From the Cellar

A South African Couple

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Category: Uncorked Tonight

Railroad Red

(August 15, 2014) ... I will admit that back in the day I used to buy quite a bit of South African wine, the reasons were purely economic, they were fairly inexpensive.  But as I tasted more and more South African wines I found that the cheap ones were laced with road tar and band-aid aromas, and in many cases followed onto the palate ... I have not bought a cheap South African wine in a long time.  One of the wines I do have in my possession is not cheap, I got it on sale, but it definitely was never cheap.  It was during a South African wine seminar and tasting that I first got to try Leopard Frog 2004 Tantra, a Cabernet Franc 44% / Cabernet Sauvignon 32% / Petit Verdot 24% blend made by David John Bates a Canadian winemaker living in South Africa ... I would have to say the room was blown away by the wine, and the price.  But because the seminar was part of an educational show the LCBO honchos at the time decided not to put their markup on the wine and hence this bottle was virtually half-price.  I bought a couple.  This is the last bottle of this wine I have and I was saving it for a special occasion ... Alas, when that is your criteria the special occasion never arrives ... So I pulled it out tonight with some friends hoping to impress.  The nose had became very much on the leathery and earthy side showing off little to no fruit at all.  The palate, on the other hand, was definitely on the downward slide but still showed nice plum and dried fruits, there was also some smooth leathery notes, and aghast there was a touch of that tell-tale South African bandaid, I don't remember it ever being there when it was young.  Maybe it's a South African thing no matter what the wine.

I promised two South African wines off the top and here's the second ... And trust me, this one I knew I was too late with but had to open and try it anyway:  a Graham Beck 2003 Railroad Red, which, at this point in its life, was truly an atrocity of a wine.  My bad for letting it sit this long.

Older Ontario Wines With Fabio and Family (Ontario)

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Category: Uncorked Tonight

(August 10, 2014) ... After the Vintages Tasting of the Lake Erie North Shore region a few of us went back to Fabio Muscedere house for a BBQ and an old Ontario vintage wine party broke out ... I had brought two of those wines and Fabio provided a couple others ... I believe other wines found their way out to the table as well but I:  a) lost count and b) wasn't supremely impressed with them ... Not that these four wines below were anything to write home about ... Well two weren't anyway.

Marynissen 2001 Cabernet-Merlot ... I had some high hopes for this one, but then I was reminded that this was the lady bug year, but I still held on to a faint glimmer of hope that Marynissen was not affected.  Alas, this was a dud from start to finish:  Stinky nose laced with stewed fruit with plenty of Asian lady beetle thrown in - this was horrible.  But not as horrible as the Viewpointe 2004 Cabernet Franc, a cabbagy mess from start to finish - it made the Marynissen seem palatable by comparison.

On the other hand, a bottle of Southbrook 2002 Triomphe Cabernet Franc - Watson Vineyard, showed some real character for a 12 year old wine, it seems to have held up okay; though as more air got into it more and more green pepper began creeping in on both the nose and palate.  Within an hour it was hard to overlook it.  Speaking with former Southbrook and now Lailey winemaker Derek Barnett, a few weeks later, he claims not to be surprised.  Our final bottle just happened to be a Lailey 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, now this quite possibly was the best bottle of the evening:  smoky, meaty and oaky with some decent fruit and good tannins backing it up; this wine still has a few years ahead of it.