Have glass will 'Taste'

The 2010 Taste of Tasmania wasn't just about developing an enormous respect for the people who make this event work. It was about trying the latest Tassie wine.

Sampling all the wines at the Taste is a daunting task. Although some of the exhibitors do try to make it easier by pouring extremely stingy tasting sizes. Despite this 'assistance' you need a couple of days, preferably three, to get your tastebuds across everything on offer.

But what if you don't have that long? Well then some thinking is in order. There are a couple of very effective strategies that can be employed.

Selectivity

This approach means looking for the unusual, the latest vintages of last year's favourite labels or sticking to one or two varieties. Trying just riesling and pinot would make for a big, but enjoyable, day out.

The lazyman's short walk

As you wander looking at the food take note of which wine stall has the greatest range and simply go there. Purists of this strategy will get their friends to do the searching thereby saving time and effort. The 2010 Taste of Tasmania organisers are obviously "lazyman's short walk " aware because they gave a spot to the "Tasmanian Wine Centre". There were wines from 7 vineyards on offer at the one stall. Brilliant.

What about the wines?

We decided to go for the 'selectivity' approach and liked everything we tasted. All the usual suspects were there and living up to their reputations. But we also found a few wines that really took our fancy:

2008 Frecynet Riesling Schonberger.

This wine combines our favourite white with our favourite food white. It's a great example of what all those management consultant tossers mean by 'win - win' (or even wine - wine - Ed). This rich, sweet wine had a perfect level of acid and a relaxing lingering finish. You just know it would have gone well with Taste style food. 

2005 Orani Riesling.

We've driven past this vineyard / farm for years and it's pleasing to see the work that has been put into this place start to pay off. This very nice riesling starts with a big citrus nose, takes you through it's solid but gentle taste and leaves you with just the right sort of dry finish.

2010 Spring Vale Sauvignon Blanc

Tim was justifiably pleased that this wine had been selected for pouring on Qantas flights. "Not that I'll ever get to try it" he laughed (it's for first class passengers only - Ed). The wine delivers both a creamy taste and a solid acidic backbone. Frankly it was amazing and so unusual that we suspect no one would pick it as a Sauvignon Blanc.

2010 Spring Vale Chardonnay

The chardonnays from Spring Vale, particularly their reserves, over the last 2 or 3 years have been nothing short of brilliant and this latest one is no exception. They've gone for a Chablis style and ended up with a wine that presents with a lovely spicy nose then moves to a tropical fruit taste that is balanced by low key acids. The finish is creamy but wonderfully dry. Frankly we have no idea how they manage it.

2005, 2008 and 2009 Native Point Pinots

Tim and his wife Sheena must be workaholics. We are sure we've seen them at all the festivals and wine events this year. Still they do have a fabulous product to promote. "We waited 12 years before we started selling wine under our label" he told us. Waiting for the wines to mature and deliver the fruit that they wanted is quite an achievement and this discipline has paid off where it counts. The 2005 pinot is nearly sold out but if you get a chance to try it you will be astounded. It is smooth and unbelievably intense.

The 2008 is following in the steps of the 05. But it is more sophisticated and has a longer finish. Trying to pick between them is like trying to decide at what age a woman is most beautiful. There's no answer but it's fun just thinking about it.

The 2009 has only been released recently and is a little more polite. It lacks that 'in your face' intensity of the other pinots. However it has a good flavour and kind of rolls around your mouth like a fat guy on the couch.

2010 Goaty Hill Sauvignon Blanc

We are big fans of 'The Hill' partly because they produce great wine but also because they like to try things. In this case they put their sav blanc in some old oak barrels for a while. The result has been to add some smoothness to the citric acidity in this wine. It is probably the most interesting Sauvignon Blanc they have ever made.

2005 and 2006 Pages Creek Pinot

These wines offer the best value we've seen for an aged pinot. High quality wines at a reasonable price is music to our wallets.

2008 Panorama Tempranillo

We love tempranillo and to see a Tasmanian wine label producing it caused us to break into our happy dance. Even better, this first ever commercial release is good, very good. We don't know what the folks down at Panorama are on but we want some.

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