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.

However, there are some very good wines coming out of South Africa, though the majority are still trying to find a receptive audience. Part of the problem is the flavor profile of their flagship grape — Pinotage — which has been described as being similar to Band-Aids (no kidding … and yes it IS a good thing). Despite its name, Pinotage is nothing like Pinot Noir, though might be closer to Meritage. In any case, it has a distinctive, earthy character, which some people love and others hate. As if that weren’t enough going against it, there are a number of subpar, inexpensive Pinotages littering the shelves — and unfortunately there are no ten-dollar bottles that can do the grape justice. The result is that people who might take a gamble on a cheap Pinotage, will likely come away believing that South African wine stinks.

Luckily, there is a veritable representative of South African wine that won’t break your budget: Kanonkop Kadette. Kanonkop is THE winery for Pinotage (as well as a great Bordeaux-style blend called “Paul Sauer”) and this is their ‘entry-level’ introduction to the raw beast of a red wine that South Africa is capable of producing. Kadette is typically 50% or more Pinotage with the balance a blend of equal amounts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Adding these grapes softens the aggressive qualities of Pinotage, and the result is a red wine that most will find intriguing, as it offers a cross-section of what South Africa’s vineyards have to offer. You will get a touch of the distinctive “Band-Aid” quality on the nose, but not so much to be offensive. At the same time, you’ll also enjoy the other marks of typical South African wine: plummy cassis, black raspberry, black cherry, grape juice, and earthy flavors wrapped in appropriate levels of tart acidity, ripe tannins, and alcohol.

In some years this wine is earthy and rustic, but there have been vintages that were more ripe and jammy, with succulent plummy fruit upfront. Regardless of the vintage, Kadette is almost always a fantastic burger wine, and you can also match it with grilled sweetbreads, blackened / cajun dishes, cheeses and cheese-based dishes. At about twelve bucks, it’s a great value and an excellent introduction to the wines of South Africa.

Importer: Cape Classics

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Well if the name doesn�t grab you, I�m not sure what will.

Oh, and don’t confuse it with that 20/20 stuff you drank as a poor college student.

This is a jammy and earthy, fruit-forward, typical Aussie Shiraz that may well knock your socks off. Just one thing — it�s NOT from Australia.

If you are an astute wine geek with a particular fascination for the more obscure wine regions of Spain, then the mention of Monastrell on the label might have tipped you off. For the uninitiated, Monastrell is a grape indigenous to the Jumilla DO region of Spain, and is the same grape they call Mourvedre in the Rhone Valley of France. It�s the base grape for many of my good-valued Spanish wine favorites, such as Juan Gil�s Wrongo Dongo.

Mad Dogs & Englishmen Shiraz Cabernet Monastrell has a deep, rich nose of earth, spice, and cooked black fruits. The nose actually reminds me more of a Rhone wine, such as a Gigondas or Vacqueyras. On the palate, it tastes like an Aussie Shiraz that has been blended with a Rhone Syrah, as you get both the typical New World style fruit-forward jammy flavors upfront, and also get the more earthy, vegetal, cooked fruit / prunelike Old World chacteristics on the midpalate and through the finish. Tannins are medium to strong, and acidity is medium. The sweet jamminess eventually evolves into a more bitter, vegetal finish. Overall this is a very interesting, complex wine. By itself, this wine is contemplative and unusual, but the green flavors and ample tannins may turn you off. For that reason, I strongly suggest you enjoy it with food — such as a nice hunk of cheese, a steak, burger, meatloaf, or similarly protein-rich dish.

I thought for sure this wine retailed at $16 or more � however you will probably find it for no more than eleven bucks, possibly as low as eight. A great value and worth trying.

a-8 t-7 b-7 fc-7 v-10 ~ 89 points

Imported by Click Wine Group

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