The countdown begins for our trip to Dubai and South Africa. Susie and I are doing our best to keep our composure as we make sure all the details for our trip are in order. I am so looking forward to visiting many of the wineries around Stellenbosch and Franschoek. On the list are Constantia Glen, Indaba, Simonsig, Chimonix and Avontuur where they also breed horses. Susie has had her nose in the books, studying up for the trip. During her research she found their fall (April-May) is one of the best times to visit the winelands with its beautiful fall foliage on full display. I should be able to get a few wine episodes recorded for You Tube while we are there. I’ll let you know when they are up for viewing. Neither of us have been to this part of the world, we are very excited.
Because of this trip, I have been searching out South African wines and I have found some gems. Surprisingly, I have found some very good Pinotage, which I have had bad experiences with in the past. Simonsig in particular produces an outstanding version for around seventeen bucks. When I took the first level of the Sommelier course, one of the Master Sommeleir’s said that there is no good Pinotage out there. Well, I guess even a Master can be mistaken. The beauty of the wine world is its subjective nature. One that is bad to one palate, can be exceptional to another. As a wine student and critic, I take into consideration many things when analyzing a wine. Balance and structure are two of the key elements in a well made wine. I have tried many wines that are well made, but I didn’t like them. Doesn’t mean they are bad wines, they just were not for my palate. When I grade a wine, my judgement of that wine has to be divorced from my personal preferences. This is a very tough course to take, but doable. In all fairness, I think that the Master Sommelier that said the above was merely referring to his personal preferences, and not making a blanket statement about quality.
Chenin Blanc is huge in the South African wine scene. There, they refer to it as Steen. Some of the examples I have tried recently rival the Chenin of Vouvray. The are crisp and lively, with that wet wool element that Chenin Blanc is famous for. I am looking forward to trying many more when we get there. My bubble-head Susie is going to be very happy as South Africa also produces some high quality sparkling wine. Susie loves her sparkling wine, and I have no doubt we will find some outstanding bottles. In fact, I should give her the assignment of reporting on the sparkling wines of South Africa as a guest writer. She has excellent writing skills and with just a little encouragement, I think I can talk her into it. Bloody hell, why not?
I am still gobsmacked that my group of wine sales reps do not fight over my pick of the month. The pick for April, Townshend Cellars Purple Table Red was a wine I discovered at a wine tasting put on by a distributor. I actually found two wines at that event that were outstanding for the money. If I were a sales rep (folks who come and sell me wine for the store), I would be tenacious about getting that spot. Granted, some of them know more about wine than others, but all they have to do is get a bottle in front of me specifically with the intention of getting the pick of the month. It may not be the one, but at least they tried. Right? Trust me when I tell you that I get a plethora of samples passed my way each week. Many of them are outstanding, but they certainly don’t fit into my parameters for “Pick Of The Month”. What are those parameters? That will be discussed in my next “Bits & Bobs”. If I were one of said sales reps, I would pay close attention to next weeks article.
Cheers!
Stan the Wine Man
