What I Drank Last Night

A selection of recently received Chardonnay samples tasted sighted and scored according to the 20-point system: Mont Rochelle Barrel Fermented 2008 Franschhoek – 13.5% Pale yellow, green tinge. Faint reductive note on generally shy nose. Concentrated fruit (more lime than lemon), fresh to the point of hard acidity, well judged oak. Very youthful, tight. Drink [...]

Yesterday the launch of Haskell Anvil 2010, the maiden vintage of single vineyard Chardonnay from this Stellenbosch property where the accomplished Rianie Strydom is winemaker.  This wine involved multiple pickings from 17° through 23° Balling in order to achieve the broadest possible flavour spectrum and winemaking was done so as to preserve primary fruit and [...]

Yesterday a vertical of 2002 through 2009 of Nine Yards Chardonnay from Jordan in Stellenbosch as well as 2004 through 2009 of the cuvée made by cellarmaster Gary Jordan for the Cape Winemakers Guild auction.  Both wines are from the same 2ha vineyard planted in 1988 on granite and shale-derived soils and having an east-south [...]

The Chardonnay 2009 from Elgin winery Paul Cluver Estate won trophies for best in class, best white wine overall and best wine in the view of the three international judges involved in judging at Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2011. The same wine won the trophy for best in class at last year’s competition. As [...]

Out of the 23 000 cases that Elgin winery Oak Valley produces annually, 10 000 are Sauvignon Blanc, 10 000 are Bordeaux-style red blend and only 1 500 each are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (and the OV white blend apparently too little to mention). “I wish it was the other way around, but when we [...]

Last night an informal dinner for 2011 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show judges at Marc’s restaurant in Paarl. A mix-and-match approach to food and wine, with some judges bringing special bottles to share with colleagues. Main-course menu options included pan-fried Kabeljou, Wildebeest Wellington style and trio of butternut – gratin, carpaccio and risotto. After a [...]

Last night a meeting of our social tasting group, the theme of the evening Chardonnay. Two flights, the first featuring unwooded examples, the second wooded. We tasted blind and here’s how I scored the wines using the 20-point system. Flight one 1. Domaines des Malandes Chablis 2009 16/20 2.= Domaine William Fevre Montée de Tonnerre [...]

Last night songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Imogen Heap at the Paul Cluver Estate amphitheatre in Elgin. Heap’s a sort of UK-born Alanis Morissette or PJ Harvey-lite, her 2009 album Ellipse having won a Grammy for best engineered album, non-classical. What sets her apart is the use in her songs of electronics (plenty of beeps and clicks) [...]

When the recent Big 5 Tasting which saw five local wine producers go head to head with top French doppelgängers took place, there was no Chardonnay module. The question was put to organiser Jörg Pfützner of Fine Wine Events why this was, and he proffered that South Africa didn’t have anything to touch Burgundy. While [...]

…and the Barrel Fermented 2008 doesn’t. The way that Platter’s works is that all wines are tasted sighted (labels exposed), except for those nominated for Five Stars. Each member of the tasting team gets a random selection of new-release wines to work through and those that he or she thinks are worthy of 5 Stars [...]