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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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Pinotage - What's The Grape

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What a treat to attend the Caroline’s Red Wine Rev

What a treat to attend the Caroline’s Red Wine Review last Thursday. With so many excellent SA reds, I needed a selective game plan. You’ll be happy to know that my tannin training worked…I found a personal chaperone with excellent tasting skills - aka a darling friend - who guided me through so many more of the Bordeaux grapes than I expected to survive.

Standouts for me were the Kershaw GPS H&A, Oak Valley Tabula Rasa and Saurwein Om Pinot Noirs + Vilafonté Series C + Holden Manz Reserve Cab Franc + Lanzerac Pinotage.

Best new finds were the Bellevue Reserve Pinotage and the Winshaw Charles Winshaw BDX blend. I cannot wait to pick these up and spend more time with them.

Wine of the night was the Keermont Topside Syrah - always soooo good with its lavender vibes.

Aside from sipping wine in the empty stadium seats with lovely friends, my favourite moment was seeing Noni who is now at Hartenberg! Love this lady…such a talent!

Elena Walch Lagrein 2019 If you could only see be

Elena Walch Lagrein 2019

If you could only see beyond the confines of this square right now. Scribbled notes, reference print outs, tech sheets, multiple pens coz I keep losing them…multiple corkscrews coz I keep losing them…multiple glasses coz I’m deep into a tasting!

Speaking of deep…the depth of colour to Lagrein! Profound aromas of savoury Asian spices, soy sauce and dried shiitake mushrooms, tomato leaf, blackberries, black cherries, sweet star anise...this wine is decidedly savoury/sweet spice forward.

Full bodied with moreish high acidity, medium smooth ripe tannins, medium alcohol, and a long finish. Slinky salinity, blueberries, black plums, some meaty iron notes, and bitter cacao on the finish. One liner: big and rich dark plums poached in star anise laced with soy sauce...but also blueberry and earthy...and the acid goes a long way towards refreshing this. The bitter cacao is the only thing that takes you away from the wine initially...but you don’t notice it by the 3rd sip.

Tasting the Pinot Nero a few years ago is still one of my proudest blind tasting moments. Calling Pinot Noir at an Italian tasting in Cape Town…what were the chances!

Also…you may have noticed I’m on a red roll…very unusual for me. Why? Because I’ll be at the Caroline’s Red Wine Review on Thursday thanks to my beautiful friend @myboozykitchen . And I really need to build up my tannin tolerance 🤣. But seriously, if you’re in Cape Town, I hope I’ll see you there.

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)!

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