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.