South African Wine Party

We are planning a trip to Africa in July 2014. We will be visiting Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We will fly into Johannesburg then travel on to Chobe National Park via Victoria Falls. From Chobe we visit the Okavango Delta, then fly on to Kafue National Park in Zambia. Next, we fly to Zimbabwe and visit Hwange National Park before returning to Victoria Falls and then Johannesburg. Whew! This part of the trip is planned for us. We need only show up with our very minimal luggage.

We will be making this trip with a group of very special friends. Wine friends, the best kind! Of course, we could not go to Africa without skipping down to Cape Town. The Stellenbosch and Paarl wine Districts are calling our names. This portion of the trip will not be entirely planned for us, so we must do some work ourselves.

Our plan is to spend two days wine tasting in the Stellenbosch and Paarl Districts. We have some very good friends, who are not going on this trip with us, but who have been wine tasting in these areas. So, we all recently got together to drink wines from South Africa and exchange ideas.

Everyone brought a South African wine for the occasion, of course. We tasted 2 whites, 2009 Mulderbosch Chenin Blanc and 2010 Simonsig Chenin Blanc. Both had good acidity with citrus and vegetal flavors. These are good summer drinking wines and would go well with spicy Asian dishes.

Among the reds, we tasted 2009 Spier Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009 Raats Cabernet Franc and 2007 Mulderbosch Faithful Hound (Red Blend). These wines have many flavors and characteristics in common. Dark fruit flavors with vegetal scents and significant tannins make these wines a good partner for roasted meats and hearty dishes. All showed a light hand with wood aging.

Of course, we had to include a Pinotage. The variety was developed in South Africa and hated my many. I don’t think hate is too strong a word. Mostly, when you mention Pinotage to a wine drinker, they will wrinkle their nose and make a funny face. In Wine Grapes by Robinson et al., under the Pinotage heading, the authors state, “South Africa’s very own cross, both loved and despised”.

Pinotage was bred in 1925, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut (Cinsault), but the first commercial plantings were not made until 1943. The first vintage was 1959. Pinotage produces small, dark, thin-skinned berries and prefers soils that hold moisture. Unpleasant “spray-paint aromas” may develop due to a lack of water or high temperatures at harvest. Cool fermentation helps to minimize these aromas. A viral disease may cause an unpleasant “burnt rubber” nose in some wines. Newer clones may be responsible for an improvement in these aroma issues as well.

We tasted 2010 Spier 21 Gables Pinotage, and happily, we did not experience either of the issues mentioned above. The grapes are grown in a vineyard that is located very close to the ocean. The wine had a pleasant dark fruit nose with ripe, rich, dark fruit flavors and significant tannins. Once again, there was a light influence of wood on the flavor. It would pair with steak, roasted meats, or stews. Very pleasant.

This was the first time we have tasted Pinotage. We will continue to look for and try Pinotage to see if we can get a sense of what the variety has to offer. One of our wine New Year’s Resolutions was to try three new varieties this year. We can put Pinotage on that list. Two down, one to go!

We have a working list of wineries to start investigating. We should be able to taste a nice variety of sparkling wines, white wines, rosés and reds. Research will be done and more “meetings” will take place. Undoubtedly, more wine will be consumed.

Cheers!

Reference: Wine Grapes by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding, José Vouillamoz