NobleRottersSydney - South Africa

After 23 years, a brand new theme! Eight Rotters plus one guest gather to sail our palates across the Indian Ocean, despite risking the possibility of nothing but feral pinotage. Special extra points for David who managed to make the fizz and dessert wines fit the theme; that’s almost a first. Only Geoffrey & Gordon had wine cellared; the rest of us were buying recently. Wines mostly drunk in pairs as below.

• NV Pongrácz Methode Cap Classique Cuvée Brut

  South Africa, Western Cape

  [cork, 12%, A$25] {David} Developing but quite clean nose of yeast, bread and a touch of cheese. The palate shows off typical chardonnay-derived flavours without too much yeast/lees character; bubbles are finely textured and delicate. Medium-bodied; fairly straightforward wine that lacks much complexity; it tends to sit pretty much on the front palate. Still, it’s a good effort, especially for the price.

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• 2008 Thelema Chardonnay

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  [screwcap, 13%, A$30] {Greg} Developing nose in a fully worked style; oak, butter, cashews, nuts. It’s all pretty high quality stuff, but it’s very much at one end of the chardonnay spectrum. The palate hangs together quite well; there’s some melon-like fruit amongst the nuts, lees and vanilla, while discreet acid supports the palate, and finely judged alcohol avoids heat or staleness. Plenty ripe, but not too much. It’s medium-bodied, with a medium-length finish and quite a rich mid-palate. If this style of chardonnay is your thing, then it’s fine; I would have preferred just a little less oak flavour. It’s not sweet, thankfully, but I think it’s best within 5 years lest the oak flavours dominate totally. Fermented and aged in french barriques, according to the back label, so that explains a great deal.

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• 2009 Nederburg Chardonnay

  South Africa, Western Cape

  [screwcap, 13.5%, A$15] {Kim} A nose showing a little development of aroma; and they’re very much mainstream international chardonnay these days; tropical fruits, peaches, melons. There’s a steeliness to the palate here, along with faintly sulphurous/acidic quality. A little sharpness, maybe? And yet, with time gentle oak gives a creamy sort of texture to this; a medium-bodied dry wine with a short-medium length finish, largely sitting at the front of the tongue. Don’t cellar it, but at this price just buy more if needed…

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Lack of ageability-confidence and (apparent) experience led us to broach the older red wines first.

• 2001 Simonsig Syrah Merindol

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  [cork, 14%] {Gordon} Looks very much ten years old; mid-garnet with some of bricking around the edge. Double-decented two hours earlier. Aged, leathery/oaky, sweet liquorice nose. Right in the warm-climate-shiraz corner of the wine world. The palate is aged too, with animal/mushroom flavours, generous fruit-cake and liquorice on offer. With medium-high powdery tannins, and a full-bodied weight, it’s a big mouthful of sweetly-satisfying wine. Dry and not hot; it has a medium-long finish with plenty of presence on the mid-palate. This is pretty good at ten years old, but doesn’t need any more time.

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• 2001 Fairview Carignan Pegleg

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Swartland

  [cork, 14.5%] {Geoffrey} Not our first tasting of a straight carignan as I thought on the night; I see from my notes that Geoffrey bought the very same wine to a 2008 dinner! This bottle has an aged rustic nose of bramble and cranberry-like aromas. The dry palate is holding together; there are spiced blackberry flavours, soft tannins and plenty of acidity; it’s the acid which will claim this wine in the end I think, as there’s an aura of enroaching volatility. For the moment, as a medium-bodied aged wine, it’s fine but don’t tarry. Doesn’t have the integrity of the Simonsig, but it’s fine on its own terms.

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The middle pair of reds hailed from Kanonkop.

• 2010 Kanonkop Kadette

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  [cork, 14%, A$27] {Greg} Pinotage, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet-franc and merlot in the percentages 44/41/6/9. This actually smells more like a rhone-style blend than a bordeaux. Pinotage+cabernet = grenache. Hmmm. The youthful aromas are of cherries, cranberry and white pepper. Little evidence of oak on the palate despite barrique-aging, although there are some medium, slightly gritty tannins present. It’s dry, medium-bodied, and sits more toward the front of the palate with its texture. Short-medium length finish, not too hot. Better with food. Kind of pricey for a second wine.

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• 2009 Kanonkop Pinotage

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch

  [cork, 14%, A$55] {David - guest} So, serious pinotage, to the tune of 70% new barrique aging, although it doesn’t really show on the nose; which is a mixture of tart blackberries and tobacco, with a touch of briary, exotically spiced fruit. Palate is an interesting mix of liqueur-like fruit flavours, but still with a peppery overtone, that tobacco note and even some peppermint. Quite a lot going on, in fact. It has a medium-high level of dusty tannin, is totally dry, medium-full bodied, with plenty of richness on the front and mid-palates, and a medium-long finish. Interesting wine that doesn’t sacrifice authenticity for an ‘appeal to all tastes’ but it’s not so feral or rustic as to scare anyone away either. Wonderfully balanced, then! Impressive effort that ought to develop nicely for at least 8-10 years. Definitely recommended.

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• 2006 Sequillo Cellars Sequillo Red

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Swartland

  [cork, 14.5%, A$45] {Graeme} This 1400-case cuvee from the Sadie Family winemakers is a Cape take on the Rhone, being a blend of shiraz, mouvedre and grenache. The nose is a mixture of vanilla and black fruits, with a streak of white pepper that some found a little green. I’d certainly concede a eucalypt-like note. It’s solidly medium-bodied, with moderate dusty tannins and a presence that keeps towards the front of the tongue. I didn’t find it unripe, but it’s certainly leaner in texture than the preceding reds; I’m not certain it’ll get any more harmonious as time passes. A medium length finish concludes the show, but again there’s a hard edge to the wine. Lifts somewhat with food, but not something you’d actively seek out. Drink now and over the next 5 years.

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• 2006 Kumkani Pinotage

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  [screwcap, 14.5%, A$30] {Glenn} Here’s old-style pinotage in the take-no-prisoners, make-no-apologies style. Brambles, tree-bark, glue, tobacco, delicatessen aromas, with some degree of age on them. The palate offers these flavours in a rustic, not-quite-feral way; loose-knit and generous, with medium gritty tannins, medium-full body, enough rich flavour to easily carry the alcohol, and a dry, medium-length finish. An honest, hearty wine for the right sort of food, this is a very decent example of authentic, affordable pinotage.

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• 2005 Warwick Estate Three Cape Ladies Cape Blend

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch

  [cork, 14.5%, A$44] {Stephen} Cab-sauvignon, merlot, pinotage and even some shiraz make up this wine. Four ladies? The nose doesn’t seem to be aging particularly, but does seem to be brett-affected. To me there’s a part-metallic, part-medicinal aspect to the aromas which suppresses whatever fruit was here. Palate has plenty of powdery tannins still, along with an acid-like tartness, but still seems stripped somehow. Very mysterious; it’s hard to find identifiable flavours here, just an oddly chemical taste. I don’t think it’s cooked, and it’s certainly not corked. Still, I’d be surprised if this is typical of this wine, which has a much better reputation than what’s on offer here. A pity.

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• 2009 Stellenrust Chenin Blanc Chenin d'Muscat Noble Late Harvest

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  [375ml, cork, 11%, A$35] {David} A youthfully aromatic nose which smells for all the world like limoncello. Little oak apparent on the nose, and not much sign of botrytis either. The palate is between off-dry and medium-dry for sweetness; there are tangy lemon and lychee flavours, but never anything as rich as honey. The finish is actually quite dry, with a chalkiness to the texture; it’s light-medium bodied, but does conclude rather shortly, and without much interaction with the mid or back-palates. Acid is quite soft too, but is in proportion to the rest of the wine. Apparently the term “Late Harvest’ has enforceable residual sugar limits (10-30g/l) in South Africa, but not “Noble Late Harvest”. This is a blend of chenin blanc and muscat d’Alexandria. An interesting (if expensive) novelty, I’ll guess it’s best drunk young given the sweetness level.

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Rereading these notes after writing them up, they do actually sound rather harsher than I thought at the time. This was a very good night of interesting and - in some cases - quite unusual wines, with nearly everything worthy of thoughtful, reflective drinking.