Tasting notes

Young Marsanne tends to taste of lemons with some stone fruit, honey and orange blossom. It should also have a distinct texture and weight in the mouth.

The classic style in Victoria involves picking the grapes slightly underripe to preserve acidity, and then bottling with no oak. Young, these taste fresh and citrus, but with time in the bottle, blossom with notes of vanilla, toast, marzipan and in particular honeysuckle.

Northern Rhône Marsanne blends tend to be weighty, with fairly low acidity and often with some oak ageing.

Young Australian Marsanne is great with ish as well as strong-tasting vegetables like asparagus, and soft cheeses. The heavier wines from the Northern Rhône suit fatty foods like slow roast shoulder of pork with apricots.