SA producers face a daunting task of bringing their wines to the attention of the SA wine buying public. Those who’ve hitched their wagons to the Tim Atkin annual wine report must be horrified at stories doing the rounds of the producer who was told she’d achieved 95 points, only to find Tim had jumbled up his scores. Which makes you wonder what other stuff ups those pricey pages conceal.
Good luck to Nederburg who have Tim opening the annual Nederburg Auction this year. I wonder what kind of press coverage Distell CEO Richard Rushton is expecting from a speaker who had this to say about his local colleagues in Wine & Spirit magazine ““SA domestic wine writers… parochial, barely qualified fans with typewriters” who then goes on to note “In the absence of a more robust domestic media, SA needs informed criticism from overseas.” At least we sometimes put the figures in the correct columns.
A different vision is sponsored by WellsFaber. Our blind tasting at the Cape Town Club yesterday focused on the wines of the Breedekloof and Robertson. Chenins in the main part, tasted blind, the Slanghoek Creme de Chenin 2014 was top of the pops, eliciting these comments from the tasters.
Joseph Dafana, sommelier at La Colombe. “That wine ticked all the boxes. Great highlight of a South African dessert wine but obviously underrated. The best lesser known i have tasted this year. Well done!”
Tinashe Nyamudoka, sommelier at the Test Kitchen. “Lovely wine indeed!!”
Marlvin Gwese, sommelier at the Cape Grace Hotel. “The wine we tasted this morning was just world class . Who said SA makes mediocre wines?”
The proof of the pudding is that all three establishments will list the wine. Which is after all, what these tastings are all about, rather than enriching carpetbaggers and the show independent entrepreneur societyTM or SIES for short with the Wine LizardTM as reptile in chief.
Other sommelier selections were
Slanghoek Legends Chenin Blanc 2016
Carl Everson Chenin Blanc 2015 from Opstal Estate
Esona Chardonnay 2013
Deetlefs Reserve Chenin Blanc 2015
Esona Sauvignon Blanc 2013
