wine fool our brains or lush red fruit flavours to enhance a simple wine. The white wine will stand naked before us showing all its faults and shortcomings and greatness will only come through if those grapes used had the necessary pedigree. Unlike red wine, fully clothed in heavy capes, there is no hiding for white wine! What makes a good or even a great white wine? It’s undoubtedly “terroir” (soil), that controversial expression invented by the French to denote everything involved in viticulture: climate, weather (will change from year to year), soil, vineyard orientacame into vogue with many extolling the Chenin Blanc is the Loire and the Loire is tion and grape variety. If you are thinking virtues of white burgundy over ChardonChenin Blanc. This is truly a giant grape that this may be marketing and possibly nay! variety and very distinctive due to its rubbish then consider what Robert Arsearing acidity. Like Riesling, it’s a very noux, a wine writer in 1728, wrote about long-lived wine and I recently tasted a dry Sauvignon Blanc has been in fashion Le Montrachet, France’s most famous 1964 example which still had decades left! for some time. Its apogee is the Loire Chardonnay vineyard in Burgundy. In fact, Chenin Blanc sweet wines represent some in France or more specifically, the area he couldn’t find words neither in French of the finest example of its type. Huet around Sancerre. New Zealand is also or Latin to describe the qualities of Le is the most famous producer of Chenin famous for its fine examples and typical Montrachet other than to confirm that the and was recently bought out by overseas SB will taste of lychees, grass wines were very expensive investors. The new owners famously threw and even tropical fruits. French and one needed to reserve It was in the 90s Chris Kissack, the Wine Doctor, out of SB tends to be more restrained these a year in advance! If their enclosure, not letting him taste the that the words than New World examples, but you are still not convinced, vintage after he had downgraded some even after spending a week then consider the common ar- “Anything but of the wines the previous year! South around Sancerre, I failed to find rangement whereby Burgundy Chardonnay” Africa is also well-known for Chenin as the exceptional wines there. The producers may hold plots of came into vogue... area of Sancerre when the vines grape holds its acidity even under very hot vines in different vineyards. conditions. are turning brown is amazing Assuming one lucky producer and its goats cheese around the village of held some vines in Le Montrachet, the top Chavignol, magnificent. For me, the best Other great white varieties include white wine vineyard in France, and other examples of SB are found in Bordeaux Muscadet from the Loire. This is a serivines in the lesser, but virtually adjacent, where it’s blended with other grapes such ously underrated wine and even modest Les Folatieres, don’t you think he would as Semillon to produce world examples costing £5 or £6 pounds give his or her right arm to produce all class wines. can enhance smoked salmon or his wines to the level of Le Montrachet? Its high acidity prawns immeasurably. Look out for Of course he would, bearing in mind the the word “sur lie” which means the makes these massive difference in price, but he simply Riesling may well be my wines have been left on their resican’t. It’s the grapes! That’s why Spain (or desert island white wine wines last 50 for a whole winter before botmany other countries) can’t produce good grape variety. It is the grape years or more... due tling enhancing the character of the white wines. They haven’t got the terroir! variety mainly associated with wines. Muscadet tends to be bone It’s interesting to note that even the white Germany, probably the Mosel, dry, very stony in flavour; picture sucking a lab coated Australian wine industry are Nahe and other areas. In theory, Germany pebble at the beach and that’s Muscadet. now adopting the concept of terroir. is too cold for viticulture, but the steep, As I write this, my mouth is watering and sun catching slopes bordering the “warm” I am wondering why I don’t drink more of Rhine or tributaries, results in a microcliLet’s have a look at a few of the main this. Incidentally, the grape variety used to white grape varieties. Let’s start with Char- mate suitable for Riesling. Acidity of the make Muscadet is called Melon de Bourresulting wines is very high and traditiondonnay. Its homeland is Burgundy where gogne! One for the quiz night. ally, wines have had residual sugar left it’s virtually the only grape variety used unfermented to balance the acidity making to make white wine. In itself, the grape is fairly characterless but has the great ability the wines taste sweet. Its high acidity makes these wines last 50 years or more to change its character depending on and, as they age, the sweet/acid interface where it is grown. You may have noticed Wines to try at least once in makes these some of the most complex that the French traditionally don’t name your life and alluring wines on the planet. It’s a pity the grape variety on their labels expecting that many non-wine geeks turn their noses the consumer to have some knowledge of at these wines because of their sweetness. Skillogalee Riesling (Screwcap) wine. This was seized upon by the Australians in the 80s who virtually made a brand A great mistake that is incomprehensible Marks and Spencer around £12 to the average wine geek! Another area of the word Chardonnay and saturated the producing world class Riesling is the Alsace market very successfully with over-oaked, Very Riesling in character with which has been fought over between mouth-filling but simple and uninteresting some petrol notes coming France and Germany in the past, but is wines. So successful was their marketing through. (Riesling takes on now French! In Australia, Clare Valley and that scarcities ensued and massive Charvery alluring petrolly smell Eden Vale, they produce seriously good donnay plantings took place all over the as it ages, considered a fault Rieslings with a distinctive lime nose. I world. When fashion began to change in if it gets excessive). Sharp, have had a case of Australian Riesling by the 90s, many Australian producers went interesting, stone fruit with Skillogalee maturing for a few years, occato the wall or chopped the heads off their very pronounce lime flavours. sionally opening a bottle to check progress. vines, grafting other varieties, which by Very decent finish. Should age I have served it blind to friends but the this time had become fashionable, such if kept in good conditions. petrol/lime nose is a dead giveaway and as Cabernet Sauvignon. It was in the 90s one of the easiest wines to identify blind. that the words “Anything but Chardonnay” GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE AUGUST 2016
83