MR. SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa is HOT. Not just because my hubby is from there, but because it is on the “rise” in the wine world. South Africans are also smart, remember the blog about bribery a few days ago. That was Mr. South Africa’s idea. I spent years trying to keep the kids in bed all night. Who knew bribery was the answer? I’m greeted every morning with, “Do I get my five dollars?”. It’s usually accompanied by a smack on the head, you know..to wake me up. (boys). This morning, the small children decided to wake up at 6am, that’s not OK. 6am? Are we babies again? Apparently, when you sleep in your bed all night, you actually sleep? I’m guessing here because the week has pretty much rustled the kids out of bed at an ungodly hour.
Taylor has written a very detailed list titled “Taylor’s Lest”, mostly consisting of Disney items. I was impressed the bribe has moved from basics to details. I’m thinking my kids could be geniuses with a little bribery. Just saying..!!
I read this great article in Wine Spectator this week http://www.winespectator.com/magazine/show/id/51540 and it reminded me how hard it is to find wine from South Africa. Years ago (we’re old) we made a trip to the Cape vineyards and brought back ONE bottle of Rust En Vrede, we didn’t know much about wine at the time but knew we LOVED this wine. I think we paid $10.00 for it. A few months later it hit wine spectators top 100, we were screwed. We couldn’t find it for less than $100.00. Over the years we grab good bottles when we find them, which isn’t very often. South Africa doesn’t import much wine, especially the good stuff. It seems South Africa has been busy re-tooling the wine making business and re-planting some older vines with new ones, creating a bigger inroad into the world market. This makes me smile. I would love to begin to find some of these wines again, and at a good price given the rand to dollar ratio! Yesterday, I found a Pinot Noir, Hamilton Russell 2013 $28.00 at Bottle King (it’s next to Starbucks). You typically don’t find a Pinot Noir from South Africa here, which means, I had to try it. It’s really good. Red fruit flavors, not to jammy but smooth with just enough herbal and tobacco flavor. Balanced, (13.5 alc) which makes it seem like a solid Burgundy rather than California Pinot. It gets my vote.
Given the climate and topography of South Africa, the wines that tend to have solid reputations there are Chenin Blanc, Pinotage (cross of Pinot Noir & Cinsault), Viognier, red blends, and recently Cabernet. Rust En Vrede, both the blend and Cabernet are still one of our favorites as well as De Toren Fusion V Stellenbosch. Drop me a line and tell me what your favorites are and where you find the wines!
This article gave me hope that we might see more wine out of South Africa.
Hamilton Russell, Pinot Noir 2013 hemel-en-aarde $28.00
