Passel Estate Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc 2019

If we accept that Marlborough is the measure by which we judge the level of pungency and outright outrageous herbaceous-ness of the sauvignon blanc grape, then the Passel Estate 2019 sauvignon rates up there. Cut grass, gooseberry, green asparagus and a mass of intense herbals with a light tropical fruit overlay offers a mighty pungent and highly appealing greeting to this wine. Then it gets more interesting, aka, complex. Fermentation in stainless steel and French oak brings extra light and shade, not to mention flavour.

This blends the over-the-top qualities many of us like to see in our sauvignon blanc with some added sophistication through its mouth-filling texture across the mid-palate and gentle, oak-derived biscuit-mealy notes. It’s fleshy with a touch of grapefruit pith, lime and citrus enhanced by a light dusting of passionfruit pulp on the finish accompanied by a touch of sweetness. This wine was awarded the trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc at the Australia & New Zealand Boutique Wine Show in 2021. The judges weren’t wrong.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic