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Thursday, September 26, 2013

MICHAEL GREEN’S WINE NOTES # 273



Six high quality and very expensive South African cabernet sauvignons were presented by the host, Alf Sudheim, when our private wine tasting group met at his house recently.

I was unavoidably absent, but I received reports from various delighted participants.

The wines were all rated four and four and a half stars (out of five) in the Platter wine guide, and they ranged in price from R89 a bottle to a forbidding R369. The tasting was, as usual, blind (the tasters were given descriptions of the wines but did not know the order in which they were poured), and the scoring was uniformly high.

I was happy to see that joint first place was occupied by the least expensive wine, the Porcupine Ridge cabernet sauvignon 2012, which sells at about R89. A vote for the workers, this was. Porcupine Ridge wines come from the Boekenhoutskloof Winery at Franschhoek (the grapes for its wide range of wines come from various parts of the western Cape), and this cabernet is described as having rich concentrated flavours of blackcurrant, with a touch of spice, ripe and full. The guide book comments:  “Over-delivers at the price”. Exactly; what we are all looking for.

Sharing joint first place at the tasting was the Guardian Peak Lapa 2010, which sells at R259, almost three times the price of the Porcupine Ridge. This wine from Stellenbosch is dark and elegant, with fruit flavours and a long, savoury finish.

Close on their heels were the Graham Beck The Game Reserve, ruby red with blackberry fruit and hints of dried herbs, R159; and the Springfield Methode Ancienne 2006 juicy, elegant, with a long dry finish. As the name Ancienne suggests, this wine is made in a traditional way, with a minimum of interference from the winemaker. Prices of this Springfield wine seem to range from about R250 to about R400, depending on where you buy it. Alf Sudheim quoted a price of R369.

The other wines tasted were Thelema cabernet sauvignon 2009 from Stellenbosch, complex, fruity with some herbal character, R229; and Graham Beck The Coffeestone cabernet 2011, intense aromas, concentrated fruit flavours, needs time to develop in the bottle, R219.

I noted with interest that three of these excellent wines - the two Graham Becks and the Springfield ---come from the Robertson area. Gone are the days when self-appointed experts used to look down their noses at wines from Robertson. – Michael Green