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 With
the end of Apartheid, South African wineries had access to improved
rootstock, and interaction with winemakers from around the world,
which has influenced the wines of South Africa. This evening's
wines showed us some of the changes that have been occuring at
a rapid pace in South Africa. Our speaker, Mr. Lance Berelowitz,
a former resident of South Africa, brought us his insights into
the red wines of South Africa which we were to enjoy. Our reception
wine was a non-vintage Methode Cap Classique, sparkling wine from
Graham Beck. This wine was a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay,
was a brillant golden colour and had honey, apple, biscuity aromas
and flavours.
Before tasting our flight of red wines,
Lance provided us with a brief description/history of the wineries
and winemakers for the evening's wines.
Some of the wineries were relatively new, started in the 1980's
(e.g. Beyerskloof), while others have been around since the 1800's
(e.g. Landskroon).
Our
first wine of the evening was the Beyerskloof Pinotage 2003.
The winemaker at Beyerskloof, Beyers Truter, was
previously the winemaker for the very well respected Kanonkopf
winery. One of Beyerskloof's claim to fame is for promoting Pinotage
wine around the world. Mr. Truter is the founder of the Pinotage
Association,which aims to improve the growing, making and marketing
of Pinotage grapes and wines. Pinotage is the grape conceived
in South Africa in 1925, by crossing Cinsaut with Pinot Noir.
Pinotage can be a full bodied red wine with spicy, black and red
berry flavours followed with a hint of banana. Pinotage may also
have a bouquet of soft strawberry fruits. The Beyerskloof Pinotage
was light/medium red in colour. It had herbaceous, smoky, sausage
aromas. The tannins were a bit harsh. There was flavours of red
fruits and a hit of banana. Our other Pinotage for the evening
was the Fairview Primo Pinotage 2001. This was a much more
complex wine than the Beyerskloof. It was very deep red in appearance.
The bouquet was very fragrant, with dark red fruits, oak, tar
and cocolate. The wine had a very round mouthfeel, with some sweetness.
There was also some chocolate, coffee and spicy flavours to this
wine. It had a very long length. A really exceptional wine. It
went well with the Seared Ahi Tuna.
 Our
next two wines were Merlot with the third wine being a Ruby Cabernet
/ Merlot blend. The Landskroon Merlot 1999 was a well aged,
elegant wine. It had a medium red appearance with a bit of a brickish
edge to show it's age. It had aromas of prunes, plums and cinnamon.
The wine was very soft with some sweeetness. There was also plummy,
gamey and tarry flavours. This wine garnered many positive comments
during the tasting, but unfortunately this wine is not currently
available in BC. The Kaapzicht Merlot 1998 was the oldest
of our wines this evening. It was showing more age than the Landskroon.
There was a split between those enjoying the "aged"
flavours and others that did not enjoy them. The wine had a brown
appearance with a brickish edge. The wine had a very pronounced
pruney / porty aroma. The portiness continued on the palate, along
with red fruits. it did have a nice mouthfeel and long finish.
The Bergsig Ruby Cabernet / Merlot 2000 was our only blend
this evening. The Rub Cabernet grape is a cross between Carignon
and Cabernet Sauvignon which came from California. This wine had
a medium red appearance and a dusty nose. There was some spice
to this wine, along with fruity flavours, which came from the
Merlot.
 The
Wildekraans Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 was deep red in appearance.
It had a complex bouquet, with herbacious, green peppers and smokiness.
This wine had very little fruit flavours. The wine was tannic
with some bitterness. There was also some herbaceous and spicy
flavours. It went well with the Roasted Duck Breast. The Glen
Carlou 2003 was our next wine. Lance had informed us that
the 2004 vintage, which is currently on it's way to Canada, won
Wine of the Year in South Africa. The 2003 vintage which we tasted
this evening was also exceptional, but no longer available. This
wine was purple in the glass, very extracted. The bouquet was
very complex. Early in the tasting, there was a barnyard aroma,
but as the tasting progressed, this aroma faded and one then was
treated to violet, coffee, sweet, and smoky aromas. The wine continued
to change in the glass over the course of the evening. One tasted
red cherries, some spiciness, and chocolate. The tannins were
supple and the oak well integrated. A superb wine! Our final wine
of the evening was the Graham Beck Ridge Syrah 2000. We
were told that the plantings of syrah grapes are outpacing other
grape varieties currently in South Africa. The grapes for this
wine came from a single vineyard and the wine was aged for 14
months in French oak. This wine had a bit of corkiness, which
didn't allow this wine to show as well as it could. There were
flavours of dark fruits/cherries and some spiciness.
 Tasting
Selection
Our favourite red wines were:
1) Glen
Carlou Syrah 2003
2) Fairview
Primo Pinotage 2001
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