Hatch Mansfield Portfolio Tasting

A portfolio tasting of Hatch Mansfield wines

Portfolio tasting. Limited time. I headed over to the helpfully arranged medal winners table.

The whites were all clearly texturally superior and improved with price bracket.

Interesting wines here were (in ascending price order):

Vina Real Barrel Fermented Blanco 2014 fresh, good fruit, harmonious and versatile

Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Chenin Blanc 2014 fresh and crisp with herby cress

Joseph Mellot Pouilly-Fume Le Chant des Vignes 2014 fresh, aromatic and substantial

Domaine Ferret Pouilly Fuisse 2013 rich, ripe, oatmealy and flawless - will be good to come back to it in 5-10 years

Vidal Legacy Chardonnay 2012 a full-on expressive intense Chardie with pungent smokey toastiness and ripe fruit

I was somewhat less convinced by the reds - too many seemed to have grippy rather than ripe tannins, even those with almost a decade's age.

Those that showed the most supple tannins were (again, in ascending price order):

Kleine Zalze Cleefs Reserve Shiraz / Mourvedre / Viognier 2013 ripe, supple and floral

Jean-Luc Colombo Terres Brulees dark fruit, cool mint, inky pencil shaving

Grant Burge Balthasar Shiraz 2012 ripe intense blackcurrant and mint

After the tasting, we were invited to try a few glasses of Taittinger's 2008 Brut Champagne.

My rule-of-thumb is to give vintage fizz a decade before opening; served from slower-aging magnums and slightly overchilled, this was fresh and elegant but still very tightly wound.

I couldn't help feeling I was participating in mass oenological infanticide.

Other related articles
Chenin Blanc Style Council with Kleine Zalze
#SauvBlancDay - Joseph Mellot Menetou-Salon Les Thureaux 2013
Jean-Luc Colombo Crozes Hermitage Les Gravieres 2010
Grant Burge Summers Chardonnay 2011‏, Australia