Bouchon. Nems. Rougail. Cari. La Dodo le la.
These all new to my food and drink vocabulary thanks to a visit to the island of Reunion for the last two weeks. True to its medley of peoples, the food scene is wildly Creole, although the French influence is strong on menus. They’re typically divided into the classic French and the Creole, and the above beauties are joined by dishes like salty pork, duck in vanilla, goat in massala, streaky bacon with jack fruit, stag meat in red wine, red wine octopus stew, chicken with palm cabbage, eel in curry and the island’s favourite vegetable “chou-chou”. Continue reading ‘Eating island style’
Few wine lovers profess to loving wines for their high alcohol. As a beverage that has for centuries ended in the bottle at between 10 and 13 percent alcohol, the power and richness that higher levels of alcohol bring to wine is a new phenomenon. At the same time, wine is not perceived as a highly alcoholic drink, more as an accompaniment to food than an alcohol conveyor.
But this perception is under revision, as riper grapes and more efficient yeasts convert more sugar into more alcohol, presenting us with wines that habitually swell with fourteen percent alcohol and often even more – with shiraz and viognier, two fashionable varieties, leading the way in ultra-ripeness. Continue reading ‘Alcohol Our Friend?’
In the bigger picture, South Africa’s white wines have, for a while now, been consistently better than our reds. This is based not only to shows and awards, but the reception of our wines internationally and the price to quality ratio on local shelves. Our sauvignon blancs are gathering notable momentum and I know of a good number of wineries that sell out of this wine well before any other. This clearly has a lot to do with this variety’s fashionable status, but we also make good juice from the grape. Continue reading ‘Cape whites’
Superb wine, mineral sea nose and immense structure, wonderfully poised. I know this is the wine wonk’s favourite white variety, am I one of them too? Wines like these could get me there.
Another Chilean, a joint venture with a French family. Great structure (tannin, appropriately) and freshness, some earthiness and one could even talk about minerality. A variety that would be welcome in South Arica, where I believe there are a few experimental plantings.
Tasted blind, thought it was a European light white, not unlike pinot grigio. Very light in palate, loads of tropical fruit, even pineapple. Very short palate. Turned out to be a Chilean sauvignon that’s been left on the lees for six months. Can only imagine the lack-lustre juice that it began as.
An accomplished wine, rich and pleasing. Cab sav, merlot and 21% petit verdot. Modern in style, with well-handled tannin and good fruit. My only reservation is the interrupt between what the wine is and what it claims to be on the back label – idiosyncratic and somewhat maverick.
Never heard of this wine before it was introduced to me as the winemaker’s dream of a pinotage blend. Apparently the winemaker is very proud of this near 50/50 pinotage/shiraz, I found that the pairing (at this ratio) seemed to have the effect of one cancelling the other out. Very short, dusty, a bit earthy. Rhapsody in Blue?
A year after release, this wine is ageing beautifully and tasting great. Certainly in the well-wooded style, but deftly handled. I hear the 2005 did not live up to this superb wine, but I have yet to taste it.
The anoraks seem to like this wine at the moment, and it does have very pleasing round and chocolatey notes with a smooth texture. Pleasant enough, even downright charming if not an intensely complex wine.
I don’t have vast experience with this winery, and I believe I am already in trouble with them for being less than amazed, but a glass of this wine again failed to make much of an impression. I’ll leave it there.
Not wine or food, but “for thought” comes a plug for my loopy friend’s documentary on Blek le Rat one of the world’s true innovators, and agent against the machine. Blek pioneered “stencillism”, a form of urban art that takes graffitti to new levels of impact with good doses of political meaning. If you want to know more about the man and the art form check his site, to order the doccie, which is in itself a work of similar art, go to 100 Proof. Why “le Rat”? He says its the only wild animal that has survived so well in the city…
In the June issue of our local Wine magazine an article on Morgenster, the prize olive oil and wine estate on the Helderberg ends by posing the question of whether they would consider making the estate blend a cabernet franc-cabernet sauvignon wine, and do away with the merlot, a variety that their superstar consultant, Pierre Lurton, of Cheval Blanc and Yquem fame, thinks does not really feature well in the Cape.
Interesting. Not having access to an immediate bottle of Morgenster Estate (since this was top of mind), I opened a bottle of another wine that did rather well (considering its price) in the same magazine’s cabernet franc roundup – Wildekrans Cab Franc-Merlot 2004. I am a cab franc fan, I have to say, the leaner, more spicy notes of this cab compared to its big relative, cab sauvignon, appeal to me. On this wine, I didn’t find much of the hoped-for joy though, it was closed and dull, with a woodiness that only later led to a maderised flavour that I thought may have something to do with a highish VA. I don’t think merlot is the culprit here, and my interest in cabernet franc and its blends is certainly unabated, notwithstanding this setback.
This is one of the best chenins I’ve tasted in a while – a taut number, with great finesse. Good fruit held in by great palate richness that comes from the extended lees contact (around four months). Mzokhona Mvemve has worked with local chenin maestro Teddy Hall, and I think the time was not wasted! Retails for about R65.
Bruce Robertson’s new restaurant, the showroom, has been the topic of discussion in these pages before. I was involved in setting up his wine list and now am working with Bruce on a series of food and wine evenings with a difference — they are live.
Continue reading ‘Live@theshowroom’
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