tasting notes - part II

Here are some of the wonderful red wines we drank during our trip. Again, these are only notes for bottles of wine we had at restaurants or at our guest house. It would be a bit much to write up all the wines we tasted on the winery tours...

Beyerskloof Pinotage 2005 (Stellenbosch)
color: deep and opaque violet
nose: tobacco, anise, and other spices
palate: full-bodied, biting, slightly sour. Tanniny but not “snippy.” Flavors of licorice, tobacco, anise, spices, pepper. Should be consumed with a heavy meat dish.
grade: :-)-

Imbizo Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 (Stellenbosch)
Imbizo means “gathering of people.”
color: dark red
nose: over-ripe red apples, prunes
palate: mild and light but with a certain degree of full-bodiness. Flavor of cherries, slightly peppery aftertaste. An excellent wine to go with game!
grade: :-)+

Dombeya (Haskell) Shiraz 2003
color: deep and opaque violet
nose: powerful, with alcohol, tobacco, cherries, spices, and overripe red apples
palate: powerful and fruity, with paprika and ripe red apples.
grade: :-D-

Slaley Pinotage 2003 (Stellenbosch)
color: deep violet
nose: very fruity with a hint of tobacco
palate: full-bodied, but somewhat anonymous
grade: :-)

Rainbow's End Shiraz 2004. (Stellenbosch/Jonkershoek Mountains)
color: opaque, deep violet
nose: chocolate, concentrated cherry juice
palate: powerful, flavor of cocoa, some spices (cloves), hint of licorice. Slightly “sharp.”
grade: :-D-

Blaauwklippen Shiraz 2003 (Coastal Region)
color: clear and ruby-red
nose: earth cellar
palate: light, but nice with meat. Soft tannins. Flavor of cooked paprika. Bitter coffee aftertaste. Would also be nice with grilled bacalhau (dried cod/klippfisk) with lots of garlic, and perhaps even bacalhau com natas.
grade: forgot to give a grade...

(Thierry and Guy) Fat Bastard Shiraz 2004 (Robertson).
color: clear and ruby-red
nose: our spiced cherry liqueur, cloves, anise, cinnamon
palate: sourish, spicy, fruity, with a hint of red apples and cocoa and vanilla. Would work with hearty meat dishes. Also OK on its own.
grade: :-)

Raka Biography Shiraz 2004
color: opaque, deep dark red
nose: spices, earth, chocolate, cloves
palate: smooth and velvety, pleasant tannins, full-bodied but “cautious”. Lots of flavor.
grade: :-D-



Doolhof Renaissance Pinotage 2005 (Wellington)
color: deep and opaque violet
nose: butcher's shop/red meat (!!), barnyard
palate: Flavors of licorice and dark chocolate. Full-bodied and powerful, but not heavy. Pleasant tannins. Pleasant bitter aftertaste. Hints of pepper and paprika when exhaling. We asked the guy at the wine shop for a challenging wine – and we got one!
grade: :-D

Sequillo 2003 (Swartland)
(63% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre, 7% Grenache)
color: deep red
nose: spicy overripe apples
palate: full-bodied, discreet biterness, hint of lingonberries and sour cherries. Would be nice with red meat.
grade: :-)+

We had this last one on this list at home, but it's worth putting the notes up here. The story behind this wine will appear in the upcoming food report ;-)

Scarborough Red (Cape Point)
color: violet/ruby red
nose: prunes and raisins, very pleasant
palate: powerful flavor of dark berries, ripe red apples. Pleasant, discreet tannins in the aftertaste. Good aging potential.
Grade: :-)+