“Coffee” Pinotage is the latest vinification rage to have taken hold in South Africa, vis-à-vis the country’s signature red grape. The process, which involves placing the juice in stainless tanks, adding new wood staves and fermenting with select strains of yeast, produces dark-coloured wines with a distinct coffee aroma and less sauvage/harsh qualities. Other aromas include cassis, smoke, raspberry and cocoa. Drink now.
This unoaked Chard from the winery’s Twenty Mile Bench appellation displays fresh aromas of apple and pear fruit with a vein of minerality running through the core. The fruit is ripe on the palate with the quince and minerals lifted by moderate acidity.
Medium straw in colour with that characteristic lychee and rose petal nose; off-dry, exotic flavours of honey and Turkish Delight; full on the palate and very assertive.
Lively fresh cherry, strawberry, peaches, apricots, red currant and citrus flavours with dancing bubbles and an uplifting, vibrant dry finish. Will pair with just about anything and excellent with fried foods. A blend of predominantly Pinot Noir with Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay.
Sweet and dense with brown sugar, blueberries, blackberry pie, this is an old-school Aussie Shiraz. Easy and simple, fruit-driven and thick, with oaken vanilla, intense berry jam and a flush of cinnamon heart-spiced heat on the finish.
As the label alludes, this is filled with the perfume of thistle, which overrides (to a degree) the reductive notes stewing underneath (air is this wine's friend). From El Alto Vineyard in Ugarteche, Luján de Cuyo, this vineyard rests on sandy clay loams at 1,050 m. Big, punchy plum, blueberry and blackberry fruited, with a fine peppery spice and tautly gritty tannins to a warming finish. This is a kicky, youthful wine, 13.5 degrees, for drinking now with grilled pork or empanadas.
Exudes ripe fleshy red fruit scents with subtle earthiness, cinnamon and a trace of green herb. Developed raspberry and red currant themes play through on the palate with a splash of milk chocolate, delivered in a firmly structured, full-bodied package.