Purplepages.com, May 2003

Jancis Robinson

Australian Sauvignon Blanc - some great 2002s

Sophisticated and a challenging rival to Bordeaux's smartest dry whites, is another Western Australian Suckfizzle Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon 2001 Margaret River.

Suckfizzle, and its second label Stella Bella, are the creation of the talented Devil's Lair winemaker Stuart Pym and his predecessor and partner Janice McDonald who clearly have a way with words as well as wine. The Whole range is pretty impressive but this 4:1 blend of Sauvignon and Semillon is arguably the single most successful effort. Slightly fennel-flavoured, it has the same sort of lemon oil oakiness as a serious dry white Pessac-Leognan ( Ch Pape Clement perhaps) but with real finesse and intensity. I went back to a bottle that had been opened about a month previously and still enjoyed the contents.