Constantia wines are way too good to be left to cyclists and to Dear Angela, as an accompaniment to her take-away Woolies lasagna. My weekly tiny wine column goes into raptures about a red this week.
Five for the price of one
Bottle of the Week: Constantia Glen Five 2011
How much and where?
R330; www.constantiaglen.co.za
Why? Enid Blyton was the JK Rowling of the 1930s. Her children’s books detailing the adventures of The Famous Five – Julian, Dick, Anne, Georgina (George) and Timmy the dog – took place around Kirrin Cottage in Dorset with Aunt Fanny in the background.
Well, today Kirin is more likely to be the soy sauce you dip your sushi into or the Japanese beer you order with your uni (sea urchin) at Kyoto Garden Sushi, the best sushi bar this side of Tokyo.
But Glen remains a proper Boys’ Own name and the famous five in this bottle are cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, malbec and petit verdot and the recipe of combining them comes from Bordeaux – a wine region of France that was established after grapes were planted in the Constantia Valley.
So strange that they call us “the new world” and themselves “the old world”.
Cabernet sauvignon forms the backbone of this elegant blend which is softened up into accessibility by merlot and malbec and then pimped up by petit verdot as a rapper would a bass beat.
It is simply glorious and shows that the Famous Five style has legs and can hold its own with the best of Bordeaux, especially in these times of unsympathetic exchange rates that have transformed imported brands into gravy train delights.
Try it with smoked pork cheeks and udon noodles at Dear Me on Longmarket Street, Cape Town, for R75. Even with a return Kulula ticket from Lanseria it’s still cheaper than anything you’ll find of equivalent quality north of the Vaal.
Rating: *****
***** Five have a wonderful time
**** Five have plenty of fun
*** Five go off in a caravan
** Five go to Billycock Hill
* Five get into a fix
