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The Wines We Tasted
From South Africa:
Lanzerac, 1997
Boekenshoutskloof, 1998
Landskroon, 1999
L'Avenir, 1999
Louisvale, 2000
From
Australia:
Wynns Coonawarra, 1997
Brands Laira Coonawarra, 1998
Leconfield Coonawarra (CS/M/CF), 1999
Balnaves Coonawarra, 1999
Penley Estate Phoenix Coonawarra, 2000
Wynns John Riddoch Coonawarra, 1998
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Our Setting:
Seasons in the Park Restaurant,
Queen Elizabeth Park
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This is the first tasting of our new season. To start the season
off on a high note, we had a tasting of Austalian Coonawara vs
South African Cape Cabernet Sauvignon. The Australians have been
well known for their big Cabs, but not much is known here about
what the Cape has to offer. Most of the wines from this tasting
are not available in BC.
 Our
speaker for the evening was Mr. Mark Davidson, who is born and
raised in Australia. Mark is well known industry professional
and wine educator Mark Davidson. He is the winner of the 2001
BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association's "Sommelier of
the Year" award. To balance any Australian over enthusiasm,
our foil for this evening was our cellar master, Mr. Lance Berelowitz,
who hails from South Africa. A picture of Mark and Lance are shown
here discussing the wines.
Our
reception wine was the Wynns Coonawara Riesling, 2002. This wine
with a screw top cap wine is off dry with crisp acidity, nice
mouth feel and a good concentration of citrus fruit.
 Mark
began the tasting by giving us some background on the history
of the Cabernet Sauvignon grape and the great Cab wine growing
regions in the world. The Cabernet Sauvignon grape for those that
did not know is a cross between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.
Mark mentioned about the Terra Rossa soil of the Coonawara, underlain
by limestone, being very good for Cabernet Sauvignon, along with
the cooler climate of the Coonawara. The Cape wines were mainly
from the Stellenbosch area, with a few from the Paarl area for
this tasting. All wines had either a deep red or purple appearance,
with dark berries, cassis, oak and/or tannin tastes.
From
the tastings of our wines, we found that there are typically distinct
styles of wines between the Cape and the Coonawara. The Cape wines
tended to be more Bordelaise in style, while the Coonawara wines
had more bold fruit. A few Coonawara wines had a minty flavour
to them, which may be due to eucalyptus trees. Mark had also noted
that some of the Coonawara Cabs have a salty character, eventhough
there is no salt in the wine. Several of the wines , from both
Australia and from South Africa, had a barnyard bouquet (Penley,
L'Avenir, Leconfield, Boekenshoutskloof and Lanzerac). Mark let
us know that this bouquet is the result of a yeast spoilage organism
called brettanomyces.
 The
wines were first tried on their own and then with food. Many of
the wines which were not as noticeable on their own, accompanied
food very well. The Balnaves, Brands, Lanzerac and Wynns Coonawara
all matched well with the food. It was noted that the grilled
lamb chops, with their higher fat content, went well with with
the Wynns Coonawara. The Wynns Coonawara, 2000 vintage, is one
wine that is available in BC. Comparing the wines between the
two regions, from our votes for favourite wines, the Australian
Cabs were either rated as medium to very well liked, while the
South African Cabs were either very well liked, or not liked.
 A
suprise wine was poured in addition to our flight of 10 wines.
Our eleventh wine was the super premium Wynns John Riddoch Coonawara,
1998 from Australia. This wine was exceptionally deep red in colour,
with intense fruit including mint, cassis, and oak. There were
still strong tannins, which will allow this wine to age yet beautifully
to bring out its full potential. As Mark put it, this wine is
"textbook Coonawara". The 2000 vintage of this wine
is available in BC stores for approximately $67 a bottle.
 Tasting
Selection
Our favourite Cabernet Sauvignon wines are:
1. Wynns John Riddoch Coonawarra, 1998
2a. Boekenshoutskloof, 1998
2b. Brands
Laira Coonawarra, 1998
(There was a tie for second place.)
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