handtomouth

Always one of the memorable events on the wine writer’s calendar is the launch of the new John Platter Wine Guide, not only for seeing the who’s who in the industry at the function, but more importantly for the opportunity to taste the wines that have been awarded the full five star bonanza.

As ever, the guide has grown, with an incredible 800-odd new wines racked up on customers’ shelves in the last year. If you or I become acquainted with 100 of these that will be a remarkable feat, as for the other 700… and with ever-declining consumption figures in South Africa (this now around seven litres per person per year), most of them are likely to be export attempts or discount bin specials.

Another fun fact: the last two years of the guide has seen more new wineries in the guide than the total number of cellars in the guide when it was first published in 1980. But back to the big winners, the five star recipients. With not too many new names among these producers and most being well-established “A-list” wineries, the Platter methodology of tasting all wines sighted does tickle at one’s thoughts. It could be very difficult for a complete unknown to convince the Platter taster, who is unavoidably going to have some inkling of providence, track record and marketing at front of mind.

Then again, we do avoid the lottery-like vagaries of all the competitions out there. On this point, Platter includes a table where you can cross-reference awarded wines for their track records in the big local and international competitions. Noting that not all the wines would have entered all the competitions, very few of them “hit” two out of the 10 big awards, there are a handful of 3/10s and only a couple of fours.

Of course, with Platter all the wines get a tasting note so that you can compare your palate against the tasters – and in this way calibrate and make informed purchasing decisions. It is not uncommon for the best quality/price nexus to be found at four stars and even three and a half.

Five star standouts for me: Cape Point Vineyards “Isliedh” 2005; Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay 2005; Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon 2004; Fairview “Solitude” Shiraz 2004; De Krans Vintage Reserve 2004.

The tasters also singled out the Yonder Hill “Y” Merlot 2006 as their “Superquaffer of the Year” and I totally agree that this is a great wine for the price. Yonder Hill is in fact a bit of a sleeper, making red wines with grace and lasting power, also look out for their Inanda red blend.