Flaxman Dessert Semillon 2010 (Eden Valley, SA)
11%, Screwcap, $20
Source: Sample
www.flaxmanwines.com.au

Righto, so for a bit of fun (and for an interesting contrast) here is the review of the ’09 vintage of this fun little Eden Valley sticky:

‘….Flaxman Semillon, a cordon cut Eden Valley sticky drawn from old hand picked vines. Light yellow/green in colour, it’s youthful stuff, showing marmalade and quince on a dense and sweet, dried fruit palate. A simple, well made wine, it’s just a tad too simple and blocky for real high points. 16.5/88+‘

Now this year:

‘Lovely tinned peaches/3 fruit nose. Lots of juicy fruit. Light, airy, generous medium bodied palate that is crisp and lively. Hardly long or intense but very liveable. 16.5/88’

Whilst the second tasting note definitely looks to be the laziest of the two, I’m quite intrigued by just how different the two wines sound. Yet if you stuck them together – at a similar equivalent age – they’d probably look identical methinks. The main difference in the notes, I’d wager, is as much about temperature than anything else. The ’09 was drunk, slowly, at 2pm on a hot December day, the ’10 quickly on a cool May evening.

Moral of the story? Temperatures matters. Particularly with sweeter styles.