David Ellis
It's amazing enough that a white wine should continue to be made to basically the same style as it was when launched 75 years ago, but more so that at around just $11 it has the potential to also develop beautifully over 10 years in the cellar.
Houghton's White Classic was conceived by the legendary Jack Mann at the company's winery in Western Australia's Swan Valley in 1937, using basically Chenin Blanc with a blend of several other white varieties. The same year it won First Prize in the 'Dry White Table Wine' class at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show, with the judges saying they were "taken-aback by its bold new style."
And when one described it "as like the great White Burgundies of France," the company jumped on the quote and labelled it Houghton's White Burgundy. The name stuck until the European Union banned the use of their regional names by other countries in 2006, and it was re-named Houghton's White Classic.
Today it's making is in the hands of Senior Winemaker, Ross Pamment who deviates little from Jack Mann's original criteria, still using Chenin Blanc with a mix of several other varieties to result in lovely tropical fruit flavours of grapefruit, passionfruit, lime and rockmelon, complemented by peach and green apple: enjoy with roast chicken and green olive and prune stuffing.
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