The Drift Farm Moveable Feast 2015
I first tasted this wine at last year's Constantia Fresh wine event.
It was the middle of summer. The wine was unchilled and almost cloying in the heat...but I knew I wanted to taste this again. Almost a year to the day, I’m finally tasting it again. It's still in the heart of summer, but this time with the added sensibility of refrigeration!
The Wine:
Deep ruby with a pronounced nose of plums, black pepper and smoke . And at this moment I immediately exclaimed: ‘Syrah and Malbec’. Cloves, red tart cherries, orange peel, dried fruits like raisins, prunes and figs. Coffee, tobacco, chocolate, vanilla and licorice. Earth...damp mulchy bark, violets, eucalyptus leaves. I decided to check the label at this point because these descriptors were getting out of hand and I was confused.
It turns out that this is a blend of Malbec, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Touriga Nacional AND Tannat. No wonder I was so intrigued the first time around. I’m such a fan of these ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ blends.
Dry, medium tannins that are surprisingly smooth, medium+ acidity, full bodied...but not as unctuous as you’d think. There’s something thin about this wine that I’d also noticed the first time. All ending in a medium finish that leaves you with lingering spice, coffee and smoke more so than fruit. This is tasty...and if I weren’t concentrating, I’d call this a very good wine. I definitely had some fun trying to assign characteristics to each grape in the blend.
Viti + Vini:
As mentioned, this contains Malbec, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Touriga Nacional and Tannat. Some of the grapes were co-fermented, but which ones exactly remains a secret.
The juice was wild fermented in open top fermentors with between 15% and 100% whole bunches.
The wine was matured in 225L barrels, of which 10% were new barrels) for between 18 months and 24 months.
Conclusion:
Balance (1) + Length (0) + Intensity (1) + Complexity (1) = A good wine.
Can be drunk now, but suitable for further ageing. As much as I'm curious about how all of these flavours and aromas would evolve, I don't believe there'll be much improvement to this wine,
Final Thoughts:
During my research I realised a price discrepancy between the producer and the store where I purchased it. I realised that cost really is a factor for me when it comes to readily opening a bottle of wine. If I'd realised that the wine wasn't actually priced at over the R300 mark, I would definitely opened this bottle sooner. So if you're interested, definitely order this directly from the producer.
Tasted on a leaf and fruit day according to the biodynamic calendar for the SH.
