Cape Town Wine

Posts Tagged ‘South African’

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011

The Pepper Pot

We took a dip and ordered The Pepper Pot from Edgebaston off a restaurant menu. When we

The Pepper Pot

noted from the description that this was one of David Finlayson’s creations we knew we were in for a treat.

The Finlaysons had been a huge influence on the South African wine industry for three generations since Dr Maurice Finlayson, a pathologist from Inverness, Scotland, started a wine business at Hartenberg, Stellenbosch. His son Walter started and built up Glen Carlou in Paarl. He was soon joined by his son David and in time Glen Carlou was sold to the Hess Family Estates and the Finlaysons have since been crafting accoladed wines on Edgebaston family farm.

This unusual blend Syrah 46%, Mourvedre 46 % and Tannat 8% is brash, bold, in your face and a great boerewors wine. The coriander and allspice in this traditional South African sausage enhance the white pepper flavour in the wine. On its own The Pepper Pot has a surprisingly dominant blueberry flavour and is very smooth.

My rating of this wine is 15/20 – a good quality, well made wine.

The Pepper Pot has a screwcap.

Alcohol 14.5

Tags: boerewors, David Finlayson, Dr Maurice Finlayson, Edgebaston, Glen Carlou, Hartenberg, Hess Family Estates, Inverness, Mourvedre, pathologist, pepper, pot, Scotland, shiraz, South African, Tannat, Walter Finlayson

Posted in The Daily Tipple | 1 Comment »

Friday, May 27th, 2011

Fat Bastard Chardonnay 2010

Don’t you just love Thierry and Guy’s hippo? This turned out to be a wine with an appealing label which followed through to the bottle contents. Like the hippo, they please with mouth-filling fatness.

Beautifully crisp with distinct lime and vanilla flavours to begin with, it stays on the palate for the longest time. South African Winemaker Francois Welch added quercus fragmentus, which I discovered are oak bits, during fermentation, and that gives the wine a butter fragrance.

Fat Bastard Chardonnay 2010

The Fat Bastard brand was begun by winemaker Thierry and Guy Anderson in Languedoc-Roussillon with a tiny production but today the Chardonnay, Shiraz, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc wines are enjoyed on both sides of the pond and happily, at the bottom of Africa too. In South Africa the brand custodian is Robertson Winery which produces Fat Bastard Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Shiraz.

I found that it paired perfectly beautifully with itself but it also enhances gently flavoured risottos and pastas; salad starters which are dressed with mayonnaise; fresh oysters and simply cooked freshwater fish. In other words, dishes that can be overwhelmed by too much flavour in the glass.

Available at Pick and Pay, Constantia for R54.99 per bottle.

Also sold on Pick and Pay online shopping site.

My rating is 16/20 in other words a good quality, well made wine.

13.54% Alc0hol

RS 7.1

Ta 5.31

Ph 3.35

Serving temperature 8 – 10 degrees C

Tags: Africa, butter, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, Fat Bastard, fermentation, fish, Francois Welch, Guy, hippo, Languedoc-Roussillon, lime, mayonnaise, merlot, oak, oysters, pasta, Pinot Noir, quercus fragmenuts, risottos, Robertson, Robertson Winery, sauvignon blanc, shiraz, South African, Thierry, vanilla, wine

Posted in The Daily Tipple | 5 Comments »

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

At least the French can still make good wine

Postscript:

This beautiful wine is selling for only R59.95 per bottle at Woolworths Blue Route right now.

Allan Mullins does it again.

Chateau Les Traverses 2006

As a Cape Wine Master and the wine selector for the major South African retailer, Woolworths, he is able to offer a range of wines across all pricing points, from the easy-drinking to the complex and sophisticated special wines. Apart from the local wines available, Allan has procured international wines like Barolo classic Piedmont reds, Lambrusco Rosso Perle Wine, and Vignavecchia Chianti Classico from Tuscany, Cotes Du Rhone Red Wine, several from Bordeaux and wines from Portugal and Spain.

We were thrilled to pick up Chateau Les Traverses 2006 from the Medoc, Bordeaux for the extraordinary price of only R100.00 ($13) Most of the international wines in the range cost less than R100.00.

On the nose this wine did not make me think that it is old world in style at all and reminded me of some of the premium South African wines that we enjoy. Is this an indication of the high standard of Cape Town wines? There are leather and blackberry notes. On the palate the wine is dry to begin with but tastes of ripe plum after a bit. We found it be elegant and smooth.

If you are a lover of French wine but only have a South African budget, bust the bank and stock up while you can.

Tags: Allan Mullins, Bordeaux, Cape Town, Chateau Les Traverses 2006, French, Medoc, Portugal, South African, Spain, wine

Posted in The Daily Tipple | 3 Comments »