Van Pepper Wines wine tasting 1: 20080918

THEME: Bring a bottle of wine you think none of the other people have tasted before

Attendees: Van, Erina, Mariska, Niek, Elna and Swo

This being our first tasting and all, we had some trouble figuring out how to "hide" the identity of the wines. Luckily Swo came to the rescue and after about 20 minutes of hiding the wines to himself and from Mariska, the party got started.

Guardian Peak Tannat Malbec 2006
(Tannat: 54%, Malbec: 34%, Merlot: 12% | 14.5% Vol)

The Tannat comes from Wellington and the Malbec from Bilton, which is Guardian Peak's neighbour.
It is so funny to see a bunch of wine lovers uhm'ing and aah'ing about the cultivar. Some suggested it to be a Cab/ Merlot, New style Cab, Merlot or even a Pinotage from the Hermanus area!
I've never heard of Tannat before, so according to Wikipedia: historically grown in South West France and is now one of the most prominent grapes in Uruguay.
We all tasted lots of berries, Van tasted some dark chocolate and Erina spicy pepper. I picked up a bit of coffee (for a moment thought it might be a Pinotage - but a blind tasting makes fools of us all!).
According to Guardian Peak's website: "This Cohors based blend is a first for Guardian Peak and South Africa This wine will soften and mature beautifully over the next 5 years".
www.guardianpeak.co.za

Auction Crossing: Syrah Viognier 2005
(Syrah: 93%, Voignier: 7% | 14.5% Vol)

This wine comes from the Hex River Crossing Private Cellar and is made in the traditional Cote Roti style where a small percentage of Viognier is co-fermented with Syrah to to produce a unique wine with complex flavours.
What's always lovely about tasting new wines (or in our case: wines that you think other wouldn't have tasted before), is you get to discover new wine farms! In this case, I had a look at their website and found out that Auction Crossing got its name because the original farm was called "Vendutie kraal" - vendusie means auction in English. The Crossing part is because of pioneers crossing the river.
So, what did our tasting panel make of this wine? I picked up some bacon kips, fruity and spicy with slight pepper. Swo decided it was a Shiraz from a cold area, and Elna picked up some biltong and fynbos flavours. Erina also guessed a Shiraz and she got the vintage right!
www.auctioncrossing.co.za

Lovane Iziko 2006
(Cabernet Sauvignon: 100%)
"Three different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon were seperately fermented and matured in french oak barrels for 22 months. LovanE; being a boutique estate, enabled the Gous family to rate each barrels' tannins, structure, complexity and palate and to then select specific barrels to be blended together - resulting in the 6 different 100% Cabernet Sauvignon".
We all enjoyed this wine very much. Most people thought it was a Pinotage or Cab. I think this wine can be enjoyed around the fireplace, as the name Iziko (Xhosa for fireplace) suggests. We also had it at Niek's 55th birthday party on 29 September and everyone was crazy about it! Do yourself a favour, of you want to go for a wine-tasting lunch over the weekend, do stop by at Lovane!
www.lovane.co.za

First Sighting Shiraz 2004
(Shiraz: 95%, Cabernet Sauvignon: 5% | 14.2% Vol)

Van and Erina spoilt us with this gem of a Shiraz from Strandveld Vineyards: "Strandveld refers to the coastal belt of land which straddles the coastline around the Cape Agulhas. This confluence of maritime climate ad varying sites and soil types create the diversity of terroir that distinguishes the wines of Strandveld".
This is quite a full-bodied wine and it needs to be complimented by some red meat (which we have just had a taste of in the form of Mariska's (in)famous Spaghetti Bolognaise... Swo picked up some pencil shavings and Erina commented on the sweet berry aroma. At this stage myself, Elna en Niek were just enjoying the wine...

Winner of the Evening:
Schalk Opperman 1846 C: Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
(Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon | 14.4%)
You might think that we were quite biased because Schalk is a great buddy of ours, but we all really enjoyed this wine before we even knew what it was or who made it!
Schalk wants this wine to be "enjoyed with friends and family", something we did! And the label design is understated elegance in its purest form.
We all thought the wine to be older than it was - a sign of pure greatness! Only 400 bottles were made, we're still waiting for our batch! ;)
Can anybody guess what the 1846 C stands for!?

That's it on our first Van Pepper Wines wine tasting.
Coming up:
Thursday 9 October: Food and wine pairing
Thursday 23 October: Under the influence Premium 6