Cape Town Wine

September, 2009

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Win a wine result

Thanks to everyone who entered our competition!

Here is the other Pointer on the opposite entrance wall to the tasting room which Lisa Nicholls cleverly identified. On the Platter’s South African Wines 2010, Dunstone Shiraz 2008 is one of the 5 star wines!

Dunstone winery, Wellington, Western Cape

Toast your knowledge of the Cape winelands for a free bottle of Buitenverwachting Miefort (delivery included).

Where is this?

Clue: It’s not the Greyhound Bus Depot………..

Mystery winery

Drop your answer, name and email address into the comments field and we will contact the first person who supplies the correct answer and see that you get your wine.

Cheers and good luck!

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Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Steenberg Vineyards themed tasting

Unusual varieties were the focus of this week’s The Wierd Ones themed tasting at Steenberg Vineyards where the spotlight was on blended wines which include Verdelho, a white grape grown throughout Portugal but with a small planting in Botriver, Walker Bay; Roussanne, a Rhone white grape; Grenache noir, a Spanish red grape widely grown in Spain and France but with tiny plantings in South Africa; Clairette blanc, another French grape; Nebbiolo, a red grape from Piedmont, Italy and Carignan, a red grape not much respected in France but found in older, low-yielding vines in South Africa.

Adi Badenhorst, maverick winemaker extraordinaire, and more of a keeper of the lands than winemaker in the conventional sense, introduced a flight of mostly blended, complex, some intense, some aromatic, unusual wines some of which have a base of chenin blanc grown on vines which are older than 40 years.

Adi Badenhorst

Adi and cousin, Hein, make wine in a once neglected cellar last used 70 years ago, Kalmoesfontein, in the Siebritskloof part of the Paardeberg mountain between Malmesbury and Wellington in the Swartland wine district where they are converting the lands to becoming organic.

Speaking of his blends, Adi explains that 5 or 6 different bush vine varieties could be harvested from 8, 10 or 15 old vineyard sites to make the final product.

The greater the number of varieties in the blend, the more complex the wine will be.

Sceptical of much touted “barrel selection wines”, Adi makes the point that this shows more faith in the coopers than in the fruit, and also impatience in expecting the wine to show it’s potential so soon. This was borne out when tasting the delectable, elegant AA Badenhorst 2007 blend of chenin blanc, roussanne, grenache blanc and gris, verdelho, colombar, viognier, chardonnay, semillon and sauvignon blanc.

Another factor in favour of vineyard selection is that the older the vines are, the greater the root surface area they have to take elements from the earth.

Other wines tasted were:

Feiteiras – Verdelho 2008 from Botriver, Walker Bay.

Steenberg – Semillon 2007 (Semillon being the first grape to be planted in the Constantia Valley)

A. A. Badenhorst Family Wines

Orangerie – Blend 2009 of chenin blanc, semillon viognier, chardonnay.

Roundstone Estate 2008 – Chenin blanc and grenache blend showing wonderful clarity of fruit.

Sadie Family Wines Palladius 2008 – Blend of chenin blanc, grenache blanc, clairette blanc,viognier, chardonnay and roussanne. Platter South African Wines 2010, Wine of the Year.

Lammershoek Roulette Blanc 2007 – Chenin blanc, chardonnay, viognier.

AA Badenhorst 2007 – Roussanne, grenache blanc, clairette blanc, sauvignon blanc.

Steenberg Nebbiolo 2007 – Shows an increased cherry intensity with aging which can be as long as 30 years.

Annexkloof Malbec 2007 – Very intense, plummy, aromatic example.

Niepoort and Sadie Cape Charme 2008 – Carignan, Grenache, Tinta Barocca and Pinotage. Dirk Niepoort, 5th generation port producer from Douro, Portugal and Eben Sadie, award-winning Swartland winemaker.

Roundstone Shiraz 2008 – Small volume wine from shale soils.

Shiraz is the greatest red grape in the world. The Bordeauxlaise would love to put shiraz into their blends but they are only allowed to use malbec.

Orangerie 2009 – Shiraz, grenache, mouvedre.

Lammershoek Roulette 2006 – Shiraz, carignan, grenache, mouvedre, viognier.

AA Badenhorst 2006 – Shiraz, mouvedre, cinsaut.

Remember, they’re not wierd but they have been there for very long time and put together in interesting blends and styles, produce amazing textures.

There’s more to life than Bordeaux blends……..

Posted in Wine Tasting | 2 Comments »

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Michelangelo International Wine Awards

All the results of the Michelangelo International Wine Awards are here.

Michelangelo International Wine Awards Of South Africa

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Friday, September 18th, 2009

Heist of South African wines

As reported on Decanter.com, 30,000 pounds worth of South African wines have been stolen from the Wimbledon warehouse of SA Wines Online. Amongst those taken are Vergelegen V, a premium single vineyard cabernet sauvignon from Vergelegen estate; wines from Paul Cluver, including the pinot noir Seven Flags and Steenberg Vineyards‘ semillon/sauvignon blanc blend, Magna Carta.

Julia Holbrook, sales and marketing manager for South African Wines Online, told Decanter.com-

It was definitely planned quite carefully. They cut our telephone lines, waited for the call out and any activity as a result, and then broke in.

Holbrook believes that the thieves had a good knowledge of South African wines and knew exactly what they were looking for . Many of the most expensive wines in their range were stolen, around 3,000 bottles.

Sadly, many of these wines have sold out and are irreplaceable.

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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Most underpriced and underrated red

Schalk Burger & Sons Meerkat Burrow 2007

Schalk Burger & Sons Meerkat Burrow Blend 2007 gives off notes of prune and spice suggesting a measure of shiraz in the equation. The palate confirms this but slowly the dry ripe cabernet sauvignon finish follows. A medium-bodied, accessible wine which is a steal at only R39.99 from Pick & Pay, it could arguably be the most underrated wine the Platter Guide 2009 earning only 1.5 stars. Have the Masters of Wine drunk so many bold, complex, knock you over wines that they have forgotten to appreciate everyday, affordable, quality when it is right before them?

Burrow in and let us know what you think.

Tags: Schalk Burger and Sons

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Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Kaapzicht, Steytler Pinotage named Decanter Best Varietal Wine

Congrats to Kaapzicht, Steytler Pinotage 2006 for being named on the Decanter Regional Trophy list as the best red, South African, single varietal wine priced over 10 pounds and best international red, single varietal wine priced over 10 pounds.

The Decanter tasting notes read:

Voluptuous, heady nose with very precise, black fruits, plums, mocha and tar. Full-bodied and opulent in the mouth, ripe and supple, fine-grained tannins with plenty of spice to enliven the finish.

Tags: Decanter Wine Awards, Pinotage

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Friday, September 4th, 2009

Five star wines for Platter’s SA Wines 2010

Announcing the five-star rated wines for The Platter’s South African Wines 2010, publisher Andrew McDowell had this to say:

….There are several producers who featured more than once in the line-up this year: Boplaas Family Vineyards, Cape Point Vineyards, Distell – with five stars for wines from it’s Fleur du Cap and Nederburg brands, and Sadie Family Wines. In addition to it’s five-stars in the Sauvignon Blanc and Bordeaux-Style Red Blends categories, retail chain Woolworths notched up two further five-stars, giving a total of four.

Heartiest congratulations must go to the two wines that were voted Wine of the Year by the judges: Palladius from Sadie Family Wines, the Top White Wine of the Year, and the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005 from from Le Riche Wines, the Red Wine of the Year. Both Eben Sadie and Etienne le Riche are much admired, locally and abroad, for their commitment and passion, and we are delighted to recognise them and their teams in this manner.

White Wine of the Year

Sadie Family Palladius 2008

Red Wine of the Year

Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005

Sauvignon Blanc

Fleur du Cap Sauvignon Blanc Unfiltered 2009

Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

Lomond Pincushion Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Tokara Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Woolworths Cape Point Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Limited Release 2009

Cape Point Vineyards CWG Auction Reserve Barrel Fermented Sauvigonon Blanc 2008

White blends – Bordeaux style

Woolworths Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon Reserve 2009

Cape Point Vineyards Isliedh 2008

The Berrio Wines The Weathergirl 2008

Vergelegen White 2008

Chenin Blanc

Beaumont Hope Marguerite Chenin Blanc 2008

White blends

Nederburg Ingenuity White 2008

Rall 2008

Sadie Family Palladius 2008

Woolworths Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards Spectrum White Limited Release 2008

Chardonnay

Atraxia Chardonnay 2008

Chamonix Chardonnay Reserve 2008

Paul Cluver Chardonnay 2008

Pinot Noir

Newton Johnson Domaine Pinot Noir 2008

Eben Sadie of Sadie Family Wines

Catherine Marshall Pinot Noir 2008

Grenache

Neil Ellis Vineyard Selection Grenache 2007

Pinotage

Beyerskloof Diesel Pinotage 2007

Red blends

Sadie Family Columella 2007

Spier Frans K. Smit 2005

Shiraz

Dunstone Shiraz 2008

Haskell Vineyards Pillars Shiraz 2007

Rustenberg Stellenbosch Syrah

Saxenburg Shiraz Select Limited Release 2005

Red blends – Bordeaux style

De Trafford CWG Auction Reserve Perspective 2008

Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2006

Morgenster Estate Morgenster 2006

Stony Brook Ghost Gum 2006

Woolworths Jordan Cobblers Hill Classic 2005

Cabernet Sauvignon

Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Cape Point Vineyards

Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005

Port

Boplaas Vintage Reserve Port 2007

De Krans Cape Tawny Port NV

Boplaas Family Vineyards Cape Tawny Port 1997

Unfortified dessert wine

Buitenverwachting 1769 2007

Fleur du Cap Noble Late Harvest 2008

Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Noble Late Harvest 2008

Mullineux Family Straw Wine 2008

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Friday, September 4th, 2009

Winex wine festival

Once again, Rand Merchant Bank, presents over 1,000 wines from 150 exhibitors at the Cape Town International Convention Center from 9 Sept – 11 Sept 2009, from 17h00 – 21h00.

Excellent prices offered on wines purchased at the show.

Bookings made through Computicket.

Multiple night passes available.

Early bird bookings discounted by up to 20% for bookings made until 6 September.

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