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South Africa

Porcupine Ridge Syrah Viognier 2009

August 24, 2011
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Continuing with my animal-on-the-label-theme here, you wouldn’t expect to choose a Porcupine as the most endearing or glamorous animal to represent a bottle of wine. It seems as if everyone is getting in on the act though and the more exotic the animal on the label the better the chances of someone saying “Ooh, look, [...]

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Vriesenhof Kallista 2004

August 1, 2011
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The major disadvantage of supermarkets dominating the retail sale of wine is that sometimes it can be difficult to find something different or a bit special produced by an independent, smaller and more boutique estate or vineyard. The big supermarket chains force huge discounts on their suppliers that only really those that produce huge volumes [...]

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Manley Shiraz 2007

July 18, 2011
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This wine has been lurking in my box from online retailer Naked Wines for some time now. Not that I’ve been putting it off drinking it for fear of a wack wine, more like I’ve been waiting for the right occasion to do it justice. At £12.50 it’s more than I usually spend on a [...]

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Stellenzicht Rhapsody 2004

April 8, 2011
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South African winemakers have been in a bit of a quandary regarding Pinotage in the last few decades but now seem more assured with what to do with this grape variety as it is increasingly being used as a blending component to lend backbone, structure and a bit of New World exotic elegance to wine [...]

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Raats Cabernet Franc 2007

March 21, 2011
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Cabernet Franc is an under-rated grape variety, in my opinion, and not many wine lovers get a chance to appreciate it in its individual glory as it is primarily used for blending. One of the two parent grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon (Sauvignon Blanc being the other), it is often overshadowed by its sibling and its [...]

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Neethlingshof Malbec 2009

March 14, 2011
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Every cloud has a silver lining. If my local Waitrose had not burned down a few years back I probably would never have got to try this wine and for that I’m grateful. Of course, I am not about to go out and torch every Waitrose so they get rebuilt with better wine sections but [...]

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La Motte Shiraz 2006

March 3, 2011
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Franschhoek literally means French Corner. This beautiful valley in the Western Cape was famously settled by the Huguenots after the Edict of Nantes in 1685 outlawed Protestantism in France and forced the choice between emigration or religious persecution. They spread far and wide – the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, North America and the Cape of [...]

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Meerlust Merlot 2005

January 25, 2011
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Trawling through my regular wine-buying websites the other day to see what bargains there were to be had, I nearly fell off my chair when I saw this wine advertised on special offer with Majestic at £15.99 per bottle. Not only is this a very good price for one of South Africa’s best producers of [...]

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Signatures of Doolhof 2008, a Malbec from South Africa

September 9, 2010
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Everyone knows that Pinotage comes from South Africa and Malbec from South America, right? Well, the South Africans have begun to plant Malbec so that could soon be changing. I received a bottle of Signatures of Doolhof Malbec 2008 the other day and was  very curious to try it. I wasn’t sure what to expect [...]

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Pinotage

May 13, 2009
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This deep rouge coloured South African beauty resulted from a viticultural cross between Pinot Noir and Hermitage (the South African name for Cinsaut) in 1925. Pinotage is budget friendly and lends itself as a great accompaniment to a variety of meals. Pinotage Grape Pinotage vines are easy to grow, with the grapes ripening early with [...]

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