Grand Cru (Perth) tasting group - Wines of South Africa

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

This month’s tasting featured wines from South Africa. A couple of members of the group are South African, so we were able to benefit from their ‘local’ knowledge (despite their being Australian residents for many years!).

As usual, each member of the group brought along a bottle or two, and ten wines were tasted blind, with only the vintage known. Whites were tasted before reds (we had 5 of each) and youngest to oldest.

The whites were:

D’Morgenzon “DMZ” Chenin Blanc 2023 (Stellenbosch): Straw colour. A fragrant and slightly musky nose, with red apple, pear, pineapple, ginger, brine and a touch of honey. The palate shows moderate acid (almost soft) with pink peaches, ruby grapefruit and some spice. Short to medium finish. It was interesting to observe the difference between the nose and the palate.

Rustenberg Chardonnay 2022 (Stellenbosch): Very pale yellow. Lots of apricot on the pronounced nose, with stone fruits, sea spray and some smoky oak. Moderate and slightly tangy acid on the palate, with pink peaches, pineapple, ripe nectarine, and some butter. Malo influence was obvious, and this had a moderate length. Well regarded by the group.

Reyneke Chenin Blanc 2019: Yellow in colour. Red and green apple on the nose, with some pear, nectarine and lantana. Even some honeysuckle, pot pourri and a hint of muscat-style spice. One taster noted “Grandma’s soap”. More red apple on the palate, with a touch of menthol, white grapefruit and maybe some lanolin. Acid is clean and prominent. Well regarded by the group.

The Wedge Chenin Blanc 2019: Yellow in colour. The nose was saline, with sweaty armpit and burnt rubber. Oh dear! Underneath the brett, there was evidence of passionfruit pulp, but I couldn’t get past the Band-aid.

White wine of the night was the Rustenberg Chardonnay 2022.

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Then onto the reds.

Testa Longa Cinsault 2022 (Swartland): Pale red and very cloudy in the glass. Aha! A low intervention wine. A sweet and fragrant nose with raspberry, cherry and cranberry, alongside mineral water, and reminiscent of cider. The fruit diminished considerably in the mouth, leaving a sensation of very weak cola / soda water. Moderate length.

Bayerskloof Reserve Pinotage 2020 (Stellenbosch): Purple / crimson in colour. Red fruits, rose petal, sarsaparilla, dark cherry, menthol and cloves on the nose. The palate is spicy and herbal, with coffee, chocolate moderately grippy tannins and slightly prickly acid. Medium to long finish. Well regarded by the group.

Boschendal Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 (Stellenbosch): Crimson colour. Ferrous nose, with tar, woodsmoke, black cherry and earthiness. The palate shows more black cherry, cassis, and blackberry. One taster commented on the mid-palate ‘hole’ (a well-known cabernet characteristic). Medium tannins and acid and a long finish.

Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (Stellenbosch): Blackcurrant, blackberry and dark cherry on the nose, with graphite, menthol and chocolate. Some Ribena on the palate, with slightly fading dark fruits, and some coffee and chocolate. Good supporting acid and grippy tannins, some glycerols, and a medium to long finish. Well regarded by the group.

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Red wine, and wine of the night overall, was the Bayerskloof Reserve Pinotage 2020.

The observant reader will recall that there were ten wines tasted, but only 8 tasting notes are here. The reason is that we had not one, but two duplicates out of 10 bottles. I’m not sure this has happened before in the 10+ year history of this tasting group, and possibly reflects the relative scarcity of South African wines in W.A. bottle shops.

The other comment concerns the tasting notes themselves. Most of the tasters in the group probably see a majority of Australian wines, and our descriptors and analysis of wine probably reflect being Australia-centric in styles. Some of the South African wines sit outside those ‘norms’, and the tasting notes probably reflect this.

Cheers
Allan

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[Ian S]

Good to see Thelema there, a winery I first experienced about 25 years ago, in a Cape Dutch style restaurant in Norwich. It was run by an ex-pat South African, who had about 150 different South African wines, plus a Liebfraumilch and Piesporter "for people who don't like wines"

The South African wine scene has clearly changed a lot since those days, but it's great to see an established name of the time still performing well.