Over the last few years observers of the same have been saying that decent Australian sauvignon blanc is almost an oxymoron. Like many of my vintage I was seduced by the wines of people like Katnook Estate and Leeuwin Estate in the early 1980s, especially by their juicy, almost oily texture and unashamed herbaceous qualities. Then Kiwi sauvignon blanc arrived, notably from Marlborough, and the goalposts suddenly shifted. By and large the best Australian sauvignon blanc ended up blended with semillon, as wines by people like Cullen, Mount Mary and Yarra Yarra gave it another very worthy purpose. So, to survive pitted against New Zealand sauvignon blanc in the same market, it has to be good. One such wine is the newly released Starvedog Lane Sauvignon Blanc 2002, an Adelaide Hills wine vinified by BRL Hardy’s team at Tintara. It’s fresh, racy, long and zesty, bursting with intense passionfruit and cassis flavour. I don’t mind a little herbaceousness and there’s enough in this wine, but substantially less than previous vintages from the same label. For mine it’s a walk-up gold medal, rated 18.6 (drink 2003-2004+). At $18 AUD or thereabouts you can afford to see whether or not you agree.
