A Sweet Show

It was payback time. Gordy and Perfect P have been extremely kind to SWMBO and me over the last couple of years and no matter how much we have tried to repay the hospitality, we always seem indebted to them. So this time, we were to take them to a show. Not just any show, but a special one that would WOW them. And they accepted our invitation.

Before we headed out, we thought we’d try a new 2011 Brancott Estate ‘B’ Marlborough Noble Sauvignon Blanc. Initially I thought it would be a modestly sweet wine, as the spec. sheet said 23.2 g/L residual sugar. I thought it would be a lovely, mildly sweet intro to the night’s proceedings. On opening and sipping, it was a gloriously full-blown luscious and hedonistic number, showing only a vestige of varietal character and massive, but beautiful botrytis marmalade notes, We didn’t finish the bottle as I thought it prudent to preserve ourselves for what lay ahead…..

The show was indeed a WOW, and everything we had said it would be to our guests. We left feeling sweet so decided to cap the show with a glass and nibble. Along the waterfront to a Hip Hotel, where a 2006 No. 1 Family Estate ‘Cuvee Virginie’ Methode Taditionnelle appeared. This combines richness, intensity and size with finesse and layers of bready, yeasty complexity and seems to be coming more and more seamless. Great with the sashimi served.

We walked down the road and saw a Humming Place that beckoned. A number of tapas plates were ordered, and the wine to have was 2010 Te Whare Ra ‘Toru’, a Marlborough blend of Gewurz, Riesling and Pinot Gris. The perfumes stood out for me, with good acid zip, and a sweetness that went with anything remotely hot or spicy. What a nice combination of varieties.

Even though we were near replete, I led the group to a place my Ancestors would be happy with. Asian of course! And there we had a selection of Chinese desserts. Weirdly sweet, and challenging. Our wine choice was equally odd and provocative, a 2008 Telmo Rodriguez ‘MR’ Malaga, a mountain bush vine Moscatel wine at 13.5% alc. Lovely clarity of fruit, but touched with a savoury note for interest, and sweet, but not obviously overly so. It had its own character and stood up against the different desserts.

Then off home. But Gordy had a sweet surprise for us. Served blind, of course. Deep golden, mature orange in colour. Full, aged, harmonious, decadent waxy Semillon, botrytis and oak, and a trace of oxidation. Soft, lush, weighty and fully integrated, maybe a little too low in acid. Molten barley sugar with a little burning and just turning a little funky. It turned out to be a 2003 Ch. Rieussec Sauternes. I thought it placed in the 1990s and very developed. These 2003s are coming along quickly.

What a sweet wine showing the night turned out to be. And we still owe Gordy and Perfect P!