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Rhone ranging at Fairview plus lunch at Spice Route’s new Paarl cellar door
Yesterday I arrived in the Cape and, on this my fourth visit, made a long overdue visit to Fairview in Paarl, which is owned by Charles Back. The popular cellar door/restaurant (pictured), which also stocks estate cheeses and olive oil, attracts visitors by the coachload. Its high profile is in no small part down to cheekily monikored Goats du Roam brand, which put Fairview [...]
Continue reading...November Wines of the Month: two top Autumnal Cape wines, each under a tenner
Posted Wednesday 2nd November 2011
They say that dogs reflect their owners. If my ebullient November Wines of the Month, both extreme good value, are anything to go by, I reckon the same is true of wine! Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap White 2010 At last, Marc Kent has succumbed to the virtues of Chenin Blanc, which comprises 19% of this [...]
Continue reading...Superb South African Syrah: Julien Schaal
Posted Wednesday 26th October 2011
In the third post reporting on my highlights of Wines of South Africa’s Cape Wine Europe trade tasting, I’m focusing on Julien Schaal whose winning way with Chardonnay came to my attention last year (click here for details). Alsace-born Schaal was at the tasting so it was great to meet him and discover more strings [...]
Continue reading...Standout Chenin Blanc: The Winery of Good Hope & Land of Hope, South Africa
Posted Monday 24th October 2011
I wrote up highlights from themed tables at Wines of South Africa’s Cape Wine Europe trade tasting here last week. At the Chenin Blanc table, The Winery of Good Hope’s Radford Dale Renaissance Chenin Blanc 2010 was my pick of the bunch. It’s not the only great Chenin The Winery of Good Hope (TWGH) make – I [...]
Continue reading...Wines of South Africa Cape Wine Europe 2011 – themed table highlights
Posted Wednesday 19th October 2011
Last week Wines of South Africa’s trade tasting Cape Wine Europe hit town for two days. A good opportunity for me to gear up for next month’s trip. Below, you’ll find my highlights from a trio of themed tables, focused on Platter 5 star wines, a Cape Winemakers Guild selection and Chenin Blanc. First, a spot of [...]
Continue reading...October Wines of the Month: Reyneke Organic Chenin/Chardonnay/Sauvignon 2010 & Torbreck The Woodcutter’s Shiraz 2009
Posted Tuesday 4th October 2011
September is an intensive month in the London tasting calendar so it’s no easy task to single out my October Wines of the Month, but here they are: Reyneke Organic Chenin/Chardonnay/Sauvignon 2010 (WO Coastal) South Africa’s white Chenin based blends excite me and the Reyneke – in its maiden release – is a worthy addition [...]
Continue reading...Heads up on a couple of South African Decanter World Wine Award winners on deal at Majestic
Posted Sunday 18th September 2011
From now until 31 October Majestic are offering 20% off when you buy any two South African wines. I couldn’t help but notice that their range includes Klein Constantia KC Cabernet Merlot 2008, a gold medal and regional trophy winner at Decanter World Wine Awards (best South African red Bordeaux varietal wine under £10 – see here) [...]
Continue reading...Back to school – a taste intensive week plus highlights from the Dirty Dozen tasting
Posted Friday 9th September 2011
Back to school this week after 2 weeks on hols. A bit like this photo, this week has passed by in a blur with the IWC and DWWA (pictured) awards dinners, plus two really excellent tastings with Liberty Wine (Premium Australia) & the Dirty Dozen. I’ll be reporting on the Liberty Wine tasting over the next [...]
Continue reading...Heads up: Great Western Wine summer sale – Kooyong, Quinta do Portal, Tokara & others
Posted Thursday 18th August 2011
Great Western Wine’s summer sale kicked off yesterday, offering savings of up to 50% (plus case discount) on a range of wines including some favourite names. My pick of the bunch is the Kooyong Estate Pinot Noir 2007 down from £23 to £15. Reductions on wines from Chalkers Crossing and Harewood Estate (also Australia), Tokara (South Africa) [...]
Continue reading...Is the west coast the best coast? Getting fired up with Swartland’s revolutionaries, next stop Olifants River?
Posted Friday 12th August 2011
I’ll be heading out to South Africa in November. Top of my list of things to do – indeed things that I’ll be doing – are the Swartland Revolution and International Chenin Blanc symposium. Chenin is a common thread. Old vine Chenin from the Paardeberg is the much sought after backbone of Swartland’s revolutionary white [...]
Continue reading...Waterkloof – “hands off nearly” wines on which I recommend you get your hands!
Posted Monday 1st August 2011
If there’s a wine style which, more often than not, tends towards the confected it’s rosés. So I’m always excited to find wines that cock a snook at the stereo type like Waterkloof Circumstance Cape Coral Mourvedre Rosé 2010 from Stellenbosch, South Africa. Fermented naturally over 13 weeks, it’s dry, delicate, subtly savoury and textured. With [...]
Continue reading...Wine detecting at New Scotland Yard: the Cape acquits itself rather well
Posted Friday 29th July 2011
I’d been looking forward to presenting last night’s tasting for the Comets, the Metropolitan police’s sports and social society. Focused on South Africa, if I say so myself, I’d selected a cracking line up which got a big thumbs up for its diversity, also for the common thread - freshness and texture, which greatly contributed to the balance and food friendliness of the [...]
Continue reading...South Africa: Tomorrow’s stars today; lots to like
Posted Tuesday 5th July 2011
Wines of South Africa’s Wine Workshop roadshow rolled into town last week on leg two of the European tour, next up, Asia and North America. I have to admit that the first of the four sessions entitled “Tomorrow Stars” remains firmly etched on my mind (and taste buds) – “Tomorrow Stars” have peaked early! With [...]
Continue reading...Waitrose: 25% off until midnight 28 June – my Margaret River hot tips & a couple of Cape favourites
Posted Saturday 25th June 2011
Yikes! I only found out yesterday that Waitrose are running their smash and grab 25% off wines and fizz deal again. By the time I looked at their website my “targets” were already out of stock. However, the good news is I picked up a dozen bottles of Margaret River beauts Moss Woods Amys 2009 and [...]
Continue reading...Two Cape icons: 10 years of Columella with Eben Sadie
Posted Thursday 16th June 2011
It was obvious even from the maiden 2000 vintage of Columella that here was an ambitious wine with a difference. Eben Sadie’s sensitively sculpted Rhone-style blend of Syrah with a dash of Mourvedre has put Swartland, its region of origin, on the map. And not without good reason. Looking back over a decade of Columella (reported in [...]
Continue reading...Pictures of the stairway to heaven a.k.a. Sadie Family Columella & Blandy’s Vintage Madeira verticals
Posted Saturday 11th June 2011
A memorable week just gone by with Tom Cannavan’s 50 Great Portuguese Wines (reported here) and two top flight verticals – Sadie Family Columella 2000-2009 and a vertical tasting of vintage Madeira in celebration of Blandy’s bicentennial year. I’ll be writing up both verticals soon as. Meantime, a few pictures to whet your appetite! 10 green [...]
Continue reading...Rustenberg John X Merriman vertical – a class act
Posted Tuesday 31st May 2011
Whenever Majestic and Waitrose discount this Cape classic you’ll read about it here because, even at full price, I reckon it’s one of the most polished Bordeaux blends you can buy from anywhere at a little over a tenner. And great to have that affirmed by a vertical tasting a couple of week’s ago – [...]
Continue reading...Laithwaites’ discount, experts’ choice & the heads up on a posy of rosés
Posted Friday 20th May 2011
Until 9pm today, you can enjoy up to 20% off online purchases at Laithwaites. I’ve previously recommended the extremely classy Passa Pequena 2008 (see here) made by Jorge Borges of Passadouro, which is a steal. Here are some more tips based on a tasting in January when I participated in the selection of Laithwaites “Experts’ Choice,” which has just [...]
Continue reading...LIWF day 2: elegant, pure fruited Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon & a vertical of Rustenberg John X Merriman
Posted Thursday 19th May 2011
At yesterday’s London Wine Fair I started as I meant to go on, with a Cabernet kick in the delightful form of a vertical of Stellenbosch producer Rustenberg’s flagship John X Merriman (2008, 05, 04, 03, 01 & 99). Sometimes Cabernet-led, sometimes Merlot-led with a smattering of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and, just in the 2008 [...]
Continue reading...South African Sauvignon Blanc & Semillon: flying high whether going solo or blended
Posted Monday 11th April 2011
Naming your wine after what’s been called “the greatest constitutional document of all times,” speaks of ambition. And why not. Plantings of Steenberg Magna Carta’s principal ingredient, Sauvignon Blanc, have steadily risen over the last decade and South Africa is my go to place in the New World for Sauvignon Blanc. It also produces some top notch Sauvignon/Semillon blends. [...]
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Posted Wednesday 9th November 2011
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