Moulin de Gassac Picpoul de Pinet

Sunday lunch with the Wine-Ark boys (McLeay Street Bistro, Potts Point) : A little green apple, fresh herbs, a little funkiness and minerality. Juicy, a little soft, slight alcohol warmth, grainy tannic burr on the mid palate, more about structure than the fruit. Hmm.

{screwcap, 13%} Pale still. Mild nose of minerals, stones, vague rockmelon. Palate is dry and crunchy, savoury, not austere particularly, but bracing, light-bodied, but with balanced acidity. Mild fruit, not too citric, a bit nebulous, but with a pointed austerity that you don’t see in a typical unwooded Chardonnay, say. At three years ready to drink. And for sub twenty bucks locally, decent value too (esp with the screwcap).

Buy again, easy drinker

WSET Level 3, student-run tasting session: white wines from Germany, Alsace, Burgundy, and the Loire Valley (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) : Appearance: clear pale lemon Nose: clean, medium(-) aroma intensity, tertiary(????), developing. Grapefruit, green apple, under-ripe apricot, apple sauce, cucumber skin. Biscuit - subtle hint? Palate: grapefruit, green apple, under-rripe apricot, apple sauce, cucumber skin, dill. Saline/sea breeze. Dry, medium(+) acidity, medium alcohol, medium bodied, medium(-) flavour intensity, secondary flavours, medium(-) length finish. Assessment of quality: good Level of readiness for …

Appearance - clear, light/medium gold. A browner vs vibrant gold. Nose - with air, medium plus intensity. Lots to pull. Lemon and kiwi. Mandarin orange. Tropical fruits. The sweet tart balance. Some nutty notes. Almonds getting alcohol burn on eyes. spiciness Palate - medium plus/pronounced. Again, with air but it tasted lovely out of the gate. Just more intense from nose. Acidity is medium, feels medium weight, finish is medium. There is a salinity that comes through on back end …

Pale lemon. Herbal, citrus nose. Dry, medium acidity, long finish. Apples, apricots on the palate. Nice wine.