We had tasted both of these wines previously. It is always interesting to see if and/or how wines change over time. This tasting confirmed our Quality ratings from the previous tastings. Both of these wines are very good and paired well with Mom’s dinner of mixed green salad with fresh fruit, smothered steak with tomatoes, rice, squash, and peas.

Mom (LaGayle) and Dad (John) discovered Meerlust on their trip to South Africa last year. Meerlust, located in Stellenbosch, South Africa, has a long and proud history dating back to the late 1600’s. Mom and Dad thought it was one of the best wineries that they visited on their trip. Winemaker Chris Williams gave them a tour of the estate, led them through a private tasting in the wine cellar, and graciously agreed to do a video interview. Once they returned home, Dad purchased some of the Meerlust wines to try against some of the other South African wines they enjoyed on the trip as well as to see how they would stack up against some of our favorites from Washington. The 2004 Meerlust Rubicon won our South African Red Blends wine tasting dinner last summer.

Fielding Hills Winery, one of our favorite Washington wineries, is a small, family-owned winery located in Wenatchee. Owner/winemaker Mike Wade and his wife Karen are longtime apple and cherry growers who have turned a middle portion of their orchard near Mattawa into a vineyard. Their Riverbend Vineyard, planted in 1998, is in the Wahluke Slope AVA. They source all of their fruit, including the fruit used to produce this Merlot, from Riverbend Vineyard.

2005 Meerlust Merlot (Stellenbosch, South Africa): Deep red in color. Bell peppers and oak come through on the nose; black cherry, blackberry, and other dark fruits on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and medium to high tannins. Well-balanced and smooth with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Southern Hemisphere Wine Center (California), $22; Available elsewhere, $22 to $26

2004 Fielding Hills Merlot (Wahluke Slope, Washington): Deep, dark garnet in color. Very aromatic with red cherry, black licorice, and pepper jelly on the nose. Coffee, caramel, berry liqueur, chocolate, and leather on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, medium tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $32

Private Tasting: South Africa Merlot vs. Washington Merlot was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

Spice Route Winery was founded in 1997 by Charles Back, owner/vintner of Fairview Winery in South Africa. That year, Back bought a farm called Klein Amoskuil near Malmesbury in the Swartland region northwest of Paarl. His goal was to expand his vineyard sources beyond those he already had at Fairview. He immediately went to work transforming the site by removing underperforming grape varieties and planting new varieties that he thought would flourish given the site’s composition and climate. The winery’s name pays homage to those who braved the “Cape of Storms” to bring exotic Eastern spices to Western Europe along the so-called Spice Route.

“This is a new wine in our range and I am very excited about the style and character that it is showing already. The vineyards that we used are providing expressive fruit and this wine is laden with spice and deep fruit, with a medium bodied appeal. It is very approachable now, but should be drinking at its best around 2012.” –Winemaker Charl du Plessis

Mom (LaGayle) and Dad (John) had the pleasure to meet Charles Back on their trip to South Africa last year. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the video interview in which Charles answers their questions on a wide variety of topics and explains why he believes that South African wine is not truly New World nor Old World but somewhere in-between because of the unique geology of South Africa’s winemaking regions.

2007 Spice Route Chakalaka (Swartland, South Africa): 57% Shiraz, 20% Grenache, 17% Mourvedre, 6% Carignan. Ruby red with aromas of smoke, cedar, and vanilla. Plums come through on the palate. Medium-bodied, medium tannins, and a long, crisp finish. Slightly bitter but softens with food.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Wine Exchange (California), $14.99; Available elsewhere, $17 to $22

A Wine for Tonight: 2007 Spice Route Chakalaka was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

Goats do Roam, a Rhône-style blend, was created in 1999 as another label for Fairview Winery in South Africa. Fairview’s owner/vintner Charles Back took the suggestion of a wine buyer to make a blend and give it the humorous name that is a takeoff on the Côte du Rhône wines of France. Even so, Back tells a much more interesting “story” as to how Goats do Roam came about:

“One afternoon, at harvest time, my mischievous son Jason and his friend Justin let the goats out of their tower and sent them for a walkabout amongst the vines. As in the legend of the Yemeni goat herder – whose roaming flock first discovered the joys of coffee beans, our goats picked out the best and tastiest fruit – their choice serves as our inspiration for this wine.” –Charles Back

Don’t let the humorous name, the “story,” or the low price point deter you. This wine is remarkably rich and complex for an under $10 bottle.

Today, Goats do Roam operates as its own independent company aptly called The Goats do Roam Wine Company.

Mom (LaGayle) and Dad (John) had the pleasure to meet Charles Back on their trip to South Africa last year. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the video interview in which Charles answers their questions on a wide variety of topics and explains why he believes that South African wine is not truly New World nor Old World but somewhere in-between because of the unique geology of South Africa’s winemaking regions.

2007 Goats do Roam Red (Coastal Region, South Africa): 40% Shiraz, 18% Pinotage, 17% Cinsault, 13% Carignan, 10% Mourvedre, and 2% Gamay Noir. Medium-deep ruby red and very aromatic. Red fruits, spice, smoke, beef jerky, and bacon come through on the nose; red fruits, black pepper, and vegetal notes on the palate. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity, medium tannins, and a long finish. Well-balanced and smooth. Good complexity for a $9 wine.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington), $8.99; Available elsewhere, $7 to $15

A Wine for Tonight: 2007 Goats do Roam Red was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

You can buy great value wines for under $20 (some under $10)
Great Value Wines
Super Bargain Wines for Tough Times
Super Bargain Wines in the $10 to $25 Range

Since our last post on this topic, we’ve discovered several more gems that you might like to try before summer is over.
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The first is a closeout, and one of the best wine buys I’ve seen anywhere. We discovered Sandhill Winery, recently bought out by Corliss Estates and thus the closeout, early this summer on a trip to Red Mountain. We thought their 2003 Merlot was a good buy then at $24.99. At the current price of $9.99, it’s a steal.

2003 Sandhill Merlot (Red Mountain, WA): Dark red with dark fruit and earthy aromas. Blackberry, licorice, black plums, and spice come through on the palate. Full-bodied with high, drying tannins, and a long finish. Big and bold, yet well-balanced.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Esquin Wine Merchants (Seattle), $9.99; Madwine (Washington), $9.99
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Next is the 2007 Parejas Cellars Rosé, a wine we first discovered in one of our Seattle wine bar date nights. It was our favorite when we visited the Local Vine. Later, it was the consensus winner at our Washington Rosé tasting dinner…and it’s less than $10 a bottle.

2007 Parejas Cellars Rosé (Yakima Valley, Washington): 34% Viognier, 66% Mourvedre. Pale salmon in color. Lots of green, vegetal aromas. Flavors of strawberry, watermelon, and herbs come through on the palate. Crisp, smooth, and slightly fizzy. Very flavorful and refreshing with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: The Local Vine (Seattle), $9
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In the Live Blogging segment of the Wine Bloggers Conference in Sonoma, we found a California Pinot Grigio, the 2008 FishEye, which was surprisingly good for $7 a bottle.

2008 FishEye California Pinot Grigio (California): Apple, pear, melon. Very crisp, fresh. Amazing value for a summer sipper.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Madwine (Washington), $4.99; K&L Wine Merchants (California), $4.99
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Earlier this year, we had a tasting dinner featuring South African Red Blends. The best combination of quality and price was the 2007 Spice Route Chakalaka.

2007 Spice Route Chakalaka (Swartland, South Africa): 57% Shiraz, 20% Grenache, 17% Mourvedre, 6% Carignan. Ruby red with aromas of smoke, cedar, and vanilla. Plums come through on the palate. Medium-bodied, medium tannins, and a long, crisp finish. Slightly bitter but softens with food.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Wine Exchange (California), $14.99; Available elsewhere, $15 to $20
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And finally, at the Rhone Rangers event in Seattle, the standout bargain was the 2007 Cline “Cashmere” Red Blend.

2007 Cline “Cashmere” Red Blend (California)
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Wilbur’s Total Beverage (Colorado), $14.99; Fine Wine House (California), $15.98
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For more wine bargains, stay tuned for our upcoming post on Washington Wine Month (September this year), when the Washington State Liquor Stores as well as many independent retailers run their once-a-year specials on a big selection of Washington State wines.

Wine Bargains for You! was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

In this book, the Platters chronicle an amazing trip through the African continent, from Algeria to Zimbabwe, where just getting from one wine area to another was an adventure in itself, not to mention the challenges winemakers face in areas where nature says growing grapes is nuts and in Islamic countries where making wine could put a price tag on your head.

While I doubt that any of these countries, save South Africa, will be known for its world-class wines anytime soon, the book weaves a fascinating tale of how doggedly determined winemakers have accepted the challenge of producing wine when all the odds are against them. I found the Platters’ story of locating and then exploring Les Celliers de Meknes in Morocco, a huge and modern winemaking operation located anonymously with no signage or directions so as not to offend the devout Muslims, extremely interesting and almost unbelievable.

The Platters finished their African continent winelands tour, fittingly enough, with South Africa where they had lived and worked for more than twenty years. As the eighth largest wine producing country in the world and with 350 years of grape growing history, South Africa is the flagship for wine on the African continent. Based on what Mom and Dad told me from their travels in South Africa this year, I think the Platters did a good job of telling the South African wine country story through the diary of their six week excursion.

However, as the Platters say in this book, the trip is not complete. There are other winelands in Africa they want to visit, and there are winemakers in this extreme wine country worth keeping an eye on, such as Sam Pfidzayi of Marondera in Zimbabwe for his Cabernet Franc, Faith Rutto’s Cabernet Sauvignon in Kenya, Ramilla Ramguendez’s “new wave red” in Algeria, and Jacques Poulain’s Atlas Vineyard wines from Morocco, just to name a few.

Whether it’s adventure, travel, or wine that excites you, I believe that this book should have a place in your library. You can pick up a copy from Amazon or your book retailer of choice.

Have you already read Africa Uncorked: Travels in Extreme Wine Country? If so, please leave a comment and let us know what you thought of it.

For those of you who would like to read along with us in the Wine Book Club, the August selection is A Vineyard in Tuscany: A Wine Lover’s Dream by Ferenc Mate.

Cheers!

Wine Book Club: Africa Uncorked was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

In February of this year, Mom (LaGayle) and Dad (John) spent three weeks in South Africa visiting the winelands. They had a great trip and discovered a number of good South African wines. As always when we travel internationally, their goal was to find good wines that are available in the United States so that we can continue to enjoy them once we have returned home.

The six wines in this tasting dinner were wines that Dad selected based on their adventures in the South African winelands. While everyone enjoyed all of the wines and we would recommend them all, the top three clearly stood at the head of the pack. The 2004 Meerlust Rubicon, 2007 Spice Route Chakalaka, and the 2007 Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block are excellent wines and paired wonderfully with Mom’s dinner of tomato basil soup, mixed green salad, grilled filet mignon, thyme roasted purple Peruvian potatoes, seasoned green beans with yellow peppers, and a delicious chocolate cake topped with raspberries, shaved chocolate, and whipped cream.

Interestingly, the two wines that came out on top in the group consensus rankings were from the two wineries in South Africa where Dad did video interviews: Winemaker Chris Williams of Meerlust and Charles Back, owner of Fairview, Spice Route, and Goats do Roam.

From 1st to last in the group consensus rankings:

2004 Meerlust Rubicon (Stellenbosch, South Africa): 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc. Ruby red with medium depth. Lighter in color than the others. Very aromatic. Jalapeno and red fruits comes through on the nose. Bell peppers and cherry dominate the palate. Medium to full-bodied and smooth with medium tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish. Fantastic with steak.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Southern Hemisphere Wine Center (California), $24.99; Available elsewhere, $24 to $33

2007 Spice Route Chakalaka (Swartland, South Africa): 57% Shiraz, 20% Grenache, 17% Mourvedre, 6% Carignan. Ruby red with aromas of smoke, cedar, and vanilla. Plums come through on the palate. Medium-bodied, medium tannins, and a long, crisp finish. Slightly bitter but softens with food.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Wine Exchange (California), $14.99; Available elsewhere, $15 to $20

2007 Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block (Western Cape, South Africa): 55% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cinsault, 4% Viognier. A lot going on in this wine. Aromas of olive, black fruits, burnt toast, and capers. Flavors of black fruits, particularly blackberry, and as the name suggest, chocolate. Medium to full-bodied, medium tannins, and a long finish. Well-balanced. Absolutely explodes with food.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Wine Exchange (California), $29.99; Available elsewhere, $26 to $40

2005 Rustenberg John X Merriman (Simonsberg-Stellenbosch, South Africa): 54% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec, 1% Shiraz. Rudy red in color. Nose is a bit tight up front. Opens up the longer it is open. Black fruits and coffee come through on the palate. Medium-bodied and the tannins become more drying with food.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: K&L Wine Merchants (California), $28.99; Available elsewhere, $19 to $33

2006 ANWILKA (Stellenbosch, South Africa): 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Shiraz, 5% Merlot. Nutty aromas with hints of detergent. Tastes better than it smells with red fruit flavors. Medium-bodied, medium tannins, and a medium finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: K&L Wine Merchants (California), $19.99; Available elsewhere, $31 to $50

2007 Neil Ellis The Left Bank (Western Cape, South Africa): 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Shiraz, 10% Merlot. Raspberry and dark chocolate come through on the nose, pepper and smoked meats on the palate. Medium to full-bodied, medium tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: K&L Wine Merchants (California), $8.99; Available elsewhere, $9 to $14

Wine Tasting Dinner: South African Red Blends was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

On Mom and Dad’s recent trip to South Africa, they discovered the 2008 Warwick Professor Black Sauvignon Blanc that they thought was every bit as good as our favorites from New Zealand. They were anxious to see what Colby and I thought of it and to see how it would stack up in a blind tasting. Also on their South Africa trip, Mom and Dad enjoyed visiting Boekenhoutskloof and wanted us to try their second label, Porcupine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc, which is available in the U.S. for around $10.

In typical Wine Peeps fashion, we recently sat down for a blind tasting to compare four Sauvignon Blancs from around the world. We put in one of our all-time favorites, the 2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, as well as the recently discovered Warwick Professor Black and Porcupine Ridge. We wanted to include an American Sauvignon Blanc also. About that time, we received a sample of the 2007 Rued Sauvignon Blanc from the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County, California, and decided to throw it into the mix.

As you’ll see from the notes below, we rated both the Kim Crawford and the Warwick Professor Black as 4.5 stars. They are both truly outstanding wines. In terms of ranking order, the Kim Crawford came out on top by just a hair.

Both the Porcupine Ridge and Rued are good wines, too. They were just up against some stiff competition in this tasting. I was especially glad to see how lively and pleasant the Rued was in stark contrast to many of the over-oaked California Sauvignon Blancs I’ve tasted in the past.

So depending on the style of Sauvignon Blanc that suits you, I think that you could easily find one of these four wines to your liking.

2008 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand): Extremely aromatic. Beautiful grapefruit on the nose. More grapefruit, lime, and other citrus fruits come through on the palate. Well-balanced with a long finish. Very distinctive and crisp.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Costco (Seattle), $14; Available elsewhere, $12 to $16

2008 Warwick Professor Black Sauvignon Blanc (Stellenbosch, South Africa): Aromatic and flavorful. Lemon and lime aromas lead to flavors of grapefruit and lime. Medium-bodied and crisp. Well-balanced.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Wine Exchange (California), $14.99; Available elsewhere, $14 to $21

2008 Porcupine Ridge [Boekenhoutskloof] Sauvignon Blanc (Franschoek, South Africa): Freshly cut grass prevalent on the nose. Flavorful with tart, green apple flavors. Medium-bodied with a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Esquin Wine Merchants (Seattle), $10; Available elsewhere, $8 to $12

2007 Rued Sauvignon Blanc (Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California): Aromas of Clorox and peaches. Medium-bodied and lively with flavors of vanilla and peaches. Tastes much better than it smells. A very pleasant wine.
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $16; Winery, $16

Sauvignon Blanc from Around the World was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Wine changes the moment you open the bottle due to exposure to air. Obviously, the best of all worlds is a bottle that’s great tonight, but you love it even better in the morning (or more likely tomorrow evening). A wine that’s better the second day is usually a wine that will age well. A wine that has really dropped off overnight is a wine that is best consumed young.

One value label I’ve found that fits the profile of more love the second day is Penfolds Koonunga Hill from Australia. These are $8 wines and both their Shiraz Cabernet and Cabernet Sauvignon will often last 15 to 20 years.

Since we returned from our South African wine journey, I’ve discovered another $8 gem that might age better than you would think, the 2005 MAN Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa’s Coastal Region.  The first day we tasted it we gave it a decent Quality Rating of 3.5 stars (out of 5). The second and even third day I loved it more and more, a clear 4 stars.

In sum, decanting young wines, and then tasting them the next day to see if you still love them, or even love them more, is the best way I know to determine how well they might age. That way you can decide whether it makes sense to buy a case to drink over the next 5 or 6 years, or whether to buy just another bottle or two to drink now.

Will you love me in the morning? (Is a wine better the second day?) was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Obviously, I hope that you have read all of my posts from the trip and that they have helped you learn more about South African wines as well as pointed you in the direction of some good wines to try. But in case you haven’t read them all yet, you will find links to them at the end of this post.

Before I summarize my thoughts on South African wine, I want to give special thanks to several folks who were especially generous with their time and their thoughts on South African wines: Neil Pendock, prominent South African wine writer and blogger who gave me a number of leads on wine farms not-to-miss on my trip and four winery owners and/or winemakers who helped make this a very memorable trip, Charles Back of Fairview, Chris Williams of Meerlust and The Foundry, Richard Mueller of Buitenverwachting, and Jose Conde of Stark-Conde.

Several general observations and thoughts:

1. The Cape coastal areas and the Cape winelands are as beautiful an area as I’ve ever seen anywhere in the world. If you have a chance to visit, do it!
2. The South African wine industry is much older than I would have thought, 350 years old to be exact, and the wines are generally good.
3. The people are great; their hospitality is wonderful.
4. The price is right…if you live, buy, and drink your wine in South Africa. (Take the R___ price numbers in my posts and divide by 10. That’s what a bottle costs over there in US Dollars.)

Now my thoughts on South African wine from the perspective of an American consumer:

Best of the South African varietals:
Based on our Quality Ratings of the wines we tasted, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cab Blends are what South Africa does best, followed by Shiraz/Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc.

Best South African producers we visited:
Jordan (Jardin in USA), Stark-Conde, Fairview, Meerlust/The Foundry, Boekenhoutskloof, and Warwick.

Top Winery Discoveries (wineries we weren’t familiar with before this trip):
Jordan (Jardin in USA) and Stark-Conde.

Biggest disappointment of the trip:
Discovering how much more South African wines cost here in the U.S. versus in South Africa and how difficult it has been for us to find a number of the wines we liked best once we returned home.

Good news to end on:
In each of the posts I’ve done on South African wines, which we have links to below, I’ve put in bold the wines I liked best that are available in the U.S. along with the name of a vendor and their price. You might also want to check out some of the value labels of the better producers widely distributed in the U.S. such as MAN Vintners (Back/Conde/Myburgh partnership), Goats do Roam (Fairview), and Porcupine Ridge (Boekenhoutskloof).

South Africa: An Old Wine Region Beginning To Realize Its Potential
South Africa: Nosing around Cape Town
South Africa: Wines of Constantia Valley
South Africa: A Day in the Paarl Region
South Africa: Day 1 in Stellenbosch
South Africa: Day 2 in Stellenbosch
South Africa: Day 3 in Stellenbosch
South Africa: A Day in Franschhoek
South Africa: Day 4 in Stellenbosch
South Africa: A Day in Durbanville
South Africa: Video Interview with Charles Back of Fairview
South Africa: Video Interview with Chris Williams of Meerlust

I hope you have enjoyed traveling with us by reading our posts during our trip. If you are curious about any of the sights we saw in addition to our wine stops, leave a comment and I would be happy to share those highlights with you as well.

South Africa: Reflections on an Amazing Trip was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

During our visit, Chris was kind enough to do a video interview and answer questions about Meerlust, The Foundry, and South African winemaking. I believe you will find his comments about the 300 year history of Meerlust interesting as well as his prescription for South Africa making the same impact in the United States as have other New World winemaking regions.

Here’s our full interview:

Cheers!

South Africa: Video Interview with Chris Williams of Meerlust was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.