Saturday Night - Julie/Julia and Mick – Part 2

For the second course Mick did Spicy Shrimp with Mint sauce and paired this with a 2010 Grgich Hills Estate Fumé Blanc.

 

The nose on the wine was easy find with powerful aromas of lavender, pink grapefruit, limestone and a soapy/laundry detergent kind of aroma. The flavours to the wine were an interesting mix of grapefruit, lemon grass and buttered popcorn with a touch of nuttiness in the background. Structure-wise, the wine was a bit of a surprise as it didn’t have that razor sharp acidity I like in a Fumé nor did it have that slight oiliness that is also common in a good Fumé; that said it was an exceptionally balance and complex white wine that was a pleasure to experience. It was an OK pairing with the spicy shrimp but that slight oiliness that was missing was sorely needed as this wine did little to help ease the burn of the spicy shrimp.

Here is the group rating for the wine - Mick – 90, Mark - 88, Kathy – 92, Amy – 90, Overall – 90.

There was no LCBO information on the wine but a quick web search puts this at about $25 US so it would probably about $40-45 in the LCBO.

With the 90 overall rating this wine make the Zippy Sauce Top Ten Whites and to be honest I have mixed feelings about that. It is a spectacular white wine and is deserving of its 90 rating but I didn’t like it as Fumé Blanc. If this was just labeled ‘white wine’ or a ‘white blend’ I would be much more accepting of it. I feel it is a great white but a poor example of what a Fumé Blanc should be.

Click here for Part 3