Tall Horse Pinotage Rose 2007
You’d think this site became a pink wine blog …
Yes, it’s yet another rose wine review. Sorry, but there are so many gosh-darn good pink wines this year.
The latest I’ve tasted is by Tall Horse, made from 100% Pinotage — an unlikely candidate for rose wine. Pinotage is from South Africa, and traditionally a big, bold red wine with black berry and earth character, and a touch of an unusual aroma that can only be described as “band-aid”. When I heard that a) there was a rose from South Africa and b) it was made from Pinotage, I had to get my hands on a bottle for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity and bewilderment. After all, it’s difficult to find ANY South African wines in a typical US wine shop, and damn near impossible to find a rose from SA — and even then it most likely would be made from Cabernet.
Suspicious of any pink wine made from Pinotage, especially one adorned with a label of a cartoon-like giraffe, I’ll admit my initial prognosis was, “there’s no way this is going to be good.”
As is often the case with low expectations, however, I was pleasantly surprised — this rose is a fruit-filled quaffer with plenty of complexity and enough structure to stand up to food.
The tasting notes:
Mild aromas of red berry, red licorice, cranberry (none of the typical “band-aid” aroma associated with Pinotage, by the way). Fruit is more pronounced on the palate, offering juicy watermelon candy, raspberry candy, pomegranate, pear, peach, and a touch of mineral. Acidity is mild to medium – not too high for drinking alone, but tart enough to match with fairly simple foods. It finishes quickly, but with a nice red licorice and red cherry flavor, as well as a bit of citrus. Easy drinking, with enough perceived sweetness to sway white zinners toward finer wine. Don’t drink this too cold, or you’ll miss a lot of the fun and complexity. Enjoy it as an aperitif, with simple appetizers, or with barbecued chicken. May also be good with sweet and spicy dishes, such as you might find on a Chinese take-out menu. At around 8 bucks, this is a great value.
a-7 t-8 b-8 fc-7 v- 9 ~ 89 Points
Where did the summer go? It seems like it just arrived, and now it’s on the way out. Maybe I wouldn’t have realized it had I not seen banners and ads all over the place for Halloween … sheesh! However, the weather is still warm in most parts of the USA, and you can continue to enjoy the pink / rose wines that were released over the last few months. Thank goodness, too, because I have at least a half-dozen reviews of good roses that you can still find and will be fresh enough to enjoy for about another month or so.
Summer is the best time for drinking white and pink wines, but that doesn’t mean you should swear off reds completely. In fact, now is a good time to sample lighter reds that you might not consider during the braising and roasting seasons of autumn and winter.
In the summertime, I’m always on the lookout for a clean, quality Sauvignon Blanc under fifteen bucks. They’re around, but can take some time to find. Usually you’ll find such bargains from Chile or Argentina, and on occasion from New Zealand or South Africa. One good valued example is this Sauvignon from Drylands, which retails for about $14.99 (though some retailers may have it for a few dollars less).
Vinos Sin Ley translates to “wines without law”. This is an interesting winery, created by two bright winemakers who have added additional enologists to their group and are focused on making high-quality, value-oriented wines. They produce wines that retail from seven to thirty bucks, with the bulk of the assortment under $13. Macintosh users will be comfortable with their Garnacha range, which is named G1, G2, G3, G4, ,G5, and G6 (prices raise as the G-number increases). 
With the label featuring a black and white photo of a sweet Labrador Retriever, how could one possibly leave this bottle on the shelf? 
Could there be a better time of year?
At some point in your wine buying life, you may have come across bottles from South Africa — most likely, they’d be cramped up in a back corner shelf near the wines from Australia and New Zealand. You may have found their origin intriguing, but feared buying a bottle, since no one’s ever talking about South African wine. 
Well if the name doesn�t grab you, I�m not sure what will.
Over the last 25 years or so, the island of Sicily has tranformed itself from an overgrown grape juice factory into a hotbed for cutting edge, superripe, fine wines. Its long, arid, sweltering summers allow for extreme ripening of grapes, thus producing ripe, dense, fruit-packed wines. In the last decade some remarkable (and expensive) Sicilian wines have stunned the wine world, but the island is also becoming known as a place for great values. 
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