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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 | Sipping my way through the Cape Winelands | A South African Wine Blog

About
- Contact Me
- Sample Policy
Musings & Ramblings
Learn with me
Interviews
Musings & Ramblings
Wine Reviews
Learn with me
- What's the Grape?
- Wine Regions
  - Constantia Wine Route
Wine Wise

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Radford Dale The Antidote 2018

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Neil Ellis The Left Bank 2021 [gifted] 49% Cabern

Neil Ellis The Left Bank 2021 [gifted]

49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and a dash of Cabernet Franc and Malbec exude the most beautifully dense colour, enticingly rich with aromas of blackberries and cassis, damson plums, pencil shavings and dry cedar, star anise, and a touch of menthol eucalyptus.

Fuller bodied with moreish acidity and big ripe velvety tannins. Spiced red plums, raspberries and earthy pomegranate accompany the concentration of damson plums and spices; lingering for a generous lengthy finish.

Many thanks to the @neilelliswines team for this well timed quintessentially Bordeaux style red blend that was much appreciated on a chilly evening. And huge congratulations on your brilliant 97 point score at the 2026 Investec Trophy Wine Show!

BlankBottle Pat Bird 2021 Tell me this doesn’t lo

BlankBottle Pat Bird 2021

Tell me this doesn’t look like a white wine bottle and label? It’s Petit Verdot. Surprise! And it’s one of the last bottles in my BB stash. Boo!

A brooding purpley ruby pour wafting perfumed violets and fresh potpourri, blackberry, blueberry, mulberry, dark plums, kirsch, prickly pear fruit, blueberry ice cream, vanilla, baking spices and dry crackling cigar leaves.

A bigger body backs up the berries and blooms. Bodacious powdery drying tannins had me shaking in my boots. Somewhat soothed by the moreish acidity and bursts of red plums and dark cherries. Brawny, bold and vibrant…but not nearly as pronounced or lingering as the nose. One liner: the gym bro who skips leg day (not that I have any right to comment on fitness!). Second liner: concentration without concentration (on which I am an expert!).

Isn’t PV a funny grape? All the dark intensity…so much structure…yet we never really anticipate having to call it in a blind…we just sort of tack it on to a BDX blend when the colour seems right but we’re not feeling plummy Malbec. This may not be my favourite favourite BlankBottle but, as always, tasting and thinking and trying to figure out the variety (coz BB doesn’t name the grape on the label, and I can never remember what I purchase) was the best fun! I landed on a super extracted Syrah. So wrong, but so fun!

Stark Conde Pines Syrah 2018 The deepest ruby hue

Stark Conde Pines Syrah 2018

The deepest ruby hue delivers exactly what you’d hope for from that depth of colour: a canvas of blueberries, blackberries, black plums interlaced with threads of lifted tart red plums, boozy kirsch, light vanilla, star anise, herbal olive leaf and fynbos, fresh violets and lavender; embellished with subtle charcuterie, smoke and black pepper (rotundone is still going, baby!).

A seam of cheerful medium+ acidity and wonderfully integrated big velvety tannins that hem the full body…neatly finished with the longest finish. It’s an appliqué of bright and fresh red plums, dark plums, dark cherries and woodsy cedar woven against a tapestry of big, full, rich velvet opulence.

Stark-Condé has a beautiful tasting room hovering over a scenic little dam…with so many of the biggest fish (I’m easily amused and distracted). I’ve long been a little obsessed with Rüdger, the winemaker. But our wine host was one of the most impressive I’ve experienced: able to sway between friendly light-hearted chit chat, while fielding technical questions with a deep wine knowledge beyond only Stark-Condé and Stellenbosch. And for that reason, this winery is one of my favourite recommendations…well worth a visit (for the hospitality, wines, location…erm, and the fish)!

Springfontein Chenel 2023 x 2! New grape unlocked

Springfontein Chenel 2023 x 2!

New grape unlocked: Chenel! I could tell you all about how it was developed in SA in 1974…but @springfonteinwine have already created a comprehensive website devoted to the grape variety 🙌🏾. I offered to pay…but Springfontein insisted on gifting these wines 🙏🏾. And when I couldn’t make it to the winery, Springfontein sent a hunk of limestone to bring their vineyard to me ❤️. I call them wine geeks…and they agree.

There isn’t nearly enough room to rave about both Springfontein and these wines…but know that Springfontein are our kind of wine peeps! I am utterly charmed by them and their wines:

Terroir Selection Chenel 2023: paler in colour, with an elegant mineral-led nose that speaks to the ocean breeze, Kalksteen (limestone) soils, and fynbos terroir; orchard blossoms, peaches, pears, seashell minerality and salinity, creamy nuttiness, and dark toffee. Lighter bodied, bright but friendly mediumish acidity…and a retronasal herbal tincture bitterness that had me grinning in delight! Think Albariño meets Vinho Verde clean, sherbety, pretty fruits.

Daredevil’s Drums Juices Untamed Intracellular Fermented Chenel 2023: a mouthful in both name and flavour! Hazy medium gold wafting pronounced incense, spices, ripe oranges, apples, dried citrus peel & mango, kombu and cidery yeast. Dry, with a similar mediumish acidity, fuller bodied, and a lengthier finish. The pear returns as textural fine pear juice-like tannins, and salinity more akin to iodine than sea salt.

You’d think that the more complex, intense and textured Daredevil’s Drums with its unbelievably cool label would be my fave. Yet it’s the clean and mineral Terroir Selection that I can’t stop thinking about. The answer is you want both!

Just to prove that @springfonteinwine are our wine peeps, here’s a quote from their chenel.co.za website: “If Pinotage became the celebrated voice of South African wine identity, Chenel remained its quieter counterpart — South Africa’s other original, shaped by the same spirit of innovation, adaptation, and local ambition.” Springfontein are proving that Chenel is far from just a ‘bulk wine’ variety.

The Township Winery Argument Corner Field Blend 20

The Township Winery Argument Corner Field Blend 2021

You should skip to the last paragraph: the reason why I purchased this wine.

Deep and dark and no, my glass isn’t thaaat dirty 🤣, it is hazy. Pronounced blackberries and dark plums, red plums and red cherries pace a myriad of savoury oriental and sweet baking spices conjoined by medicinal eucalyptus...cradled by a gently creased leather and soy sauce patina . It smells heavenly!

Vibrant acidity lifts the full body, integrated finely grained yet present tannins graze your gums, and heat close the chapter on a modest finish. Prunes, dried figs, cola, cedar and join the fresh fruits and spices - the soy and leather transform into sweet teriyaki sauce. It’s an easy big ripe red crowd pleaser that outlines its plot line and delivers its story.

But it’s as though the story has been edited into an easy holiday read...it’s sufficiently balanced but also a little uneasy...especially when you consider how advanced this feels for 2021. Until you remember that this is a field blend of Shiraz, Cab and Merlot: harvested together, crushed together, fermented together.! Yeah, it makes sense that there’s a bit of a precarious, wiggly self balancing adventure that’s constantly in motion...it’s hard to quite put your finger on what’s different, and rather exciting because of this. I like it.

The Township Winery is an empowerment project that aims to bring vineyard ownership to residents through school-owned premium vineyards. The proceeds support tertiary education for a child in need - and it’s the tertiary education that caught my eye. There is plenty of funding for cute kids...they’re adorable, how could you not? Then they grow up and the funding dwindles. Just as you’ve raised a capable and enthusiastic fisherperson, you take away their rods, their lines, their hooks before they’re able to fully secured their erm fishing potential. I’m getting lost in this fishy tale 🤣. In this world, there are fewer opportunities for those without tertiary education. And thus the cute kid funding cycle continues. The Township Winery sees this opportunity to give youths the best chance of changing SA’s future. Happy SA Youth Day.

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