Pick six: August 2009
Sauvignon Blanc
These wines were all silver medal winners at this year's Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show. After judging this category, Julia Harding MW (writer and editor of www.jancisrobinson.com and assistant editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine) commented that the "best wines avoided greenness, but had nuanced fresh, ripe fruit (citrus and green fig, especially) and tasted dry and not confected, with bright but not searing acidity that gave a taut and racy structure on the palate". She further said that she detected "very little sign of minerality" but added that she was not really expecting this to be a marked charactertistic.
EVERYDAY
D'ARIA SAUVIGNON BLANC 2008
Cellar price: R45
Tel 021 801 6772
Why we like it:
From a new Durbanville producer, this wine has green pepper and herbal notes on the nose which follow through to the palate. Also lime. An elegant, well balanced wine with fresh acidity. Perfect as an apéritif.
WEEKENDS
HARTENBERG
SAUVIGNON BLANC 2008
Cellar price: R64
Tel 021 865 2541
Why we like it:
Granadilla and melon aromas on the nose while the palate is sweet and juicy with a spectrum of flavour from herbaceous to tropical fruit. Tangy acidity lends balance. Pair with a warm chicken salad.
SPECIAL OCCASIONS
FLEUR DU CAP UNFILITERED LIMITED RELEASE SAUVIGNON BLANC 2008
Approximate retail price: R131
Why we like it:
Shy, slightly dusty nose. A very subtle wine with grassy, herbaceous flavours and great line of acidity. Grapes sourced from vineyards in Lutzville, Cape Agulhas and Elgin. Worthy of contemplation.
Shiraz
Another selection of wines that were awarded silver medals at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine
Show. Top Australian winemaker Brian Croser chaired the judging of this category and discerned two broad styles, the first being overtly aromatic,medium bodied wines with deftly-used minimal oak and the second being the more traditional, warm-climate wines with super-ripe blackberry jam and oak-derived vanilla flavours.
EVERYDAY
GARDEN ROUTE SHIRAZ 2007
Cellar price: R45
Tel 044 213 3314
Why we like it:
Ripe red fruit and a hint of vanilla on the nose.The palate shows juicy, ripe fruit, pepper and smooth tannins. Very approachable with a winning sweetness about it. The perfect spag bol wine.
WEEKENDS
LE MANOIR DE BRENDEL SHIRAZ 2005
Cellar price: R69
Tel 021 876 4525
Why we like it:
Red fruit, pepper and some herbaceous notes on the nose. The palate shows a deliberate stalky character that lends the wine a distinctive flavour profile. Medium bodied with fresh acidity. Idiosyncratic example that will pair well with lighter meat dishes.
SPECIAL OCCASIONS
HASKELL AEON 2007
Cellar price: R350
(to be released: November)
Tel 021 881 3895
Why we like it:
Both red and black fruit as well as prominent oak on the nose. Dense and full on the palate, but balanced. Optimally ripe fruit, chunky tannins and fresh acidity. This wine needs a
good few years of bottle maturation.
