14 July 2009

OFF-DRY WHITE; 2007 Houghtons; Late Picked Verdelho (Swan, Western Australia) RM70
Pleasantly sweet, simple fruit driven wine with delicate, balanced sweet and citrus flavours. Lady pleaser.

2006 Morande; Carmenere Reserva (Maipo Valley, Chile) RM75
Mocha notes dominate its berry scented nose. Attractive, but unfortunately does not indicate what you get on the palate which is somewhat tannic and lacking in fruit

2001 Isole e Olena; Chianti Classico (Tuscany, Italy) RM195
8 years old and peaked for drinking. Well structured with adequate fruit. A winner with food but should have been broached earlier if to be consumed without food.

2000 Rust en Vrede; Estate (Stellenbosch, S.Africa) not commercially available
Cabernet Sauvignon, shiraz & merlot in a bold and beautiful South African style. Powerful, but no overwhelming. Complex with good length and balance.

13 July 2009

95 Castelli Martinozzi Brunello di Montalcino (Italy -Tuscany) Not Commercially Available
14 years old!! Lovely secondary notes precede a well structured palate with still enough fruit to keep most of us happy. Kudos to the 80 year old wine maker.

2005 Domaine Lucien Barrot et Fils Chateauneuf-du-Pape (France -Rhone) RM108 -half bottle
A beautifuuly textured wine with good complexity slowly revealing its fruit in the glass

SPARKLING WINE, ROSE: NV(non vintage) Marguet Champagne Grand Rose Brut (Champagne, France) R385 (RM169)
-fine and persistent mousse (bubbles) initially easily overflowing glass. sweet apple notes & other complex stuff on nose that follows into palate make this an outstanding champagne, easily enjoyed by all but wine snobs (a class of people who only drink expensive wines because they think they are better but usually cant tell the difference if their lives depended on it).
5 YUMMMYs.

2004 Danie de Wet Naissance Cabernet Sauvignon (Robertson, S.Africa) R70 (RM31)
-the chardonnay master making serious reds? had to taste this!!
-drinking juicily straight out of the glass, this wine quickly evolves into a deep and classy cabernet sauvignon, brooding its way through my palate. Good complexity with some layering of flavours. Decent length ,judiciuous use of oak. mmmmmmmmmm.......

2006 Laborie Merlot (S.Africa) R60 (RM26)
-a more astringent style of merlot, I'd probably drink this only with food.

4 July 2009

2004 Vriesenhof Euthopio (S.Africa) R65 (RM28.6)
-Interesting, aromatic banana essence component in nose. A medium bodied fruit driven wine, a definite crowd pleaser and with some complexity. Pinotage with some merlot, shiraz and cabernet franc.

2006 Raka Figurehead (S.Africa) R90 (RM40)
-Initially closed an short. Then some stink on the nose (brett.?). Then it blooms with fruit bursting forth with serious intensity and good length. Nice restraint on pinotage component. I liked the striptease. Drink slowly or keep 5 years. Blend comprising pinotage and all 5 bordeaux varietals.

2007 Reyneke ('raynecker') Cornerstone R87 (RM38)
-organic wine (no artificial fertilisers or pesticides except copper sulphate and usually lower sulfur content)
- plater(popular S.African wine handbook) 4star red blend comprising cabernet sauvignon, merlot & shiraz
-delightful expression of fruit (plum & cherries) from this richly textured, serious organic wine (many of the organic wines I have tasted to-date, tasted organic (for lack of a better usable word). Drink now or keep for up to 6 years. Good with food or on its own.

2003 De Toren Diversity Delta R40 (RM17.60 cough, ...cough ... stumbled on a good find here -must go buy remaining bottles)
-initial bottle stink of this 6 year old wine gave way to a well made red wine that went great with steak (yummm....). Good fruit, balanced, decent length -probably made from fruit harvested from young vines before they come of age and are used for the world class 'Fusion V". merlot 26%, cab.sauv.24%, cabernet franc 19% petit verdot 18% and malbec 13% alcohol 13.5% (if you have the time, and the mind, add them up and see if it makes 100%)

2006 Rhebokskloof Syrah (S.Africa, Paarl) around R130 (RM57 -this wine supplied by Du Toit Hoffman from the vineyard) -Initially restrained, this wine evolves in the glass to a long, almost intense, elegant wine with plum notes dominating and hints of vanilla masking the 14.5% alcohol content. Could have had more complexity or layering of flavours but a decent drop for the money and went well with the lamb cutlets we had at dinner.