I've never heard of Hortons ? What yeah .
They are a massive winery in WA in the Swan Valley . They have been around for decades . It used to be family owned . I don't know who owns it now , but they're really good . Okay , you're right .
And the thing that always amazed me about back in the day , the Shannon Swan's really warm as a climate , but it always had this fantastic acidity and it used to have this kind of peach , almost passion fruit , a little bit like Sauvignon Blanc , before Sauvignon Blanc got bastardised in a good way , yeah , in a good way .
Okay , I can't find the breakdowns . No , it won't tell us what it is . Oh my God .
I've looked everywhere . I even went online to Hortons themselves .
Is that even legal ?
but Hortons themselves . Is that even legal ? I thought they had to disclose Because they're not claiming a variety on the front , so they don't have to disclose .
Oh well , Master of Wine . Master of Wine , go ahead , tell us Okay , Based on Semyon-ish , don't you reckon ?
Yeah , there's some Semyon-ish in there . It's kind of lemon pithy , less floral aromatics which is what I was expecting . Yeah , it does . Oh , there is a sort of chalky waxy flower character that I would put down to Shannon . Do you know those white wax flowers ? Yeah , yeah . But it is . It's not varietal in any way . Shape or form , okay .
It's honestly not half bad .
Oh , it's obviously bottled with a little bit of CO2 . It's got just a slight unless it's the acid . Just , you know , reacting with my mouth , it feels like someone's shaved my tongue , you know what I think , that's the perfect hair in the duck line .
It's like nice , but not over the top .
I really enjoy that Me too . I like it . It's in a lightweight bottle . It is a clear flint bottle , but it has a slight green tinge to it . Or is that the wine ? It's hard to tell . It's almost like one of those bottles that you find washed up on the sea with a note in it . How polemic , I know , but how much was it ? $10 . $10 .
That is really good , that is a really good wine . $10 wine . Add this to your Christmas drinks wine please .
Or like yeah , if you're doing a I don't know having an engagement party or something that you've got to buy a lot of wine for , this is a really good option . Do you reckon there's a touch of sugar in there ? Nah , I'm not getting it , but my logical brain thinks a wine at this price , you'd think it might but I'm not tasting it .
The thing that I find quite amazing is it's quite textured . Yeah , it is . When you hold it in your mouth it's not really watery , because often at these cheap prices they're high volume . Pump up the grapes , so the grapes don't have a lot of concentration and so the wines are a little bit dilute and thin . This is actually a really good wine .
So I tried Stonely Lighter last night . It's yeah , Is it Sauvignon yeah it's Sauvignon and so I just wanted something and so I got it out and I was like , okay , I'll have a taste of this . And I said to Tom , like it's inoffensive , but I don't even want it , like it's not even worth drinking , like I just don't want to drink it .
But it was like this big bit of flavor at the start and then it kind of eased out of the flavor and I was expecting that from this . But it actually has a fair bit of texture , fair bit of really finished . No , this one , yeah , oh , this one does , yeah , yeah yeah , I wouldn't say that no , no , you need alcohol , I'm sorry , wine to do wellness .
It just doesn't work . Just give it a rest , guys .
So the next one . I've got to say this I would definitely drink again . I'd drink that again . I would have that in my fridge . I'm finishing my glass and I might actually buy some if I've got the patience to lay it down for a couple of years to see how it goes .
Oh my god , that's such a good idea . I want to do that too .
Yeah , the next one we've got is 11th House , sorella 2023 . So this , apparently , is Erin Pooley's wine . It's a fermentino dominant wine with Pinot Gris and Fulano in it . They get fermented in barrels , aged on lees , and they claim coming out as a really charming and flavourful wine , filled with citrus and stoned fruit . Yeah , so something A little bit different .
I love the label . I love the label too . Show the camera . Show the camera . There's the label . Probably doesn't do any justice . Better than looking at me today , trust me .
Thank you , glasses , you actually look quite nice . You just got your hair done .
I just got my hair done , but don't look too close to the face because it's all puffy and gross . And I woke up with lipstick all over my face so I just look like a horror movie this morning .
My hairdresser is in Thailand for the next two months and I was looking at how dead my ends look this morning , so I literally just got scissors and cut my ends off . Mel , I'm impulsive , thank you .
Okay , so vermentino dominant . Vermentino for me is lots of lemon , quite phenolic-y , you can feel the alcohol on it . But I think maybe the pinot gris is lots of lemon , quite phenolic-y , you can feel the alcohol on it .
But I think maybe the Pinot Gris and the Furulano will bring that back a little bit and add a little bit of acidity , because Vermentino tends , because it's grown in warmer climates , the acid tends to be a little bit lower .
This is aged , well fermented , in barrels but I'm assuming they're probably really old barrels and then aged on leaves , so we might see some creaminess Leaves . That is cool .
Oh , it smells .
I just smell mandarin .
I smell yogurt , yogurt . Yeah , peach yogurt .
Well , that would check with the sort of Leigh's character .
Okay , okay , that's what it is . Have you ever used the cream that takes hair off your legs , like , instead of shaving your legs , nair ? Yeah it's that it smells like nair .
I know what that smells like because I have the pleasure of doing my husband's welcome mat when it comes to summer .
Oh my God , your poor husband . He's off to Italy tomorrow , today , so we're allowed to say whatever we like about him . He doesn't listen .
But I think , oh , you know , it just arrived .
¶ Exploring White Wine Blends Varieties
I think you know there should be secrets . I don't expect him to do my landscaping , I shouldn't have to do his .
So when you say there should be secrets , you say that on the podcast From me . Oh right , secrets from you , not from the world , okay , hello .
Oh , the most beautiful girls . Oh , I've got two of them , zopo . Okay , actually , the most beautiful girls . Oh , I've got two of them , zopo . Okay , actually , you're right , it does smell a little bit like me , I told you , but without the oh my God , it's burning the hairs in my nostrils it's not in a bad way , somehow , I don't know .
There's like a funk . It's a cool funk . I like it .
Yeah , now I can .
I smelt mandarin um there's a pithiness to it as well .
Yeah so white blends are just really rare . Um , people don't tend to drink them . We love a varietal label here and in France , so we take a lot of our winemaking and a lot of our cues from France . So a GSM is kind of accepted because it's a southern Rhone blend . But what French wine is a blend ?
Bordeaux Blanc is Sauvignon Semillon , but apart from that a lot of them are just straight varietals .
All the Bordeaux's Blend Blends , rhone blends , rhone whites , though Roan White's , though how many ? Oh White's ? Sorry , I thought you meant in general , yeah . Yeah , no , I'm talking about White's .
Yeah , you're right . You're right , Roan White's are blends . You're right . Oh my God , I'm just distracted , isn't she cute ? I heard she didn't do very well in her photo shoot , though she didn't smile once .
She was very serious .
And then as soon as she got in the car , she was like , yeah , I'm going to smile . Anyway , back to the wine . Sorry , Billie , you're a bit too distracting , baby .
I'm like I was saying to Anitra I swear to God , I promise she's the happiest , most gorgeous smiley baby in the world .
She was just giving a nitro , nothing . Anyway , she wasn't paid to get out of bed to be a model that day . No , that's true . That's true . So yeah , 11th House . Sorella , I like it . Erin Pooley , I do . I think it's good to produce . I think it's in a lightweight bottle , do ?
you think that it's as important to blend whites . So , like say in GSM , there's a really good reason why those things are blended together . They fill gaps that you know other wines need filling . Is it the same thing with whites ? Do they need it as much as reds ?
Generally I'd say no . I mean you , I think , with Sauvignon Semillon , say in Bordeaux . They've got them planted . They do a number of things . They make sweet wines , you know , with Sauternes and Barsac , so they do .
Semillon does soften the acid of Sauvignon and does fill out the palate , whereas when we look at SSBs here , so Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blends out of WA , they still have really high acidity and that real savvy grassy character . So I think the Semillon's possibly picked a little bit earlier . So again it comes down to the winemaking as well .
But I think these guys are located in Beechworth .
Oh yeah , that's cool , so lovely acidity . I have to admit I find Vermentino kind of boring usually yeah same . Like I was at a wine bar the other day and I was like , what do you recommend ? He was like Vermentino's next .
Yeah , I agree , it's just very samey .
Yeah , isn't it ? I guess it says what it is on the label .
That's got a bit more floralness from the green .
It added something a bit more interesting .
Very good wine . How good wine how much was that , do you know ?
yes , 28 oh , that's good value . Yeah , yeah , it's good value .
All right now , small producer too . We love small producers . This one , I don't know what's prompted me to buy it , but it's actually from treasury um . So treasury wine estates , big australian company . So Treasury Wine Estates , big Australian company , who are very classic in what they do . Yes , it's called Sun Monkey . It kind of looks like .
Was it called Monkey man ? That TV show Pete's got a T-shirt .
I don't know , you use so many references that I'm just like what ?
Luca got him a T-shirt . I think it's called Monkey man . Anyway , it's white wine infused with sake flavor which is awesome .
Do you think , if there's actually sake in it ? When they say infused , I want to know what they mean . You know what I mean . Like is it one person sake , or is there actually a good chunk of sake ?
no , it's inspired by chinese icon of freedom , the defiant monkey king , remixed with the energy of street art . Featuring Shanghai street artist Jax experienced sun monkey made for a liberated generation . But they're using sake which is Japanese . It's a tutti-Ozzy tremolo , chardonnay and Riesling blend infused with exotic sake flavours .
So what does sake taste like to you ? Oh God , I don't know . Alcohol , that's all I can think of . So we've been on a bit of a sake journey because Luca just has decided he wants to be a sake brewer . Do you brew sake ? Yes , you do . Oh , and we had one the other night that was just so herbal , and then there was another one that was like violets .
It really is like wine . It's really cool and it's very expensive . I haven't had sake in ages . Don't have it hot . Okay , keep it in the fridge and have it .
I feel like I've only had sake where they've added flavour , so it doesn't really count .
Oh , like the yuzu one , yeah , that's really yummy , though .
In DMF is MBWS , like it's not just like a random thing , like it's Well , maybe I've got it . This is Treasury as well . That's interesting . This is Treasury . How come Is Tremina different to Gewurztremina ?
Yes , Gewurztremina is spicy . Tremina Tremina is more neutral . It doesn't have that rose petal characteristics . We've got a lot of it planted in Australia . Neutral it doesn't have that rose petal characteristics . We've got a lot of it planted in australia . It's a filler um straight chamomile wines .
It still has the floralness to it , yeah , but it's not as um rose petally , as gewurz , and it tends to have a slightly higher acidity , picked a little less ripe , than you do with gewvitz .
Yeah , okay , that's interesting .
So it was released last year . Chardonnay and Riesling , Tremina . Chardonnay and Riesling .
And Tremina yeah . I'm trying to figure out how much Sake Sake is in it .
It's interesting , isn't it ? They don't tell you what's the alcohol on it , Because sake is well , it can be about 15% . Fused could mean anything . Oh , it's low alcohol . 6.5 standard drinks . I can't see the alcohol .
It's a fresh , fruity flavor that challenges traditional expectations .
It actually smells like kevets Does it Having just said that Tremont doesn't smell like kevets .
Having just said that , Tremont doesn't smell like kevets . Ooh , it smells cool , it's really floral . Oh , your face doesn't look good .
It's sweet .
Oh , of course it's sweet .
Okay , disappointment is just failed expectation , so I wasn't expecting it to be sweet Musk Muskity . It is like musk lollies . Yeah , it is . It's actually quite nice . Yeah , I know it's kind of yum . Yeah , have that with some salami .
Not what I wanted , but it's yum .
I can't see any sake in it . Mm-mm , I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking at . It's yum To be fair , that's actually really like a florally muscly slack .
I'm like I've got a little Billie's like obsessed with you today . I know Maybe she just wants the wine Do you want the wine ?
Look at her , go , she's crawling yeah .
With those glasses . We haven't had an interesting enough podcast today . This is like 40% Billie content .
Really good one . I would have dialed back the sugar on that . How much is it ? 22 . I don't think it needs the sugar . I think you could have a touch , but not that much because at $22 it's not appealing to entry-level drinkers . Who is buying it ? That's a very good question . And will they like the sugar ?
Because it has been on the market for what ? Over a year now , which means it's doing okay , yes , especially if it's in dance . They haven't pulled it . So I mean it's clearly an exclusive for dance . They're not going to .
Well , the thing is with the way you get wines into store . If you want our Grange allocation , then you have to stock blah , blah , blah , blah , blah , blah , blah blah . So that's possibly how they got it in .
Must be nice .
Yes , that kind of , but it's definitely drinkable and it must be low alcohol because it's only six and a half standard drinks . But it's definitely drinkable and it must be low alcohol because it's only six and a half standard drinks . But I can't see it's 11% .
If you sold that to me differently and you were like now for the next one , it's going to be completely different touch of sweetness , it's all about flowers . You should drink it in this scenario and you set me up to love that . I think I would love it .
It's actually a really good summer drink .
It's yummy . I think I would love it . It's actually a really good summer drink . It's yummy . Yeah , it's just not what I was expecting or wanted . Thai food yeah , yeah , that would be good . Like something spicy ?
Yeah , yeah , that would be really good with spice .
That's actually . That would be nice with like a curry that has like floral , leafy , like herbaceous notes .
That's good . Hmm , well done .
All right , we've really talked ourselves around in that one . That didn't start off well . No , we've ended somewhat positive .
No , I think it's always you go in expecting something . Yes .
And we've got something completely different .
When you , I mean , I'm assuming that they've made this for a niche market . It's lower alcohol , you know .
Yeah .
It's got a little bit of residual sugar in it , so it's a guggable wine . Yeah , it is , but $22 , it's still kind of up there .
Yeah , yeah , all right . Well , look , take home . Do you think that white blends have we decided they're good , worth buying , worth drinking , definitely , yeah . Do you think that white blends have we decided they're good , worth buying , worth drinking , definitely .
Yeah , okay , chardonnay and Riesling as much as I love them both , they get a bit boring after a while . Yeah , and you know , arnais by itself delicious , but why not ? You know , pinot Gris can add floralness to something . Yeah , semillon can add a little bit of fatness . Yeah , why something ? Yeah , semi-young can add a little bit of fatness .
Yeah , why not play around with different blends ? And also it gives the winemaker a fun . You know they can experiment . Yeah , but also just a bit more flexibility . Yeah , you know , in case one year your shannon's not doing great but your riesling is doing really well tends to be by the looks of more aromatic varieties is where they're headed .
So if you're going to , do something like Chardonnay .
Well , you can already blend so much with Chardonnay . There's so much you can do beyond the varietal . Yeah , exactly . Well , hey , if you at home or in the winery , wherever you are , listening , if you know of or make any good white blends , let us know .
We want to taste them and we'll do this again if we get enough recommendations of good white blends . Yeah , I want to get some of the Chocoli one that's from the north of Spain . It's got like 17 different varieties . There are wines out there , but they're harder to find .
Yeah , okay , and yeah , you need a bit of research , because trying to find out what's in them often as we can see from that Horton is quite difficult .
Yeah , hey .
Before we finish up yeah , super perky , she's forgotten .
No , don't worry , I've just realised . By the time this episode is live , chardonnay Symposium will have happened .
We had a great time at Chardonnay Symposium .
Man , it was good , it was so much fun .
You guys should have been there , people would have seen from Mel's Instagram that she won a scholarship to Chardonnay Symposium .
Also , like part of the scholarship is like promoting it . So I'm like trying to do my part , you did . I saw your Instagram .
It was very good , thank you .
Thank you , yes , it was very good , all right . Well , we'll give a bit of a rundown last time of how it actually went . We might have some cool learnings . Maybe we'll do a shot of the episode again if we learn some cool stuff .
Yeah , maybe we should try the ones that we try on that day . Yeah , love that . Okay , not all of them . This is a lot .
We're not that rich . Yeah well , maybe we can take some home . I think there's a . I'll say to Helen I'll be like we'll do an episode if we can have one of everything . Anyway , enjoy your next glass of wine and drink well .