Old World Vs New World...... Battle of the Blends.

Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon 2005
Margaret River,
W26,000




Kressmann Grande Reserve 2005
Bordeaux
W17,000







Both bought from les vins maeil located in the Lotte Castle Plaza(pictured above), Jamsil. They have a website at www.lesvins.co.kr but unfortunately it doesn't work. This is a really nice wine shop. It has issues. It has a tendency to be hugely over priced. Rather than separate its wines by just region it does them by reds/whites and regions. Most importantly it does not have a price against every wine. Or even most wines. There is very little pricing......
However, I like it. It is haphazard, wine boxes scattered about the place, wine bins overflowing, bargains scattered here and there. The staff are extremely friendly and helpful. There is none of the abject fear that seems to strike some shop workers when confronted with a white faced, big nose(I try to engage in my pidgin Korean but there is a moment of rabbit caught in headlights as I approach in most shops). It just feels like a real wine shop. A bumbling, enthusiastic, passionate wine lovers retail experience. What's not to like? Also, they gave me free cheese. As service. All good.

To the battle.....

Old World V New World.
France V Australia
The largest exporter of still light wine V the largest growth(by volume) of still light wine exports

and so on.

In all honesty this is probably unfair, though not without worth. Dry white Bordeaux has a propensity to be fairly uninteresting, dry and characterless wine. It is very firmly in the shadow of the reds and the sweet wines of the region. The reasoning behind picking up this bottle was pretty simple, it was cheap. However, knowing that it was a Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc blend gave me the opportunity for this comparison. And comparison is good!

The Bordeaux is a 50-50 split, Semillon/Sauvignon, the Cape Mentelle 49-49 with 2% Chardonnay.
Both are clear, bright lemon and very pale wines. They look young, they are young, the Bordeaux carrying just a touch of green.

On the nose the Australian wins hands down. It has characteristic Sauvignon traits, herbaceous(grassy almost), gooseberries, green apples and there is a touch of honey in there which must be coming from the Semillon. It is a really expressive nose. The Bordeaux has far less going on. There are green apples, though they smell slightly oxidised, as though they are all that's left from a fruit salad from yesterday(HA! I think that right there was the moment I moved in to horrible, over descriptive, wine bore territory. You witnessed it here! It's true though.). There is a touch of the herbaceousness, a touch, and far more nondescript citrus. It all feels a bit green to be honest.

It is a similar story on the palate. The Bordeaux is a tale of unripe fruit, green apples and lemon. It is a refreshing dry white that lacks the character to take it out of the realms of bland. I could probably argue the case for a touch of minerality but I can't really be bothered.
The Cape Mentelle is a bit of a zinger, lemon and grapefruit, far less herbaceous than the nose suggests. Although the Sauvignon dominates there is much more weight than a straight Sauvignon Blanc. It has crisp green apples as well as the citrus and all said and done offers hell of a lot more than the Bordeaux.

A surprising result? Well, no. Cheap, white Bordeaux is probably not the place to look for exciting wine and 17,000 is cheap. It probably translates to about £4 or $8 in real(not marked up beyond recognition) money. However, I quite liked the Bordeaux, when taken on its own merits. Crisp, light and refreshing I would be quite happy to drink this. The Cape Mentelle was just a good wine.

Edit: Alright, just to clarify the Australian was the superior wine. By a long shot.