David Strange
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2017 Naudé Werfdans Old Vines Western Cape
11/29/2023 - David Strange Likes this wine:
It was 31℃ in Winchester when I decided to open this Werfdans 2017, so to give it a chance to show at its cool, refined, charming best, I stuck it in the fridge for a while.
When I got around to opening the Werfdans 2017, I realised it had to warm up a bit, but I poured myself a taste anyway. A sniff, and the fruit, minerality, depth of flavour and poise made me exclaim, “This smells just like Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru from Chandon de Briailles!” So we are thinking minimalist, total beauty from the first, chilled sniff.
However, this could not be right. Appellation rules do not allow Cinsault to be made into Corton Grand Cru. I let it warm up a bit.
My, how the Werfdans 2017 had blossomed. It blossomed into a fragrant rose of heady, deep aroma, dusted with exotic spices growing in granite soil that someone is furiously chipping with scant regard to the danger to one’s feet.
The unfathomably deep character to these aromas is testament to the struggles the 49-year-old (at the time of harvest) vines have endured in their dust devil-playground. They express this location and their age so clearly; this must be a special place and I want to visit it – this much is certain already.
The glisks of sunlight that refract through the pale coloured Werfdans match the energy and vigour of the palate. It has vital acidity and vivacious stone-y characteristics. Thrills indeed!
It’s florid rose and redcurrant fruit flavours are as profound as they are elegant and refined, and the exotic spice characteristics that add to the supremely happiness-provoking, stylish nature of this wine just make me want to grin one of my broad, silly grins.
There is depth and, dare I say it, real concentration of flavour despite this Werfdans clocking in at a mere 12.5%. It has real poise and balance between concentration and finesse, involute eclat and minimalist elan.
The finish just goes on and on.
This is, indeed, what Ian aims for – the character of its origins captured in the medium of vinous style, and I love it. I know some people like opaque, 15% wines that taste of minestrone soup, but this is a whole realm of beauty that is worth anyone’s time exploring.
At six years old this Werfdans 2017 is a sententious supermodel clad in chicly revealing robes that you can happily throw yourself at as they walk down the catwalk, but I do not think there is any harm in leading them to your cellar to ravish in your own good time.
Exquisitely sublime.
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2020 Naudé Oupa Willem Old Vines
10/13/2023 - David Strange wrote:
The first sniff reveals delicate scents of red fruits suffused with heady aromas of rose petals and hints of exotic spice.
A second sniff shows the red fruit is only part of a continuum of fruit flavours that blend seamlessly from lingonberry to blackcurrant the involute nature of which is enhanced by the rose, spice and the merest suggestion of Cabernet Franc leafiness.
It is a highly engaging nose, thick with fragrance, sweet with fruit, yet not at all powered by alcohol. This is the pure expression of the grapes, and they express that they were picked at the peak of their unequivocal attractiveness.
It is amazing that so much perfume can come at such a low alcohol level, and the nose is all the more beautiful for lacking any heat or burn to it. Oupa Willem 2020 is totally at ease with itself. Confident, charismatic, captivating.
When one tastes the first impression is of light red fruit with good energy and life. It unfolds on one’s palate to deliver rose petal and musk flavours. Very nice!
As you swirl Oupa Willem 2020 around your palate a leafy freshness develops along with darker fruit flavours. Given how light it initially tasted it begins to show a reasonable degree of structure to its tannins, which build and, with the bright acidity, give a vibrant grip to the palate. The tannins seem surprisingly ripe for a 11.5% wine.
The more you taste, the more you are seduced by the fruity, floral flavours that permeate the now distinctly tannic palate. More and more keeps on being revealed by this palate, it is quite the little temptress, and to keep tasting it is to love it with a greater intensity. It is delicious!
There is no shame in drinking this now, but I feel in 5-10 years this will display even more complexity and there will be even more integration between the components that already sing such a sweet song together.
Oupa Willem 2020 is clearly the best one yet; chapeau, Ian!
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2020 Rizzi Langhe Nebbiolo
10/9/2023 - David Strange Likes this wine:
Fleshy, fruity and fun, with a kick of alcohol to keep you giggling. It is not really complex or serious, but it is not dull. It is a nice drink and that is what I would hope for at the just under £20 I paid for it.
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