Water into Wino

Warwick First Lady 2008

Warwick The First Lady 2008
Western Cape, South Africa ($15)

There are a few producers in South Africa I have come to appreciate enough that I will pretty much buy anything they put their name on. Rustenberg is one. Rust En Vrede, and Warwick are two more. Among these producers Warwick is pretty much the easiest one I can find in the Buffalo area and I assume that goes for other small markets in the US.

This bottle of Warwick First Lady 2008 is available at Premium Wines & Spirits for about $15. Having had the delicious Three Cape Ladies Blend from Warwick, I was more than eager to give this 97% Cabernet Sauvignon with 3% Petit Verdot wine a go. I have to admit that I generally stay away from Cabernet Sauvignon unless it’s from cooler climates but I figured this one would have enough character to keep my attention.

This nicely extracted Cab showed juicy aromas of black currant, blackberry and other sweet black fruits with layers of smoke and charcoal. I also picked up some savory cured meat notes, which I am always a fan of. The palate was generously smooth with delicate tannins allowing just enough grip to be noticeable.

Overall it was a very easy going Cabernet Sauvignon. The smoke and meat aromas gave it its distinctive South African personality, which was definitely what I was hoping for with this purchase. Next time you’re looking a mid priced Cabernet I’d skip California, ignore South America and head straight to the SA section of your store and look for this one.

Duo of SA Sauvignon Blanc: Uva Mira & Edgebaston

It’s time to make that Sauvignon Blanc decision. You have about $15 to spend. You are met with bottles from California, France, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa at your local store.

Do you appreciate some grassiness or what some so delicately describe as cat pee? If you do maybe you ought to go for the Kiwi bottle.

Are you familiar with French as a first language or are you beyond the beginner level wine drinker you can go for some Sancere. That is if you recognize the producer as being first rate, the vintage as being decent and the price as being reasonable.

Are you California dreaming then go for the weighty Cali Sauvignon Blanc, but if you’re looking for value first and foremost and prefer clean tropical fruit with some richness and fresh acidity? Then maybe Chilean SB is the answer for you.

Most days I’m looking to get a Sauvignon Blanc with ripe fruit flavors, without cat pee, with a hint of green and most importantly some stoniness or minerality that comes with a winning combination of richness and acidity. For my $15 I’m finding South Africa to bring everything I’m looking for. That being said here are two bottles that I can vouch for.

The Uva Mira 2008 Sauvignon Blanc was found at Global Wine & Spirits where they currently seem to have some decent specials on their South African stuff. Aromas of lime, gooseberry and tropical fruit jumped out of my glass during a recent picnic at Niagara Falls State Park. Simply perfect for a warm summer day and made even more perfect with the wedge of Humboldt Fog goat cheese we brought with us.

With no hint of grass or cat pee it showed ripe aromas with a rich palate. Clean from start to finish this particular wine showed almost more like the Chilean stuff I’ve had. It went over well with my friends and I’d highly recommend it.

The Edgebaston Sauvignon Blanc 2008 was bought at Prime Wines for an absurd price of $12. My first perception of this wine was that it had much more in common with Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc as the flavors didn’t get very tropical at all. On the nose subtle notes of white peach, lime, flint and wet stone made it almost difficult to place as new world Sauvignon Blanc. Only the slightest hint of green in the form of cut grass showed against the rest of the ripe fruit aromas.

Where this wine really spoke was its palate. Lean and focused with clean acidity and just enough richness to bring it all together into one cohesive tasting experience. For the money it’s one of the best value whites I’ve had from South Africa. Its charm is that I’m not sure there’s a more complex SB for the money in the region or even world at this point. And yes, that includes Chile.

Rustenberg John X Merriman 2005

Rustenberg John X Merriman 2005
SImonsberg-Stellenbosch, South Africa ($30)

My curiosity with South African red blends lead me to this blend of 54% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec and 1% Shiraz from Rustenberg. Good reviews from the NYwinewench and WE prompted yet another purchase of a Stellenbosch wine, and this one is even more specific as it’s labeled as wine of origin Simonsberg-Stellenbosch.

The name of this wine is a tribute to John X Merriman, a Cape Parliamentarian, Minister of Agriculture and Prime Minister who bought the farm in 1892. He believed in the future of South Africa’s wine industry even after phylloxera devastated it. How did I know this? It says it on the bottle of course.

In the glass it shows crimson red with mouth-watering aromas of dark chocolate, spice cake, dark cherry, plum and some meatiness. Absolutely luxurious on the palate with ultra fine grained tannins and a mouth filling body. Despite such intense fruit and chocolaty sweetness it stays refreshingly balanced with its firm acidity. The finish is perpetual and as satisfying as I’ve had in recent memory.

As far as Bordeaux inspired blends go this one is a steal at the $25 to $30 price range. It drinks like a plus $50 red and in a few ways will probably outclass several in that range due to its complexity and overall mature nature. Great stuff and I’m dying to get my hands on more from this producer.

Rust En Vrede Estate 2001

Rust En Vrede Estate 2001
Stellenbosch, South Africa ($40)

There aren’t many large wine regions left that I haven’t stuck my nose into in the last several years. If you haven’t noticed I tend to get a bee in my bonnet to try everything I can get my hands on from a certain grape, country or region until I feel like I can actually have an intelligent conversation about it. With this approach intelligence doesn’t come cheap and I usually make sure that if I do through down more than $20 for a wine, it better be a good representation of the region.

Inspired by a fellow Niagara Region writer and her blog Stellenbauchery, I have been on a South Africa kick. Ideally I’m looking for wines labeled as Wine of Origin Stellenbosch as I am curious to know what unique flavors and styles are coming out of the country’s premier wine region. The minimum buy in for these wines is typically from $13 for whites and $20 for reds. Much cheaper South African wines can be found labeled as Coastal Region or Western Cape but those don’t interest me as much.

According to the bottle of Rust En Vrede Estate 2001, this winery has been acclaimed as one of the best in the world. Now I would ever buy it just based on that claim but I’d been tipped off that they are consistently one of the best producers of reds in the region. It also helped that this bottle was marked down from $40 to $30, most likely motivated by its age and the average buyer’s lack of interest in this bottle. I left the store thinking I’d found a deal though as it was one of those wines that you can’t just leave on the shelf.

This 2001 Estate is a blend of 53% cabernet sauvignon, 35% shiraz and 12% merlot. Aromas of strawberry jam, blackberry, dark chocolate, pepper and smoke. On the palate, it showed a lush fruit forward feel with fine-grained dusty tannins and a seamless balance from start to finish. Put quite simply this was a luxuriously ripe red with hints of old world complexity and style.

As a 9 year-old wine, this one still had it going on, fresh fruit, firm tannins and a delicate balance of acidity. It was probably the most serious red I’ve had from South Africa and I’d quite happily buy another to show off to other geeks. I’m even tempted to buy the 2000 Estate I found at another store.

Warwick Three Cape Ladies 2004

Warwick Three Cape Ladies Cape Blend 2004
Stellenbosch, South Africa ($25)

I owe my interest in the idea of a Cape Blend to Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Last December they ran a story of how South Africa was embracing the idea of crafting red blends that can undoubtedly be recognized as South African. To achieve this wineries are utilizing a grape that many wine makers would probably like to avoid mentioning…pinotage.

There’s already no shortage of affordable South African red blends being imported into the US consisting of the Bordeaux varieties, Syrah and even some southern Rhone varieties. Even though the prices are inexpensive compared to old world versions, there are several other new world regions like Australia and South America that are competing for the same buyers.

What can South Africa do to distinguish itself and develop a style of its own? The answer seems to be in using pinotage in these blends that range from $10-$30. While pinotage by itself hasn’t developed the sexiest image among wine geeks, I find the idea of it as a blending component to be exciting.

This interest manifested itself in me taking a home a bottle of Warwick’s Three Cape Ladies 2004. This vintage is a blend of 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 21% Pinotage and 13% Shiraz. Aromas of spicy red plum, black currant, mocha, tobacco and hazelnut show new world ripeness with old world complexity and character. This blending of old and new follows through on the palate as well with ripe yet grainy tannins that provide a lengthy finish.

In a blind tasting I might have pegged this for Italian wine. It’s ripe without being jammy, liberally oaked without it overwhelming the fruit, and has some of that rustic charm of the old world. I’m not sure what component the pinotage added in this particular wine, but maybe that’s the point. Its seamlessness is probably what this type of blend is all about.  Overall a fun wine that will spark conversation especially in a blind environment.

Painted Wolf Pinotage 2007

Painted Wolf Pinotage 2007
Coastal Region, South Africa ($15)

Looking to bridge the gap between the bulk pinotage destined for American shelves from the stuff that South Africans would probably drink, I found this highly rated pinotage with a painting of a critter on the label on sale for $10 but originally priced at $16.

I'm a sucker for decent IWC scores and if it weren't for that I would've been able to separate this from all the other pinotage on the shelf.

My expectations included some funkiness, a medium to thin body and it possibly being a good candidate for show and tell "brett edition."

Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised with its decadent aroma that made me think of a raspberry dark chocolate truffle dipped in the blood of a rare cooked steak. The palate was full and almost sweet thanks to its ripe fruit and high alcohol level. A touch of smoke on the finish added to its complexity.

This was easily the best pinotage I've had and knowing that this isn't even what the locals would tolerate for quaffable pinotage, I can assume there are better versions out there. I recommend this bottle for your next byob blind tasting. It'll stump even the most trained palates.

Uva Mira Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Uva Mira Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Stellenbosch, South Africa

It’s obvious that South Africa makes some good wines under $12. I’m sure there are some decent cabernets, some appealing shiraz and a whole lot of pinotage. I also know without a doubt that their chenin blanc in that price range is some of the best.

The problem is I’ve been trying to find South African wines with the wine of origin label as Stellenbosch. These seem to demand higher prices and aren’t as easy to find as wines labeled Western Cape, Coastal Region or simply South Africa. With several of the Bordeaux inspired blends from Stellenbosch fetching over $40 a bottle in the US, I’m not having an easy time getting the gist of the higher end wines from the region.

Since my mind was set on getting a decent red in the mid twenty dollar range, I found myself stalking the shelves of the wonderland that is Premier Wines. After passing up a $60 red from Anwilka and a $40 red blend from Meinert, I found a $20 Merlot Cabernet blend from Uva Mira. With the stars aligned for a wallet-to-bottle connection - and by stars I mean a wine labeled as Stellenbosch, a decent score by Steve Tanzer and the importer being Michael Skurnik – I brought this bottle home.

Now normally a 52% Merlot – 48% Cabernet Sauvignon blend would bore the crap out of me but that wasn’t the fate of this one. Inky red color with huge ripe plum and black currant aromas, this wine screamed hot climate. Again that would normally be a turnoff but its secondary aromas of tobacco, chocolate and smoke held my attention.

This wine felt supple and full until its fine tannins got a hold of my mid palate. There was just enough grip to remind me that this isn’t a new world fruit bomb. It had an old world rusticity that I can’t get enough of. With a long finish that was possibly sprinkled with a bretty medicinal note, this wine showed a whole lot of character.

With an intriguing balance of new world ripeness and old world winemaking technique, this wine heads in a direction more regions should strive for. I’d like to think that generally South Africa as a region combines old and new world styles but I just haven’t drank enough yet to declare it so. However this Uva Mira blend was just what I was looking for…a $20 Stellenbosch wine that shows what makes the region unique ultimately revealing a sense of place.

Fairview Goat Roti 2003

Fairview Charles Back Goat Roti 2003
Western Cape, South Africa ($16)

Funny critters and puns make for a a powerful marketing ploy. Fairview, the South African creator of Goats do Roam, makes a more expensive wine that salutes the Cote Rotie Syrah based wines of France. Since I've been getting in touch with my inner Syrah I could not resist this attempt at an affordable new world version.

I got some red berry aromas and a generous whiff of bacon fat....yum! It took a while for this one to open up though. Fully rustic in texture and sultry in taste this one had me confused. It came hard with a mouthful of fruit, but I also was stunned by an unflattering acidity. Turns out it came hard with fruit, acid, and tannins that i compare to being slapped in the face. It cleared up to a long spicy finish but the middle palate just wasn't pleasant. I don't know if it will calm down over some time in the bottle or what. Not worth the $16 I shelled out. My grade: C