Wine thread
- Thread starter PaarlBok
- Start date
Her Majesty made some chicken satays tonight for the BBQ which we enjoyed with a 2008 Zevenwacht Gewurztraminer. Lovely wine, so subtle and elegant. This was one of the Saffer wines chosen by Michael Fridjhon for the TriNations Wine Challenge. I've got a NZ traminer in my portfolio and I must confess I thoroughly enjoy one with the appropriate food, spicy without heat. Chuck Hahn advised me years the only thing to put out the heat of chillies or a curry is beer, naturally! And he's right. But tonight's fare had no heat but a delicate satay sauce which went beautifully with the Stellenbosch wine.
Zevenwacht, close to you, PB?
Zevenwacht, close to you, PB?
PaarlBok
Rod McCall (65)
Lind not to far, its between Stellenbosch & Kuils River. Kuils River is on the opposite side of Stellenbosch and one of the northern suburbs of Slaapstad. I asttend my Boets daughters wedding on the Estate. Nice place.
Here is their site
http://www.zevenwacht.co.za/
Here is their site
http://www.zevenwacht.co.za/
Have you got some, Cutter?
Hunter Cab Sauv is very rare due to the fact CS is basically a cool climate variety while the Hunter is a warm grape-growing area. There's very little (if any) riesling or pinot noir grown in the Hunter for the same reason. Sauv Blanc is also a cool climate variety but as it's so popular (middle-aged women in Australia simply guzzle it like water!) grape growers try and grow it everywhere.
I haven't tasted Margan CS but I will say Margan have an excellent name overall, their Semillons and Shirazes are simply outstanding. I had a squiz at their website before composing this reply and note they grow all the grapes going into their bottles, always a good sign for a winery looking to control its quality. In my experience the best Cab Sauvs in New South Wales come from Mudgee, Orange, Bathurst (rare but always very good), Hilltops, Canberra and Gundagai wine regions, areas all considerably cooler than the Hunter.
Hunter Cab Sauv is very rare due to the fact CS is basically a cool climate variety while the Hunter is a warm grape-growing area. There's very little (if any) riesling or pinot noir grown in the Hunter for the same reason. Sauv Blanc is also a cool climate variety but as it's so popular (middle-aged women in Australia simply guzzle it like water!) grape growers try and grow it everywhere.
I haven't tasted Margan CS but I will say Margan have an excellent name overall, their Semillons and Shirazes are simply outstanding. I had a squiz at their website before composing this reply and note they grow all the grapes going into their bottles, always a good sign for a winery looking to control its quality. In my experience the best Cab Sauvs in New South Wales come from Mudgee, Orange, Bathurst (rare but always very good), Hilltops, Canberra and Gundagai wine regions, areas all considerably cooler than the Hunter.
Cutter
Nicholas Shehadie (39)
I don't have any, but someone asked me about it the other day. I said I didnt know about 2006 but I knew someone who might. All the Margan wines I've tasted have been very good. They also grow some vines near Coonabarabran which has more acidic soils.
Thanks, as always, for the knowledgeable reply.
Thanks, as always, for the knowledgeable reply.
Thomond78
Colin Windon (37)
Right, so, reporting on some of the wine over Christmas and the New Year...
2003 Stony Brook Cab Sauv (SA). Franschoek. Tannins smoothed out with age, delicious. Barbecued steak, and the bit of smoke and eucalyptus you get from anything grown on that mountain (either side of it) went with it to perfection. Loved it, right at its peak, and it was a glorious end for them.
2003 Clos Malverne Auret Cab Sauv/Pinotage (SA). Two bottles on different nights. Second one better than the first. Still had Pinotage fruit and a bit of spice in it, nicely balanced with the lingering tannins and the cassis from the Cab Sauv. One of my favourite wines, but these were my last two, and, to be honest, the first had gone over the hill. The second was just still at the peak, and, with slow-cooked lamb shanks, they can now be consigned to very, very happy memories.
2008 Delheim Chardonnay Sur Lie (SA). Bloody marvellous wine. Like a really, really, really good white Burgundy at about a third of the price. Had it with the turkey, as it happens, and it was superb, set it off to perfection. Next time I go back, I'm getting a half-case.
2002 Annandale Cabernet Sauvignon (SA). Made, and signed, by Hempies du Toit the former Springbok. He ages it for four years in the barrel before bottling it.
Glorious wine. Very Spanish style, due to the extra age, and you could easily mistake it for a Rioja. Nicely oaky, but not too much, just enough tannin left, but very soft, lots and lots and lots of fruit. Had it with a really good rib-eye steak; superb. He'll be releasing the 2003 soon, and I am with child to taste it.
2003 D'Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier (Aus). Superb wine, but sweet Jesus, it's heavy. Dense, dense flavour; perfectly balanced, stewed fruit, spice (especially cloves and cinnamon), small bit of pepper, layered up like an Italian wedding cake. But you could damn near chew it. Drank it sloooooooowly over three days, and it was still good. It was a truly amazing wine, but I'm getting too bloody old for something that powerful. :huxley
2007 Tempus Two Pewter Range Merlot (Aus). Now, I'm not usually a huge fan of single varietal merlot, but this could change your mind. Soft, easy, stewed plums, tiny hint of mint (which I like in a merlot). A wine which you justifiably could call luscious, and a perfect wine for freezing cold weather in front of the fire with a lamb and red wine casserole. Which was how we had it. I'd definitely drink it again.
1998 Vincent Sancrit Bordeaux (Frog). 80% Merlot, 20% Cab Sauv. Left it open for an hour and a half, and it was marvellous. Everything a Bordeaux should be. Kept on opening up over three hours, with new aspects the whole time; fascinating in and of itself. It wasn't a top-range Bordeaux, but seeing what a bit over a decade could do for it, I have to admit to a renewed interest in seeing if I can pick off some bargains from places like Bergerac and Fronton.
2007 Fleurie (Frog). Why don't I drink more of this? Lovely, light, easy wine; a real second-bottle special, but light enough that you could. Yum.
2004 Paul Cluver Late Harvest Riesling (SA). Botrytised. Absolutely magnificent; honey, apples and apricots and a finish that went on like a Dingo Deans press conference. The sort of thing that makes you realise just how good an idea dessert wines can be. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.
2003 Stony Brook Cab Sauv (SA). Franschoek. Tannins smoothed out with age, delicious. Barbecued steak, and the bit of smoke and eucalyptus you get from anything grown on that mountain (either side of it) went with it to perfection. Loved it, right at its peak, and it was a glorious end for them.
2003 Clos Malverne Auret Cab Sauv/Pinotage (SA). Two bottles on different nights. Second one better than the first. Still had Pinotage fruit and a bit of spice in it, nicely balanced with the lingering tannins and the cassis from the Cab Sauv. One of my favourite wines, but these were my last two, and, to be honest, the first had gone over the hill. The second was just still at the peak, and, with slow-cooked lamb shanks, they can now be consigned to very, very happy memories.
2008 Delheim Chardonnay Sur Lie (SA). Bloody marvellous wine. Like a really, really, really good white Burgundy at about a third of the price. Had it with the turkey, as it happens, and it was superb, set it off to perfection. Next time I go back, I'm getting a half-case.
2002 Annandale Cabernet Sauvignon (SA). Made, and signed, by Hempies du Toit the former Springbok. He ages it for four years in the barrel before bottling it.
Glorious wine. Very Spanish style, due to the extra age, and you could easily mistake it for a Rioja. Nicely oaky, but not too much, just enough tannin left, but very soft, lots and lots and lots of fruit. Had it with a really good rib-eye steak; superb. He'll be releasing the 2003 soon, and I am with child to taste it.2003 D'Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier (Aus). Superb wine, but sweet Jesus, it's heavy. Dense, dense flavour; perfectly balanced, stewed fruit, spice (especially cloves and cinnamon), small bit of pepper, layered up like an Italian wedding cake. But you could damn near chew it. Drank it sloooooooowly over three days, and it was still good. It was a truly amazing wine, but I'm getting too bloody old for something that powerful. :huxley
2007 Tempus Two Pewter Range Merlot (Aus). Now, I'm not usually a huge fan of single varietal merlot, but this could change your mind. Soft, easy, stewed plums, tiny hint of mint (which I like in a merlot). A wine which you justifiably could call luscious, and a perfect wine for freezing cold weather in front of the fire with a lamb and red wine casserole. Which was how we had it. I'd definitely drink it again.
1998 Vincent Sancrit Bordeaux (Frog). 80% Merlot, 20% Cab Sauv. Left it open for an hour and a half, and it was marvellous. Everything a Bordeaux should be. Kept on opening up over three hours, with new aspects the whole time; fascinating in and of itself. It wasn't a top-range Bordeaux, but seeing what a bit over a decade could do for it, I have to admit to a renewed interest in seeing if I can pick off some bargains from places like Bergerac and Fronton.
2007 Fleurie (Frog). Why don't I drink more of this? Lovely, light, easy wine; a real second-bottle special, but light enough that you could. Yum.
2004 Paul Cluver Late Harvest Riesling (SA). Botrytised. Absolutely magnificent; honey, apples and apricots and a finish that went on like a Dingo Deans press conference. The sort of thing that makes you realise just how good an idea dessert wines can be. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.
Thomond78
Colin Windon (37)
Lindommer said:
Lawyer's memory, Lindommer. Enormously powerful and long-lasting for details, especially in the presence of drink. Utterly useless for useful short-term stuff like remembering where I put my keys fifteen seconds ago... :lmao:
BTW, there were also a 2007 Villa Maria Reserve Riesling (NZ) - very military medium, to be honest, and, for mine, too close to the excessively flinty style of the Kiwi SBs as I prefer proper, German-style riesling; a 2008 Astrolabe Sauvignon Blanc, which was fine, flinty, grassy, the usual what-it-says-on-the-tin Kiwi style that, to be frank, I'm getting bored to buggery with, as it's gone too far down the "let's see who can make the wine that's most like sucking on a limestone pebble wrapped in grass" road; a 2007 Martin Codax Albarino (Spain), which was very pleasant, and very well balanced between the minerality and some (apple?) fruit, albeit I reckon a bit too pricy for what you were getting, Martin Codax having to some extent a recognisability factor that it allows them to charge a bit more; and a delightful 2008 Gruner Veltliner (Austria) with our office Christmas lunch, which was like a slightly fruitier Loire SB, very well balanced, and dangerously moreish. Don't remember the name, alas.
However, a real highlight was this - http://www.obrienswine.ie/Chateau-Gourgazaud-Viognier/09WFRA032/ 2008 Chateau Gourgazaud (Frog).- an absolutely glorious viognier, all honeyed apricots and lemons. I realise that's something I keep mentioning in wines I like; well, I love those tastes, so if it has it, I'll notice it straight off. And drink happily. Amazingly long finish, too.
Key thing is, it's delivered to Ireland by sail by these guys - www.fairwindwine.com.
As someone who read, and loved, Eric Newby's The Last Grain Race, I love this idea beyond measure. It makes absolute sense, as wine is heavy, pretty imperishable in transport and doesn't need to be rushed here. I'd definitely reckon it's commercially doable from the Cape to here, as the wind and current systems mean you could fill up on whiskey here, French and Spanish wine in, say, Nantes or Brest, La Coruna and/or Bordeaux, top up with some port in Lisbon and Madeira (m'dear...) on the way, do a delivery to the Canaries and keep on going Kaap toe. All carbon-neutral, and relatively quick.
PaarlBok
Rod McCall (65)
Thomo , Eon(my oldest son) who was a barman a few months in London UK tells me the Europian wine is horse shite.
No cork prop and taste like vinegar. He took a few bottles Roodeberg up yesterday, so his pelle can taste real wine from our valley. Must say the etter drank in 4 days my fridge to a stand still coming from minus 5 in the UK to Paarls 43 degrees. Had a pool party on wednesday night with his mates and Oom PB filled vrekken two black bags of empties lying around the pool.
Hell he learned really to suip over there and me and the Mrs are worried. He told me the Poms suip from morning 9 till late, living in the bars up north.
No cork prop and taste like vinegar. He took a few bottles Roodeberg up yesterday, so his pelle can taste real wine from our valley. Must say the etter drank in 4 days my fridge to a stand still coming from minus 5 in the UK to Paarls 43 degrees. Had a pool party on wednesday night with his mates and Oom PB filled vrekken two black bags of empties lying around the pool.
Hell he learned really to suip over there and me and the Mrs are worried. He told me the Poms suip from morning 9 till late, living in the bars up north.
Thomond78
Colin Windon (37)
PaarlBok said:
The stuff you'd get in London bars is frequently rubbish, Oom. They buy cheap, go for the mark-up, leave it open for days and don't keep it properly, so it does go to crap. Tell him he should pop into El Vinos on Fleet Street; great place, pure lawyer pub and has been for over two centuries, with excellent wine. The original of Pommeroys in the Rumpole stories, as it happens.
PaarlBok
Rod McCall (65)
Bottle of Merlot
A man asked a waiter to take a bottle of Merlot to an unusually attractive woman sitting alone at a table in a cozy little restaurant.
So the waiter took the Merlot to the woman and said, 'This is from the gentleman who is seated over there,' and indicated the sender with a nod of his head.
She stared at the wine coolly for a few seconds, not looking at the man, then decided to send a reply to him by a note.
The waiter, who was lingering nearby for a response, took the note from her and conveyed it to the gentleman.
The note read: 'For me to accept this bottle, you need to have a Mercedes in your garage, a million dollars in the bank and '7' inches in your pants'.
After reading the note, the man decided to compose one of his own in return. He folded the note, handed it to the waiter and instructed him to deliver it to the lady.
It read:
'Just to let you know things aren't always what they appear to be: I have a Ferrari Maranello, BMW Z8, Mercedes CL600, and a Porsche Turbo in my several garages; I have beautiful homes in Aspen and Miami , and a 10,000 acre ranch in Louisiana .. There is over twenty million dollars in my bank account and portfolio. But, not even for a woman as beautiful as you, would I cut off three inches. Just send the wine back....
Tiger
A man asked a waiter to take a bottle of Merlot to an unusually attractive woman sitting alone at a table in a cozy little restaurant.
So the waiter took the Merlot to the woman and said, 'This is from the gentleman who is seated over there,' and indicated the sender with a nod of his head.
She stared at the wine coolly for a few seconds, not looking at the man, then decided to send a reply to him by a note.
The waiter, who was lingering nearby for a response, took the note from her and conveyed it to the gentleman.
The note read: 'For me to accept this bottle, you need to have a Mercedes in your garage, a million dollars in the bank and '7' inches in your pants'.
After reading the note, the man decided to compose one of his own in return. He folded the note, handed it to the waiter and instructed him to deliver it to the lady.
It read:
'Just to let you know things aren't always what they appear to be: I have a Ferrari Maranello, BMW Z8, Mercedes CL600, and a Porsche Turbo in my several garages; I have beautiful homes in Aspen and Miami , and a 10,000 acre ranch in Louisiana .. There is over twenty million dollars in my bank account and portfolio. But, not even for a woman as beautiful as you, would I cut off three inches. Just send the wine back....
Tiger
Scotty
David Codey (61)
A client gave me a bottle of Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz (07) the other day, to say thanks for helping him out. I have been to Brokenwood and remember they are pretty good, and their Graveyard is their top line, so thanks very much.
Then had a look at the price online and the thing is worth 130 bucks. Didn't know it was that expensive!
Is 07 a particularly good year for Hunter Shiraz or are all Graveyards around this price? I guess that was drought time?
Then had a look at the price online and the thing is worth 130 bucks. Didn't know it was that expensive!
Is 07 a particularly good year for Hunter Shiraz or are all Graveyards around this price? I guess that was drought time?
Thomond78
Colin Windon (37)
PaarlBok said:4 Ages of a man in Wine Boer language
20-35 Years: Meerlust
35-50 Years: Kanonkop
50-60 Years: Rust en Vrede
60-70 Years: Allesverloren
I like. I like a lot. Especially the increase in price but decline in quality in your fifties.
Speaking as a perfectly balanced Paul Sauer, myself...