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Cape of Good Wine

cape of good wine | Sipping my way through the Cape Winelands | A South African Wine Blog

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Cape of Good Wine

Cape of Good Wine

cape of good wine | Sipping my way through the Cape Winelands | A South African Wine Blog

  • Wine Reviews
    • BIPOC Wine Brands
    • Red Wines
    • White Wines
    • Rosé Wines
    • International Wines
  • Musings & Ramblings
  • Learn with me
    • WSET
  • Wine Regions
    • Constantia Wine Route
  • About
    • Contact Me
April 1, 2020April 13, 2020

South African Wine Quiz 2

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in Blog, Learn with me, Wine Quizwine quiz
NextSavage Red 2017PrevCraven Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
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Weingut Knoll Smaragd Grüner Veltliner 2017 In Weingut Knoll Smaragd Grüner Veltliner 2017 In case you wondered what the celebration wine was when I first received my results... In case you wondered why I was so over the moon about Austria appearing in the final exam...gotta love serendipity... And in case you remembered that I said I’d finally open the certificates once I was done... Toes wiggling at the red and white stripes, smiling at the celery salt seaweed stank as I popped the cork, and a heart bursting with thanks to my dearest @grzesiek.just.grzesiek for gifting me this iconic wine! Gold in colour with a pronounced nose of struck match, celery (candied celery!), dried kombu, green apples but also yellow apples and ripe peaches. Dry, mediumish acidity...far less than I’d braced for, medium bodied, and with a deceptively long finish. Vanilla, chamomile, ripe almost shriveled yellow apples that are incredibly sweet, pears, light toffee, and the candied celery that decorated Eid biscuits from my childhood. I couldn’t pick out any pepper (how am I going to fix this!). And I was surprised by how round it felt...less precise than I’d imagined it would be. I was treated to a far older example of this exact wine last year...and there was a similar ‘hard to put your finger on it’ character. And I think that’s because the sip is presented as one complete, unified feeling...it almost does the wine a disservice to try and pick it apart and BLIC it. This was Coravined into numerous sample bottles to share with friends. It was paired with Howl’s Moving Castle...my safe space that I’d craved for 2.5 years. My heart was full. Full of Studio Ghibli peace. Full of excitement that my darling friend and his family will be back in Cape Town soon. And full of gratitude and relief that I’d finally finished this fucking diploma. One more thing: this is for all of you who’ve posted incredible tasting notes on wines that we’ll never see in South Africa - cheers to every one of you that I’ve learned from!
Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve The Cape Mist Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve The Cape Mist Sauvignon Blanc 2022 This looks like a two-fer, but this is all about the spring appropriate The Cape Mist SB*. As soon as this was delivered I opened it 😂...as it was one of 3 Sauv Blancs in the recent South African Wine Tasting Championship that I’d hesitated over. I called 8/10 varieties correctly (those tricky blends gets me every time), but only 4/10 producers. I missed this producer...so I HAD to know where I went wrong. Pale lemon, with a fairly pronounced nose of lemongrass, peach, light pineapple and granadilla, apples, blackcurrant leaves and tempered asparagus. Dry with fresh zingy acidity, surprisingly medium bodied with a some leesy broadness that interplays rather nicely with the contradictory effervescent spritz, and a very pleasant medium finish. There’s salinity and minerality (sherbet) that accompanies the juicy peaches and lemongrass. It’s strength is that this isn’t overwhelmingingly Sauvignon Blanc-y ...which makes this a great choice for those who aren’t sure about SB. It’s yum, it’s fresh, it’s mineral and saline...and it’ll be a fun blind wine as you need to hone in on the asparagus to definitively get to SB. Slurp quickly (not hard to do) because this doesn’t show many SB features by day 2. The winemaking is as expected but using only free run juice, lees stirring once a day, inoculated, and 8 months on the lees before light filtering before bottling. Many thanks to the Durbanville Hills team for gifting these wines. Love the illustrations by Theo Paul Vorster! I also loved the promo videos for this range that you can view on their page. *I didn’t get along with the Shiraz...but you might.
Perdeberg Wines Endura Winemaker’s Selection Cap Perdeberg Wines Endura Winemaker’s Selection Cape Blend 2020 A blend of Pinotage (52%), Cabernet Sauvignon (24%) and Malbec (24%), this wine serves to ‘showcase the essence of dryland vineyards’ and to ‘reflect the true character or the terroir’. It is a deeply coloured wine, with a wonderful nose of dark plums, more plums, all the plums, mulberries, blackberries, cassis, liquorice, light cloves, meaty braaivleis, and salty soy sauce. You’ll want to sniff this for a good long while! The palate lives up to the nose: dry, high acidity, full bodied with a round texture, fairly high tannins that feel both green and plush. I don’t notice the alcohol but the full body gives an expectation that it’s high. There’s decent length...that starts off with bitter leafy greenness and tar...that evolves into green figs (first the leaves and stem, and then the preserved deliciousness), through dark ripe juicy plums...into luxurious blackberry/peppercorn/oyster sauce compote...and finally, banana peels. Grilled spicy aubergines was the pairing of the day. The Malbec and Pinotage are an inspiring combination...with the Cab adding structure. Many thanks to Perdeberg Wines for gifting this lovely bottle.
Brookdale Chenin Blanc 2019 To round off women’ Brookdale Chenin Blanc 2019 To round off women’s month in SA, let’s talk about a wine from someone I’ve not yet featured...but who has always been one of my favourite faces to spot at any wine event. The colour is a clear sign of oak, with a glorious nose of spiced pears, yellow apples, peaches, vanilla, the creamy filling to almond croissants, nutmeg, honey and salinity. Dry, fuller bodied, high but balanced acidity, and a long finish that introduces chamomile. The intensity of the aromas and flavours is undeniable. The reserved oaking is the kind that makes you appreciate the complexity that it adds. I headed straight to the kitchen to make the most of this melange of flavours: creamy artichoke and spinach pasta...dotted with anchovies, capers and lemon zest. Chenin from Paarl, whole bunch pressed, fermented with natural yeasts in 500 litre French oak (25% new), and 80% completing MLC. Aged on the lees for 10 months, lightly filtered, and bottle aged for 9 more months before release. Kiara Scott must be one of the friendliest winemakers out there...always ready with a smile...always far more humble than her winemaking belies. She is a winemaker to keep your eye on because she is surely destined for greatness.
Sadie Rotsbank 2022 I woke up too early and made Sadie Rotsbank 2022 I woke up too early and made quiche. I burned the edges. But it was gooood. In other news, no...I didn’t open this wine. But I tasted it a little while back. Scribbled notes on a piece of paper. Lost the piece of paper. Here’s what I remember: Annoyingly precise and annoyingly concentrated. I.e. annoying to my wallet. Tasting this made me sigh and realise that’s it’s not just hype. Pears (that subtle cinnamon spice and roundness of pears), yellow apples, tinned pineapples, whetstone and smoke. And an acidity that’s one of the clearest and most linear (think Alsatian Riesling) that I’ve tasted in a good long while. Look...‘twas a debaucherous weekday evening that included sweetbreads and gatecrushing/being offered a friend’s stash of internationals at the Culture Wine Library. Not a chance that I left sober. Sated but not sober. However, I can confirm that it was superb. The winemaker said 20 years of ageing potential (‘hi, thank you’, wide eyed ‘ohhh’ at the nose, walk away, walk back later with tipsy confidence to ask about ageing potential, ‘20 years’, frown and raised eyebrow in amateur disagreement). Coz we all know there’s not a chance this will survive even 5 years in my hands 😂!
Equinox Wines Silt 2022 Golden in colour with the Equinox Wines Silt 2022 Golden in colour with the prettiest nose that had my brain running through all the Rhône varieties...before finally pausing to consider Muscat. Honeysuckle and potpourri, dried apricots, oranges, fig leaf, nutmeg, and a sea foggy seaweedy briney funk (that calms down by day 2). Dry, lower acidity but with undeniable body and gentle lemon peel texture. By day 2 the salty kombu vibes die down to dried celery, papaya, dried ginger and a sense of distant dried tropical fruits like mango and pineapple on the textured and lengthy finish. We’re not all going to get along with this wine because of the initial funk on both the nose and palate. It took me 2 days (bottom of the bottle) to realise that this is unfiltered and that the ginger and apricot notes become more profound as the bottle empties - you could take the slow approach and wait for the fabulous evolution...or lemme suggest a curveball: give this a gentle shake before pouring! Oh...and yes...it’s Muscat d’Alexandrie - planted on loamy alluvial soils with high salinity in Olifantsrivier. Picked early for freshness, 90 days on skins post ferment.
Caravel Wines Golden Phoenix vs the White Lotus NV Caravel Wines Golden Phoenix vs the White Lotus NV I didn’t grow up on Kung Fu movies...but I remember the kids who lived for these movies after school. I just adore how this spirit has become the inspiration for the Caravel wines. In this case, comparing the invincible Kung Fu master, Pai Mei (the White Lotus) to Sauvignon Blanc. Semillon is the Golden Phoenix...a rising force in SA. And this wine weaves a tale that, rather than being epic opponents battling to become the ultimate hero, instead compliment each other...becoming greater than the sum of their parts. I.e. blending for the win! A lovely nose of hay, peeled apples, honey, nuts and peaches...with an undercurrent of blackcurrant leaves. There’s also gentle ripe pineapple, green mango and peach pits. Dry, refreshing acidity, medium bodied, with a good finish that emphasizes some bitter herbals that are really cool...like a combo of burnt caramel and chamomile tea. But it’s the intensity of flavour that really sings in this wine. It is undeniable! 18 year old SB (65%) vines planted on Swartland soils, picked later than most SB from Durbanville, reductive winemaking, no oak, lees contact and stirring. Blended with 26 year old Sem (35%) on Oakleaf soils, picked earlier for freshness and lower booze, barrel aged for 2 years. It’s freaking yum! I’ve run through a few fancy Sauv Sems lately and this is serious value for money - an easy repurchase. Fun fact, there are 6 different labels...so a good excuse to pick up a case.
Du’Swaroo Karoo Spoor 2023 Yup...you’re proba Du’Swaroo Karoo Spoor 2023 Yup...you’re probably thinking what I was thinking. I considered posting the Vintage Reserve (it’s perfectly pleasant...drinks like a Ruby)...but this blend of Cinsault and Tinta Barocca is what grabbed my full attention and thoughts over the last few weeks. Medium intensity confected raspberries, strawberries, overripe black plums, nutmeg and cinnamon. Dry, very good acidity, lighter bodied, and low pomegranate-like tannins. Musky pomegranate juice and pips, watery wild berries, sour cherries, a touch of balsamic VA, and a medium finish. Kinda like watery persimmons. And here’s why I’m posting this wine with its label that we can all agree needs some help: what if we updated to a label that’s fun, quirky, brightly coloured...’designed’. A label that reflects how it would best be consumed - a chilled, simple, light bodied wine with unusual and interesting flavours...and a hella interesting combo of grapes. Right? And I bet there’s an emotive story behind this. I find this fascinating. The wine would work so well in the Light Red category...with the right branding to appeal to people who live in this category (me!). Ps. Lovely lovely couple from Calitzdorp - winemaker is a gentleman, his wife is a darling, the preserves were delicious, the breakfast was tasty, and the puppies are adorable! I’ll be buying a helluva lot more of this when I return...and maybe designing my own label...coz I’m not beyond that level of ridiculousness 😂! Pps. Holiday re-read...still good the 2nd time around!
I finally made it to Calitzdorp last weekend. A 5 I finally made it to Calitzdorp last weekend. A 5 hour drive...2.75 sunny days in the dorp ...and I only got to 3 of the 7 wineries near the dorp...and forgot that phones take photos. Oops. But there was a standout moment: A red and fortified masterclass at Boplaas hosted by the impressive Margaux Nel. I’ve raved about her before (love The Fledge wines, her side project with her husband Leon). We tasted 4 x single varietal wines to establish a base line to the grapes making up their award winning red blends and Port-style wines. Boplaas Touriga Nacional, Boplaas Tinta Barocca, The Fledge Touriga Franca, and The Fledge Souzão. No secret that The Fledge wines were my faves coz it’s uncommon to see these as single varietal wines. We moved onto 2 x Boplaas flagship red blends - Ring of Rocks (all 4 grapes), and the Gamka (excludes Touriga Franca and includes Stellies Cab). Both are fantastic big, structured wines. Next up - fortifieds. Everything is as you’d expect from the Cape Tawny. The 2015 Colheita had been filtered for colour and was lacking oomph (for me). Comparing 2009 vs 2020 Vintage Reserves is always a reminder of their exceptional quality and ageing potential. But it was the 1980 Boplaas Port Cape Tawny Vintner’s Reserve (I believe it’s a Colheita Tawny but forgot to ask about barrel ageing) that made me ditch the spittoon. The rest of the class moved on to the opportunity to blend their own 100ml ‘Port’ to take home. I forewent this experience and doubled down on my notes as I savoured each mouthful: Cloudy medium brown with dull copper luminosity. An insane nose of fresh lemon peel, old church pew wood laminated in layers of lavender furniture polish, the entire spice rack, Christmas cake dotted with raisins and juicy fat yellow sultanas, dates, dried figs, dark sticky toffee pudding, dark chocolate, sweet rich butterscotch, toasted nuts and black coffee. Varnish/lacquer and its colour were really the only giveaway to its age. The finish was endless. With a week to go before payday, contemplating purchasing one of the few bottles released for sale on the day was brief. I am kicking myself and my lack of sugar daddy financing 😂.
Migliarina Luminosity Blanc de Noir 2022 I don’ Migliarina Luminosity Blanc de Noir 2022 I don’t often have much to say about pale coloured rosé wines: it’s wine, you drink it. Yes, this is wine and I am drinking it...but I have oodles to say...brace yourself: The winemaker says it’s rose gold so the colour is officially rose gold. At wintery room temp it has a lovely medium intensity nose of tangerine peels, sweet mouth puckering lemon sorbet, juicy rosy fuzzy peaches, and bergamot or citrus leaves that adds an intriguing bitter depth. Dry, delicious high bright acidity, medium alcohol, a weightier body, and a pretty lengthy finish. Red plum fruit clings in all the right places, grapefruit peel texture grounds you, addictive fresh acidity, and salinity that balances everything and lends slinky sophistication. Empty glass sniff: gentle yeast, bread dough, raspberries and red apple skins. It explains the depth behind all the bright fruit. And these become more prominent by the next day. 93% Pinot Noir and 7% Pinot Gris from the same farm planted on north facing, shale and clay soil vineyards in Stellies. Chilled overnight, 30 minutes of skin contact in the press, overnight settling, then racked into shaven barrels with natural fermentation. Left on it’s fine lees for 7 months for that moreish mouthfeel. No malo, protein, cold stabilisation, or filtration. Carsten, the winemaker, is a self confessed foodie...so what’s a girl to do but head to the kitchen. Olive tapenade on rosemary crackers - yup. Smoked snoek pâté from the spoon - uh huh. Fresh bread and butter while making the aforementioned toppings - yup. Toasted pita topped with crème fraîche, capers, leftover smoked salmon and nasturtium weeds that are taking over the garden - you betcha. On its own in a variety of stemware coz we now gots time to handwash glasses - affirmative, ewe, aweh! Shout out to Vino Pronto for stocking these wines, facilitating my bias towards this winemaker, and to both of you for making it a very yummy weekend!
Il Geco Sauvignon Blanc 2021 Still haven’t rece Il Geco Sauvignon Blanc 2021 Still haven’t received an invoice for these wines...so my executive decision is that hugs are now a valid form of payment. A pronounced nose fills the room with citrus blossoms and elderflower, green pineapples, lime, gooseberry, asparagus, green bell pepper, pea shoots...classic undeniable Sauvignon Blanc. But then the palate is such a surprise. Yes, she’s dry with racy acidity. However, we shift to salted lemons, wetstone minerality...followed far later by the pea shoots, green bell pepper and the gentlest green pineapple. It has wonderful intensity and a slinky mouthfeel. You can’t help but compare this to Sancerre for its salinity and minerality. I wasn’t sure at the first sip - my brain expected tropical overload, pungent gooseberry, and in your face pyrazines. In reality, it’s a sophisticated, elegant and more savoury/mineral Sauvignon Blanc that you’re just dying to try with the lemon pepper roast chicken browning in the oven served with artichokes and too much butter slathered on homemade bread. Coz we now also have time to bake bread!
Domäne Wachau Weissenkirchen Grüner Veltliner Sm Domäne Wachau Weissenkirchen Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 2020 I dunno if I’ve already posted this but I love these notes. THIS is the wine that made Grüner click for me last year. So this is a bit of an ode to the capsules and screwcaps that make my toes wiggle with excitement: you’ve come through for me many times, you’ve made me look like I know more than I do about wine, and you have been a safety blanket when SA thinks you’re a left field ‘they’ll never get it’ blindside...and I get to be the one who finally gets to say ‘oh, I know this’. Here’s to you, Austria, for being what hopefully concludes this mad journey. Sunshine yellow in my glass...bright sunlight without warmth...there’s a strange hard steely coldness to it. A ripeness framed by a cool minerality that we don’t really see in SA. There’s white pepper, loads of celery salt, herbal fennel bulb and chicory that intertwines with the orange blossoms, green apples, nectarines, limes and ruby grapefruit. Call me strange...but Grüner smells like Cream Soda (if you removed the vanilla and focused on the limey sherbert). All those juicy mouthwatering fruits (minus the nectarines) quickly dissolve into cold metallic baking soda crushed oyster shell minerality that, together with the acidity, frames the palate. It’s the minerality and subtle salinity that linger longest...making it very hard to wait long enough to repeat the injection of juicy bright fruits. It’s very hard to stop sipping because you want to keep repeating the cycle. Dangerous! Delicious!
Cape of Good Hope Serruria Chardonnay 2021 I have Cape of Good Hope Serruria Chardonnay 2021 I have a cold and was expecting to Coravin a small sample and revert to the winery’s notes. But nay! These aromas are shouting from the glass: Gentle vanilla and toast, honeysuckle, ripe lemons and lemon oil, a dusting of nutmeg, and something herbaceous lingering in the background. That herbaceousness is more apparent on the palate (for me)...fennel bulb - together with naartjie peel lend structure to the ripe flavours of tangerines, limes, and yellow apples. Fabulous acidity balances the teensy bit of residual sugar (but still ‘dry’). You notice the alcohol but it feels right for the fuller body. And all these juicy ripe moments, accentuated by the oak, linger for the longest length of time [edit: a good length]. 100% Chardonnay grapes from cool Elandskloof, a valley at 600-800m surrounded by steep mountains that reduce the sunlight hours. I can’t find the tech specs for 2021 but I’d imagine the ‘18 and ‘20 are similar: multiple separate vineyards (2-4), around 1/4 fermented & aged in stainless steel, the rest in 300L French oak (just under half new oak) for 11 months on its lees, with 15-20% undergoing MLC. The winemaking is actually kinda sexy...so I’ll be looking out for an updated tech sheet. Thank you to the @anthonijrupertwyne team for sending along this gift. They are bang on with their suggestion of pairing this wine with a Cape Malay Seafood Curry...perhaps in celebration of #chardonnayday on 25 May. Yum!
White space terrifies me. Whether it’s a blank p White space terrifies me. Whether it’s a blank pricey watercolour sheet, notation sheet, or even lined paper. So much expectation, so many options, and so much opportunity. Where to start? By understanding that it’s the spaces in between, the ‘negative spaces’ that make the difference, and allow the measured strokes that you choose to make truly shine. There is beauty in simplicity. And these are simple, but lekker wines. Less is, indeed, more. Grapes sourced from a WIETA certified grower in Robertson who farms sustainably with little to no pesticides. No capsule needed. The lightest weight bottle and recyclable bio-green, plant-based polymer carbon-neutral corks. And opting for cotton not paper for the label and minimal printing (room to personalise with your own doodles). Less is More Chardonnay 2022: a lovely nose of tinned pineapples, pears, juicy lemons, ripe yellow apples. Dry, high acidity, medium bodied, with a more generous finish than expected. Melon joins the fruit salad, along with some gentle grapefruit peel texture that lends weight to the otherwise lighter mouthfeel. Less is More Pinotage 2020: juicy ripe red & black cherries, mulberries, dark plums, star anise, cloves, and subtle 5 spice laden sticky oyster sauce reduction. Fresh acidity, fuller bodied but not heavy, noticeable but pleasant alcohol, delicious grainy tannins that always take me straight to guava peels, and a good lengthy finish. Is there tar - nope. Are there banana peels - yup (perhaps an even better descriptor for the tannins). But I’m handing out bonus points because the banana along with the ‘red/black berried arghh what is this’ confusion, and recognition of distinct mulberries leads you straight into the arms of Pinotage...says the girlie reading the label 😂! Doing less through the winegrowing to do more for the environment. A project worth spending my money on!
Samesyn Syrah 2022 When your wine buddies release Samesyn Syrah 2022 When your wine buddies release their very first wine. And it’s a cool climate Syrah from the bottom of Africa. And includes not 1, but 2 cats on the enchanting label. And then gives it the most beautiful name: Samesyn means togetherness...chosen as a celebration that ‘life gets richer when we live in a community, and act with unity of purpose’. I tasted this with a friend (community, unity of purpose 😉) and the words ‘deep, dark and seductive’ were repeated more than a few times. The colour is like sunlight striking an actual ruby. The dark and seductive nose offers violets and dried rose petals; red cherries and raspberries; blackberries, blueberries and earthy beetroot; musk, cloves, mace and a touch of star anise; and behind these there is a subtle hum of savoury soy marinated meats. Dry, fuller bodied, ripe slightly grainy guava peel-esque medium tannins, virtually imperceivable alcohol, adequate acidity, and a generous finish that introduces prunes, dark plums and a definite cool climate herbal undertone that’s both fragrant fynbos and olive leaves. My friend pointed out the pepper (I’ve lost rotundone...again...sigh). Syrah from 2 blocks in windswept Cape Agulhas: one exposed to the cool ocean breezes, the other more protected and facing inland. 30% wholebunch, a gentle 10 day ferment, then aged in neutral French oak. It’s always weird tasting a friend’s wine (especially when they refuse to invoice you). I hold them to higher standards because I know their exceptional palate. What to say if I don’t like the wine? Will we still be friends? Will I need to pull another Gravner out of the hat to smooth things over (there’s no Gravner or hat)? All of this was a total waste of anxiety coz I really really enjoyed this. In much the same way as I have always enjoyed @han_drinks_solo ’s company (he’s rarely solo). If you’re in Cape Town, join his awesome wine club...coz I’m pretty sure this @samesynwines will make an appearance at one of his blind tasting events 😉!
Laborie Taillefert White 1988 If you know me, you Laborie Taillefert White 1988 If you know me, you know I overthink everything. So this was my backup plan to avoid opening the Furmint. It turned into a mystery as there’s zero info about the wine - distributors, wine farm, and one of the most knowledgeable winos in SA had nothing...making this the ultimate ‘most interesting’ wine? The cloudy medium amber colourrrrrr! Pronooooounced apple skin, cider, yeasty flor, wet musty hay, celery salt, bacon kipps, orange oil, lemony goodness, watered down brandy fumes in the best way possible. Dry, high enough acidity, loooong finish, medium body, lemony black tea texture that I’d go so far as to call tannin, a million times more interesting than it would ever have been in its youth. Peep the lack of ABV info back then 😂! Quite possibly the wisest person at the table suggested Crouchen Blanc. And I liked that. I’d started at Welschriesling and was headed towards Cape Riesling (I.e. Crouchen Blanc) because of the bottle shape and vaguely Germanic branding. [edit: the wise @therealkwispedoor just confirmed that it’s Riesling with some SB, Pinot Gris?! and Chard 🙏🏾]. Other than the acidity, it was at a point where it’d lost all of its varietal characteristics...but I’d put my money on something that was already fairly neutral. These old white wines aren’t for everyone...but they’re absolutely for me. And I was hella pleased to take home half the bottle (propped shut with a new cork coz it’s original crumbled upon seeing a corkscrew for the first time in 35 years). I also just figured out why I love super aged white wines so much. It’s coz they feel like orange wines and Vin Jaune. If you’re a granny with a garage filled with old white wines that nobody wants - hit me up! Thanks to the lovelies @winecellarcoza for stocking 3 of these bottles and for their amazing service despite my panic! Sorrryyyy!
Bott Csontos Furmint 2017 I flipped the fuck out Bott Csontos Furmint 2017 I flipped the fuck out when I was asked to share an ‘interesting’ wine with a group of educated but mostly strangers last week. Not for lack of interesting wines on my shelf, but because I’d have preferred to share this with my favourite favourite wine friends. After a day tasting 100+ wines, it felt like a waste. I cheekily squirreled away 2 x sample bottles...and, luckily, took home another glass left over in the bottle (too much wine and tasting fatigue). A gorgeous medium (+) nose of lemon peels, bruised apple skins, fresh slices of green apples, musky but tart apricots, distant pineapples, and fresh cider. These aromas expanded over the next 3 days - when I finally returned home to taste the wines in my usual antisocial isolation. Dry-ish (6.1g/L RS), high luminous acidity, medium bodied, and a generous finish. Ripe apricots and peaches dusted in cinnamon, roasted pineapples, tinned pears, the richness of walnuts but also the bitterness of its skin, chamomile flowers, radicchio, fennel bulb bitterness that still has sweetness, my classic burnt sugar hollow bitterness, ripe blue oranges, and a generous length. It’s bloody delicious and so darned cool. I’m hopping mad that I chose to open it and share it with mostly strangers (thankfully there were a few friends who made it worth it). Call me mean...but these sorts of wines are meant to be shared with loved ones. The same way that this was shared as a gift by my beloved friend @grzesiek.just.grzesiek who’s enthusiasm for this husband and wife winemaking couple has me fully invested in their wines and future. Head to his page to learn more about these exciting, award winning, boutique producers based in Hungary...he’s pretty much tasted them all!
April Fools question: Could these be two incredibl April Fools question: Could these be two incredible birth year wines that helped me close off my birthday month? Or is this me playing an April Fool’s trick on you...coz when do I ever get my grubby paws on vintage Margaux and Paulliac? Chateau Palmer 1979: heavenly savoury umami notes of soy, oyster sauce and beef bouillons; a dried fruit medley of prunes, plums and raisins, woody pencil shavings...but still lifted with vibrant acidity accompanied by fine grained, smooth but high tannins. All of this wonderment was sustained throughout its loooong finish. Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1979: astoundingly crystal clear garnet, with an incredible nose of beef stock, soy sauce, Chinese 5 spices, and distinct aniseed. The palate offered clay earth and salinity; smooth silky but defined high tannins, again with the bright acidity, and ridiculous length for its age. Third option: am I the fool for risking the Insta algorithm by not posting a single wine in March 😂? I hope everyone had as good a March month as I did. Happy first of the month, everyone. And happy weekend too!
Minimalist Wines Experimental Noir 2020 I picked Minimalist Wines Experimental Noir 2020 I picked this up alongside the much hyped Stars in the Dark Syrah without knowing much about this ‘Experimental’ range. Made from a 3 hectare block on 3 different soil types planted with 3 different Syrah clones in 2006...Sam, the winemaker, leases and farms this block as a commitment to retaining the Syrah plantings in Elgin - a region where apple farming is more profitable. If we could remind ourselves that this winemaker is 20-something years old... A righteous nose that lays a feast of dark & red cherries and guavas; a trail of rose petals lead to lavish bouquets of roses, fresh olive leaves and herbaceous fynbos with roots intact that emit a warm earthy funk; there’s coffee brewing in the background; and someone’s just cracked the black pepper. Crunchy red fruit. Fresh acidity. Fine, slightly green, cool climate Old World tannins, but with a lightness and ripeness of fruit that tells you that you’re in the New World. Candied red cherries are most prominent on the palate, but they’re steadied by a super herbal, slightly bitter finish. This feels like an ode to N. Rhône...but riper and sunnier and friendlier (to me). It reminds one of a still life tablescape oil painting...the subject remains the same but it’s been updated in acrylics. The Minimalist Wine team’s use of drones to survey the vineyards also shows an understanding of the importance of varnish...but bypassing the pitfalls of outdated craquelure. All for the better to see the wine, my dear? Happy International Syrah Day, everyone!
HER Chenin Blanc 2021 Gotta finish this unintenti HER Chenin Blanc 2021 Gotta finish this unintentional streak of yellow labels (and the last lemon in the bowl). This was an emergency purchase for a braai - so no concise notes. Instead, just sheer delight at seeing this brand on Woolies shelves. Shy nose of lemons, salinity, cashews and unripe nectarines. Medium everything. It’s an entry level wine that makes for a meaningful moment of reflection at a casual braai...before a tongue numbing round of the Fiery Five Bean Boozled Challenge has everyone tearfully diving for the ice blocks and sniffing as they swig the nearest beer. HER is an all-female, all-black brand. From winemakers to viticulturist to the all important logistics and finance team - all strong black women. And they’ve pledged a percentage of their profits to fund a scholarship to help others achieve their dreams. Kudos to Woolworths for stocking this. Distribution is an important link to furthering equality...a link that’s sorely missing. I’m a big believer of ‘if you build it, they will come’. If large retail chains sacrificed a tiny space of their, quite frankly, questionable business models, they could make a big difference to wine equality in this country.
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Weingut Knoll Smaragd Grüner Veltliner 2017 In Weingut Knoll Smaragd Grüner Veltliner 2017 In case you wondered what the celebration wine was when I first received my results... In case you wondered why I was so over the moon about Austria appearing in the final exam...gotta love serendipity... And in case you remembered that I said I’d finally open the certificates once I was done... Toes wiggling at the red and white stripes, smiling at the celery salt seaweed stank as I popped the cork, and a heart bursting with thanks to my dearest @grzesiek.just.grzesiek for gifting me this iconic wine! Gold in colour with a pronounced nose of struck match, celery (candied celery!), dried kombu, green apples but also yellow apples and ripe peaches. Dry, mediumish acidity...far less than I’d braced for, medium bodied, and with a deceptively long finish. Vanilla, chamomile, ripe almost shriveled yellow apples that are incredibly sweet, pears, light toffee, and the candied celery that decorated Eid biscuits from my childhood. I couldn’t pick out any pepper (how am I going to fix this!). And I was surprised by how round it felt...less precise than I’d imagined it would be. I was treated to a far older example of this exact wine last year...and there was a similar ‘hard to put your finger on it’ character. And I think that’s because the sip is presented as one complete, unified feeling...it almost does the wine a disservice to try and pick it apart and BLIC it. This was Coravined into numerous sample bottles to share with friends. It was paired with Howl’s Moving Castle...my safe space that I’d craved for 2.5 years. My heart was full. Full of Studio Ghibli peace. Full of excitement that my darling friend and his family will be back in Cape Town soon. And full of gratitude and relief that I’d finally finished this fucking diploma. One more thing: this is for all of you who’ve posted incredible tasting notes on wines that we’ll never see in South Africa - cheers to every one of you that I’ve learned from!
Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve The Cape Mist Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve The Cape Mist Sauvignon Blanc 2022 This looks like a two-fer, but this is all about the spring appropriate The Cape Mist SB*. As soon as this was delivered I opened it 😂...as it was one of 3 Sauv Blancs in the recent South African Wine Tasting Championship that I’d hesitated over. I called 8/10 varieties correctly (those tricky blends gets me every time), but only 4/10 producers. I missed this producer...so I HAD to know where I went wrong. Pale lemon, with a fairly pronounced nose of lemongrass, peach, light pineapple and granadilla, apples, blackcurrant leaves and tempered asparagus. Dry with fresh zingy acidity, surprisingly medium bodied with a some leesy broadness that interplays rather nicely with the contradictory effervescent spritz, and a very pleasant medium finish. There’s salinity and minerality (sherbet) that accompanies the juicy peaches and lemongrass. It’s strength is that this isn’t overwhelmingingly Sauvignon Blanc-y ...which makes this a great choice for those who aren’t sure about SB. It’s yum, it’s fresh, it’s mineral and saline...and it’ll be a fun blind wine as you need to hone in on the asparagus to definitively get to SB. Slurp quickly (not hard to do) because this doesn’t show many SB features by day 2. The winemaking is as expected but using only free run juice, lees stirring once a day, inoculated, and 8 months on the lees before light filtering before bottling. Many thanks to the Durbanville Hills team for gifting these wines. Love the illustrations by Theo Paul Vorster! I also loved the promo videos for this range that you can view on their page. *I didn’t get along with the Shiraz...but you might.
Perdeberg Wines Endura Winemaker’s Selection Cap Perdeberg Wines Endura Winemaker’s Selection Cape Blend 2020 A blend of Pinotage (52%), Cabernet Sauvignon (24%) and Malbec (24%), this wine serves to ‘showcase the essence of dryland vineyards’ and to ‘reflect the true character or the terroir’. It is a deeply coloured wine, with a wonderful nose of dark plums, more plums, all the plums, mulberries, blackberries, cassis, liquorice, light cloves, meaty braaivleis, and salty soy sauce. You’ll want to sniff this for a good long while! The palate lives up to the nose: dry, high acidity, full bodied with a round texture, fairly high tannins that feel both green and plush. I don’t notice the alcohol but the full body gives an expectation that it’s high. There’s decent length...that starts off with bitter leafy greenness and tar...that evolves into green figs (first the leaves and stem, and then the preserved deliciousness), through dark ripe juicy plums...into luxurious blackberry/peppercorn/oyster sauce compote...and finally, banana peels. Grilled spicy aubergines was the pairing of the day. The Malbec and Pinotage are an inspiring combination...with the Cab adding structure. Many thanks to Perdeberg Wines for gifting this lovely bottle.
Brookdale Chenin Blanc 2019 To round off women’ Brookdale Chenin Blanc 2019 To round off women’s month in SA, let’s talk about a wine from someone I’ve not yet featured...but who has always been one of my favourite faces to spot at any wine event. The colour is a clear sign of oak, with a glorious nose of spiced pears, yellow apples, peaches, vanilla, the creamy filling to almond croissants, nutmeg, honey and salinity. Dry, fuller bodied, high but balanced acidity, and a long finish that introduces chamomile. The intensity of the aromas and flavours is undeniable. The reserved oaking is the kind that makes you appreciate the complexity that it adds. I headed straight to the kitchen to make the most of this melange of flavours: creamy artichoke and spinach pasta...dotted with anchovies, capers and lemon zest. Chenin from Paarl, whole bunch pressed, fermented with natural yeasts in 500 litre French oak (25% new), and 80% completing MLC. Aged on the lees for 10 months, lightly filtered, and bottle aged for 9 more months before release. Kiara Scott must be one of the friendliest winemakers out there...always ready with a smile...always far more humble than her winemaking belies. She is a winemaker to keep your eye on because she is surely destined for greatness.
Sadie Rotsbank 2022 I woke up too early and made Sadie Rotsbank 2022 I woke up too early and made quiche. I burned the edges. But it was gooood. In other news, no...I didn’t open this wine. But I tasted it a little while back. Scribbled notes on a piece of paper. Lost the piece of paper. Here’s what I remember: Annoyingly precise and annoyingly concentrated. I.e. annoying to my wallet. Tasting this made me sigh and realise that’s it’s not just hype. Pears (that subtle cinnamon spice and roundness of pears), yellow apples, tinned pineapples, whetstone and smoke. And an acidity that’s one of the clearest and most linear (think Alsatian Riesling) that I’ve tasted in a good long while. Look...‘twas a debaucherous weekday evening that included sweetbreads and gatecrushing/being offered a friend’s stash of internationals at the Culture Wine Library. Not a chance that I left sober. Sated but not sober. However, I can confirm that it was superb. The winemaker said 20 years of ageing potential (‘hi, thank you’, wide eyed ‘ohhh’ at the nose, walk away, walk back later with tipsy confidence to ask about ageing potential, ‘20 years’, frown and raised eyebrow in amateur disagreement). Coz we all know there’s not a chance this will survive even 5 years in my hands 😂!
Equinox Wines Silt 2022 Golden in colour with the Equinox Wines Silt 2022 Golden in colour with the prettiest nose that had my brain running through all the Rhône varieties...before finally pausing to consider Muscat. Honeysuckle and potpourri, dried apricots, oranges, fig leaf, nutmeg, and a sea foggy seaweedy briney funk (that calms down by day 2). Dry, lower acidity but with undeniable body and gentle lemon peel texture. By day 2 the salty kombu vibes die down to dried celery, papaya, dried ginger and a sense of distant dried tropical fruits like mango and pineapple on the textured and lengthy finish. We’re not all going to get along with this wine because of the initial funk on both the nose and palate. It took me 2 days (bottom of the bottle) to realise that this is unfiltered and that the ginger and apricot notes become more profound as the bottle empties - you could take the slow approach and wait for the fabulous evolution...or lemme suggest a curveball: give this a gentle shake before pouring! Oh...and yes...it’s Muscat d’Alexandrie - planted on loamy alluvial soils with high salinity in Olifantsrivier. Picked early for freshness, 90 days on skins post ferment.
Caravel Wines Golden Phoenix vs the White Lotus NV Caravel Wines Golden Phoenix vs the White Lotus NV I didn’t grow up on Kung Fu movies...but I remember the kids who lived for these movies after school. I just adore how this spirit has become the inspiration for the Caravel wines. In this case, comparing the invincible Kung Fu master, Pai Mei (the White Lotus) to Sauvignon Blanc. Semillon is the Golden Phoenix...a rising force in SA. And this wine weaves a tale that, rather than being epic opponents battling to become the ultimate hero, instead compliment each other...becoming greater than the sum of their parts. I.e. blending for the win! A lovely nose of hay, peeled apples, honey, nuts and peaches...with an undercurrent of blackcurrant leaves. There’s also gentle ripe pineapple, green mango and peach pits. Dry, refreshing acidity, medium bodied, with a good finish that emphasizes some bitter herbals that are really cool...like a combo of burnt caramel and chamomile tea. But it’s the intensity of flavour that really sings in this wine. It is undeniable! 18 year old SB (65%) vines planted on Swartland soils, picked later than most SB from Durbanville, reductive winemaking, no oak, lees contact and stirring. Blended with 26 year old Sem (35%) on Oakleaf soils, picked earlier for freshness and lower booze, barrel aged for 2 years. It’s freaking yum! I’ve run through a few fancy Sauv Sems lately and this is serious value for money - an easy repurchase. Fun fact, there are 6 different labels...so a good excuse to pick up a case.
Du’Swaroo Karoo Spoor 2023 Yup...you’re proba Du’Swaroo Karoo Spoor 2023 Yup...you’re probably thinking what I was thinking. I considered posting the Vintage Reserve (it’s perfectly pleasant...drinks like a Ruby)...but this blend of Cinsault and Tinta Barocca is what grabbed my full attention and thoughts over the last few weeks. Medium intensity confected raspberries, strawberries, overripe black plums, nutmeg and cinnamon. Dry, very good acidity, lighter bodied, and low pomegranate-like tannins. Musky pomegranate juice and pips, watery wild berries, sour cherries, a touch of balsamic VA, and a medium finish. Kinda like watery persimmons. And here’s why I’m posting this wine with its label that we can all agree needs some help: what if we updated to a label that’s fun, quirky, brightly coloured...’designed’. A label that reflects how it would best be consumed - a chilled, simple, light bodied wine with unusual and interesting flavours...and a hella interesting combo of grapes. Right? And I bet there’s an emotive story behind this. I find this fascinating. The wine would work so well in the Light Red category...with the right branding to appeal to people who live in this category (me!). Ps. Lovely lovely couple from Calitzdorp - winemaker is a gentleman, his wife is a darling, the preserves were delicious, the breakfast was tasty, and the puppies are adorable! I’ll be buying a helluva lot more of this when I return...and maybe designing my own label...coz I’m not beyond that level of ridiculousness 😂! Pps. Holiday re-read...still good the 2nd time around!
I finally made it to Calitzdorp last weekend. A 5 I finally made it to Calitzdorp last weekend. A 5 hour drive...2.75 sunny days in the dorp ...and I only got to 3 of the 7 wineries near the dorp...and forgot that phones take photos. Oops. But there was a standout moment: A red and fortified masterclass at Boplaas hosted by the impressive Margaux Nel. I’ve raved about her before (love The Fledge wines, her side project with her husband Leon). We tasted 4 x single varietal wines to establish a base line to the grapes making up their award winning red blends and Port-style wines. Boplaas Touriga Nacional, Boplaas Tinta Barocca, The Fledge Touriga Franca, and The Fledge Souzão. No secret that The Fledge wines were my faves coz it’s uncommon to see these as single varietal wines. We moved onto 2 x Boplaas flagship red blends - Ring of Rocks (all 4 grapes), and the Gamka (excludes Touriga Franca and includes Stellies Cab). Both are fantastic big, structured wines. Next up - fortifieds. Everything is as you’d expect from the Cape Tawny. The 2015 Colheita had been filtered for colour and was lacking oomph (for me). Comparing 2009 vs 2020 Vintage Reserves is always a reminder of their exceptional quality and ageing potential. But it was the 1980 Boplaas Port Cape Tawny Vintner’s Reserve (I believe it’s a Colheita Tawny but forgot to ask about barrel ageing) that made me ditch the spittoon. The rest of the class moved on to the opportunity to blend their own 100ml ‘Port’ to take home. I forewent this experience and doubled down on my notes as I savoured each mouthful: Cloudy medium brown with dull copper luminosity. An insane nose of fresh lemon peel, old church pew wood laminated in layers of lavender furniture polish, the entire spice rack, Christmas cake dotted with raisins and juicy fat yellow sultanas, dates, dried figs, dark sticky toffee pudding, dark chocolate, sweet rich butterscotch, toasted nuts and black coffee. Varnish/lacquer and its colour were really the only giveaway to its age. The finish was endless. With a week to go before payday, contemplating purchasing one of the few bottles released for sale on the day was brief. I am kicking myself and my lack of sugar daddy financing 😂.
Migliarina Luminosity Blanc de Noir 2022 I don’ Migliarina Luminosity Blanc de Noir 2022 I don’t often have much to say about pale coloured rosé wines: it’s wine, you drink it. Yes, this is wine and I am drinking it...but I have oodles to say...brace yourself: The winemaker says it’s rose gold so the colour is officially rose gold. At wintery room temp it has a lovely medium intensity nose of tangerine peels, sweet mouth puckering lemon sorbet, juicy rosy fuzzy peaches, and bergamot or citrus leaves that adds an intriguing bitter depth. Dry, delicious high bright acidity, medium alcohol, a weightier body, and a pretty lengthy finish. Red plum fruit clings in all the right places, grapefruit peel texture grounds you, addictive fresh acidity, and salinity that balances everything and lends slinky sophistication. Empty glass sniff: gentle yeast, bread dough, raspberries and red apple skins. It explains the depth behind all the bright fruit. And these become more prominent by the next day. 93% Pinot Noir and 7% Pinot Gris from the same farm planted on north facing, shale and clay soil vineyards in Stellies. Chilled overnight, 30 minutes of skin contact in the press, overnight settling, then racked into shaven barrels with natural fermentation. Left on it’s fine lees for 7 months for that moreish mouthfeel. No malo, protein, cold stabilisation, or filtration. Carsten, the winemaker, is a self confessed foodie...so what’s a girl to do but head to the kitchen. Olive tapenade on rosemary crackers - yup. Smoked snoek pâté from the spoon - uh huh. Fresh bread and butter while making the aforementioned toppings - yup. Toasted pita topped with crème fraîche, capers, leftover smoked salmon and nasturtium weeds that are taking over the garden - you betcha. On its own in a variety of stemware coz we now gots time to handwash glasses - affirmative, ewe, aweh! Shout out to Vino Pronto for stocking these wines, facilitating my bias towards this winemaker, and to both of you for making it a very yummy weekend!
Il Geco Sauvignon Blanc 2021 Still haven’t rece Il Geco Sauvignon Blanc 2021 Still haven’t received an invoice for these wines...so my executive decision is that hugs are now a valid form of payment. A pronounced nose fills the room with citrus blossoms and elderflower, green pineapples, lime, gooseberry, asparagus, green bell pepper, pea shoots...classic undeniable Sauvignon Blanc. But then the palate is such a surprise. Yes, she’s dry with racy acidity. However, we shift to salted lemons, wetstone minerality...followed far later by the pea shoots, green bell pepper and the gentlest green pineapple. It has wonderful intensity and a slinky mouthfeel. You can’t help but compare this to Sancerre for its salinity and minerality. I wasn’t sure at the first sip - my brain expected tropical overload, pungent gooseberry, and in your face pyrazines. In reality, it’s a sophisticated, elegant and more savoury/mineral Sauvignon Blanc that you’re just dying to try with the lemon pepper roast chicken browning in the oven served with artichokes and too much butter slathered on homemade bread. Coz we now also have time to bake bread!
Domäne Wachau Weissenkirchen Grüner Veltliner Sm Domäne Wachau Weissenkirchen Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 2020 I dunno if I’ve already posted this but I love these notes. THIS is the wine that made Grüner click for me last year. So this is a bit of an ode to the capsules and screwcaps that make my toes wiggle with excitement: you’ve come through for me many times, you’ve made me look like I know more than I do about wine, and you have been a safety blanket when SA thinks you’re a left field ‘they’ll never get it’ blindside...and I get to be the one who finally gets to say ‘oh, I know this’. Here’s to you, Austria, for being what hopefully concludes this mad journey. Sunshine yellow in my glass...bright sunlight without warmth...there’s a strange hard steely coldness to it. A ripeness framed by a cool minerality that we don’t really see in SA. There’s white pepper, loads of celery salt, herbal fennel bulb and chicory that intertwines with the orange blossoms, green apples, nectarines, limes and ruby grapefruit. Call me strange...but Grüner smells like Cream Soda (if you removed the vanilla and focused on the limey sherbert). All those juicy mouthwatering fruits (minus the nectarines) quickly dissolve into cold metallic baking soda crushed oyster shell minerality that, together with the acidity, frames the palate. It’s the minerality and subtle salinity that linger longest...making it very hard to wait long enough to repeat the injection of juicy bright fruits. It’s very hard to stop sipping because you want to keep repeating the cycle. Dangerous! Delicious!
Cape of Good Hope Serruria Chardonnay 2021 I have Cape of Good Hope Serruria Chardonnay 2021 I have a cold and was expecting to Coravin a small sample and revert to the winery’s notes. But nay! These aromas are shouting from the glass: Gentle vanilla and toast, honeysuckle, ripe lemons and lemon oil, a dusting of nutmeg, and something herbaceous lingering in the background. That herbaceousness is more apparent on the palate (for me)...fennel bulb - together with naartjie peel lend structure to the ripe flavours of tangerines, limes, and yellow apples. Fabulous acidity balances the teensy bit of residual sugar (but still ‘dry’). You notice the alcohol but it feels right for the fuller body. And all these juicy ripe moments, accentuated by the oak, linger for the longest length of time [edit: a good length]. 100% Chardonnay grapes from cool Elandskloof, a valley at 600-800m surrounded by steep mountains that reduce the sunlight hours. I can’t find the tech specs for 2021 but I’d imagine the ‘18 and ‘20 are similar: multiple separate vineyards (2-4), around 1/4 fermented & aged in stainless steel, the rest in 300L French oak (just under half new oak) for 11 months on its lees, with 15-20% undergoing MLC. The winemaking is actually kinda sexy...so I’ll be looking out for an updated tech sheet. Thank you to the @anthonijrupertwyne team for sending along this gift. They are bang on with their suggestion of pairing this wine with a Cape Malay Seafood Curry...perhaps in celebration of #chardonnayday on 25 May. Yum!
White space terrifies me. Whether it’s a blank p White space terrifies me. Whether it’s a blank pricey watercolour sheet, notation sheet, or even lined paper. So much expectation, so many options, and so much opportunity. Where to start? By understanding that it’s the spaces in between, the ‘negative spaces’ that make the difference, and allow the measured strokes that you choose to make truly shine. There is beauty in simplicity. And these are simple, but lekker wines. Less is, indeed, more. Grapes sourced from a WIETA certified grower in Robertson who farms sustainably with little to no pesticides. No capsule needed. The lightest weight bottle and recyclable bio-green, plant-based polymer carbon-neutral corks. And opting for cotton not paper for the label and minimal printing (room to personalise with your own doodles). Less is More Chardonnay 2022: a lovely nose of tinned pineapples, pears, juicy lemons, ripe yellow apples. Dry, high acidity, medium bodied, with a more generous finish than expected. Melon joins the fruit salad, along with some gentle grapefruit peel texture that lends weight to the otherwise lighter mouthfeel. Less is More Pinotage 2020: juicy ripe red & black cherries, mulberries, dark plums, star anise, cloves, and subtle 5 spice laden sticky oyster sauce reduction. Fresh acidity, fuller bodied but not heavy, noticeable but pleasant alcohol, delicious grainy tannins that always take me straight to guava peels, and a good lengthy finish. Is there tar - nope. Are there banana peels - yup (perhaps an even better descriptor for the tannins). But I’m handing out bonus points because the banana along with the ‘red/black berried arghh what is this’ confusion, and recognition of distinct mulberries leads you straight into the arms of Pinotage...says the girlie reading the label 😂! Doing less through the winegrowing to do more for the environment. A project worth spending my money on!
Samesyn Syrah 2022 When your wine buddies release Samesyn Syrah 2022 When your wine buddies release their very first wine. And it’s a cool climate Syrah from the bottom of Africa. And includes not 1, but 2 cats on the enchanting label. And then gives it the most beautiful name: Samesyn means togetherness...chosen as a celebration that ‘life gets richer when we live in a community, and act with unity of purpose’. I tasted this with a friend (community, unity of purpose 😉) and the words ‘deep, dark and seductive’ were repeated more than a few times. The colour is like sunlight striking an actual ruby. The dark and seductive nose offers violets and dried rose petals; red cherries and raspberries; blackberries, blueberries and earthy beetroot; musk, cloves, mace and a touch of star anise; and behind these there is a subtle hum of savoury soy marinated meats. Dry, fuller bodied, ripe slightly grainy guava peel-esque medium tannins, virtually imperceivable alcohol, adequate acidity, and a generous finish that introduces prunes, dark plums and a definite cool climate herbal undertone that’s both fragrant fynbos and olive leaves. My friend pointed out the pepper (I’ve lost rotundone...again...sigh). Syrah from 2 blocks in windswept Cape Agulhas: one exposed to the cool ocean breezes, the other more protected and facing inland. 30% wholebunch, a gentle 10 day ferment, then aged in neutral French oak. It’s always weird tasting a friend’s wine (especially when they refuse to invoice you). I hold them to higher standards because I know their exceptional palate. What to say if I don’t like the wine? Will we still be friends? Will I need to pull another Gravner out of the hat to smooth things over (there’s no Gravner or hat)? All of this was a total waste of anxiety coz I really really enjoyed this. In much the same way as I have always enjoyed @han_drinks_solo ’s company (he’s rarely solo). If you’re in Cape Town, join his awesome wine club...coz I’m pretty sure this @samesynwines will make an appearance at one of his blind tasting events 😉!
Laborie Taillefert White 1988 If you know me, you Laborie Taillefert White 1988 If you know me, you know I overthink everything. So this was my backup plan to avoid opening the Furmint. It turned into a mystery as there’s zero info about the wine - distributors, wine farm, and one of the most knowledgeable winos in SA had nothing...making this the ultimate ‘most interesting’ wine? The cloudy medium amber colourrrrrr! Pronooooounced apple skin, cider, yeasty flor, wet musty hay, celery salt, bacon kipps, orange oil, lemony goodness, watered down brandy fumes in the best way possible. Dry, high enough acidity, loooong finish, medium body, lemony black tea texture that I’d go so far as to call tannin, a million times more interesting than it would ever have been in its youth. Peep the lack of ABV info back then 😂! Quite possibly the wisest person at the table suggested Crouchen Blanc. And I liked that. I’d started at Welschriesling and was headed towards Cape Riesling (I.e. Crouchen Blanc) because of the bottle shape and vaguely Germanic branding. [edit: the wise @therealkwispedoor just confirmed that it’s Riesling with some SB, Pinot Gris?! and Chard 🙏🏾]. Other than the acidity, it was at a point where it’d lost all of its varietal characteristics...but I’d put my money on something that was already fairly neutral. These old white wines aren’t for everyone...but they’re absolutely for me. And I was hella pleased to take home half the bottle (propped shut with a new cork coz it’s original crumbled upon seeing a corkscrew for the first time in 35 years). I also just figured out why I love super aged white wines so much. It’s coz they feel like orange wines and Vin Jaune. If you’re a granny with a garage filled with old white wines that nobody wants - hit me up! Thanks to the lovelies @winecellarcoza for stocking 3 of these bottles and for their amazing service despite my panic! Sorrryyyy!
Bott Csontos Furmint 2017 I flipped the fuck out Bott Csontos Furmint 2017 I flipped the fuck out when I was asked to share an ‘interesting’ wine with a group of educated but mostly strangers last week. Not for lack of interesting wines on my shelf, but because I’d have preferred to share this with my favourite favourite wine friends. After a day tasting 100+ wines, it felt like a waste. I cheekily squirreled away 2 x sample bottles...and, luckily, took home another glass left over in the bottle (too much wine and tasting fatigue). A gorgeous medium (+) nose of lemon peels, bruised apple skins, fresh slices of green apples, musky but tart apricots, distant pineapples, and fresh cider. These aromas expanded over the next 3 days - when I finally returned home to taste the wines in my usual antisocial isolation. Dry-ish (6.1g/L RS), high luminous acidity, medium bodied, and a generous finish. Ripe apricots and peaches dusted in cinnamon, roasted pineapples, tinned pears, the richness of walnuts but also the bitterness of its skin, chamomile flowers, radicchio, fennel bulb bitterness that still has sweetness, my classic burnt sugar hollow bitterness, ripe blue oranges, and a generous length. It’s bloody delicious and so darned cool. I’m hopping mad that I chose to open it and share it with mostly strangers (thankfully there were a few friends who made it worth it). Call me mean...but these sorts of wines are meant to be shared with loved ones. The same way that this was shared as a gift by my beloved friend @grzesiek.just.grzesiek who’s enthusiasm for this husband and wife winemaking couple has me fully invested in their wines and future. Head to his page to learn more about these exciting, award winning, boutique producers based in Hungary...he’s pretty much tasted them all!
April Fools question: Could these be two incredibl April Fools question: Could these be two incredible birth year wines that helped me close off my birthday month? Or is this me playing an April Fool’s trick on you...coz when do I ever get my grubby paws on vintage Margaux and Paulliac? Chateau Palmer 1979: heavenly savoury umami notes of soy, oyster sauce and beef bouillons; a dried fruit medley of prunes, plums and raisins, woody pencil shavings...but still lifted with vibrant acidity accompanied by fine grained, smooth but high tannins. All of this wonderment was sustained throughout its loooong finish. Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1979: astoundingly crystal clear garnet, with an incredible nose of beef stock, soy sauce, Chinese 5 spices, and distinct aniseed. The palate offered clay earth and salinity; smooth silky but defined high tannins, again with the bright acidity, and ridiculous length for its age. Third option: am I the fool for risking the Insta algorithm by not posting a single wine in March 😂? I hope everyone had as good a March month as I did. Happy first of the month, everyone. And happy weekend too!
Minimalist Wines Experimental Noir 2020 I picked Minimalist Wines Experimental Noir 2020 I picked this up alongside the much hyped Stars in the Dark Syrah without knowing much about this ‘Experimental’ range. Made from a 3 hectare block on 3 different soil types planted with 3 different Syrah clones in 2006...Sam, the winemaker, leases and farms this block as a commitment to retaining the Syrah plantings in Elgin - a region where apple farming is more profitable. If we could remind ourselves that this winemaker is 20-something years old... A righteous nose that lays a feast of dark & red cherries and guavas; a trail of rose petals lead to lavish bouquets of roses, fresh olive leaves and herbaceous fynbos with roots intact that emit a warm earthy funk; there’s coffee brewing in the background; and someone’s just cracked the black pepper. Crunchy red fruit. Fresh acidity. Fine, slightly green, cool climate Old World tannins, but with a lightness and ripeness of fruit that tells you that you’re in the New World. Candied red cherries are most prominent on the palate, but they’re steadied by a super herbal, slightly bitter finish. This feels like an ode to N. Rhône...but riper and sunnier and friendlier (to me). It reminds one of a still life tablescape oil painting...the subject remains the same but it’s been updated in acrylics. The Minimalist Wine team’s use of drones to survey the vineyards also shows an understanding of the importance of varnish...but bypassing the pitfalls of outdated craquelure. All for the better to see the wine, my dear? Happy International Syrah Day, everyone!
HER Chenin Blanc 2021 Gotta finish this unintenti HER Chenin Blanc 2021 Gotta finish this unintentional streak of yellow labels (and the last lemon in the bowl). This was an emergency purchase for a braai - so no concise notes. Instead, just sheer delight at seeing this brand on Woolies shelves. Shy nose of lemons, salinity, cashews and unripe nectarines. Medium everything. It’s an entry level wine that makes for a meaningful moment of reflection at a casual braai...before a tongue numbing round of the Fiery Five Bean Boozled Challenge has everyone tearfully diving for the ice blocks and sniffing as they swig the nearest beer. HER is an all-female, all-black brand. From winemakers to viticulturist to the all important logistics and finance team - all strong black women. And they’ve pledged a percentage of their profits to fund a scholarship to help others achieve their dreams. Kudos to Woolworths for stocking this. Distribution is an important link to furthering equality...a link that’s sorely missing. I’m a big believer of ‘if you build it, they will come’. If large retail chains sacrificed a tiny space of their, quite frankly, questionable business models, they could make a big difference to wine equality in this country.
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