Durif may not be anywhere near as well known as, say, Shiraz, but in many ways it’s the epitome of an easy drinking New World red, producing deeply coloured wines with soft tannins and impressive richness of fruit. It was first grown by the French in the 1880s, but its reputation was established in Australia much more recently and now, thanks to Charles Back, South Africa too has entered the arena. Charles’ grandfather, a butcher from Lithuania, founded the estate in 1916, and today it is one of the Cape’s finest.Generous ageing in French and American casks has added seductive layers of spicy oak to the wine’s rich blackberry flavour. Smooth and full bodied, Durif makes an elegant partner to lamb shanks or game such as rabbit or venison.
Split Rock Rose Pinot Noir 2011
Hermann Seifried pioneered grape growing in Nelson on New Zealand’s South Island in the 1970s soon after arriving from Austria, via Germany and South Africa. The winemakers today are his son Chris and daughter Heidi. Having grown up on the estate, Heidi just can’t keep away from the winery for long – despite being a dentist by day. This delicious Pinot Noir rose was made by drawing the juice off the grape skins just hours after crushing. While the region’s 2,400 hours of sunshine a year, cool sea breezes and rich soil contribute the wine’s flirtatious fruitiness, we have to thank Heidi for the rest, and hope she never gives up the night job.Serve this wine chilled with tuna steaks, hot smoked salmon or New Zealand green lipped mussels.
Mont Destin Chenin Blanc 2010
Chenin Blanc is South Africa’s signature white – loved for its delightful honeyed lemon and apple character. This 2010 is from Ernest and Samantha Burgin, who founded their own small winery in Stellenbosch, one of the finest wine regions of the Cape. The site is overlooked by Table Mountain so they named it Mont Destin or ‘Mountain of Destiny’. Quirky yet quality obsessed, they welcome visitors, and even offer an ‘open air wine bath’ among the vines as an unusual guest experience.The grapes for this white were hand picked then cool fermented to capture all their delicate aromatics. Six months’ ageing on its fine lees has given a nutty complexity to the wine’s crisp fruit. Enjoy with creamy sauced white meats or panfried belly pork.
AmododA 2010
Our Buyer Becca Reeves discovered this luxurious Cape red on a trip to Klein Constantia, South Africa’s oldest winery. Lowell Jooste, head winemaker there, also has his own vineyard and winery in Stellenbosch, jointly owned with Hubert de Bouard de Laforest (of the famous Premier Grand Cru Classe Chateau Angelus in Saint Emilion) and Bruno Prats (of the renowned Second Growth Saint Estephe estate Cos d’Estournel). AmododA 3 is from them – appropriately its name means ‘three men’, using the Xhosa word for ‘men’.The grapes were selected from drip irrigated vines that produce grapes with excellent concentration, then fermented in optimum conditions and matured in French oak. The wine makes a fine partner for a Sunday roast or peppered steak.
Rietvallei Estate Sauvignon Blanc Six-bottle case Mixed Wine Case
Case of 12 bottles (equivalent to £3.98 per bottle) A fresh, dry and deliciously vibrant Sauvignon Blanc made from a premium estate in South Africa., 6 x 6 bottle packaging – France Not Set Wine, 6 x Rietvallei Estate Sauvignon Blanc – South Africa White Wine
