InvestecTrophy Wine Show part 2 – the Reds
There were some gobsmackingly delicious reds at the show. Of course when I eventually got on to the reds, time was ticking by relentlessly as was my capacity to drink more, but because I’m so dedicated to my craft I pressed on honourbly.
There were a lot more reds at the show than I managed to decant into my tasting glass, but these were the ones I did get to:
Babylonstoren Can Sav 2020, Blue Crane Vineyards Full Flight 2020, Boschendal Wine Estate Nicholas 2019, Louisvale Wines Stellenbosch Cab Sav 2018 (97 points!!), Morgenster Estate Louwrens River Valley 2016, Muratie Wine Estate Marrin Melck Cab Sav Family Reserve 2018, Saronsberg Cellar Full Circle 2020, Druk-My-Niet Wine Estate Invictus 2014, Paul Wallace Wines Black Dog Malbec 2018 (best Malbec at the show), Bruce Jack Wines Ghost in the Machine Shiraz 2020 (98 points!), Spier Wine Farm Woolworths Signature Series Merlot 2018 (97 points), Oldenburg Vineyards Rondekop Stone Axe Syrah 2020 and Rondekop Rhodium Blend 2020, Visio Vintners Alliance 2020, Delaire Graff Estate Cape Vintage 2019, Glen Carlou Collection Red Blend 2019 (which won 3 trophies), and Hidden Valley Wines Hidden Gem 2018.
It looks like a lot of wine, but in fact…actually, yeah, it was a lot of wine. Thank heavens for Uber. The end of the evening was filled with lots of loud noise, hugging, celebrations involving bottles, and selfies with strangers.
Of all of these, my favorites were Ghost in the Machine Shiraz, Louwrens River Valley blend, tue Glen Carlou red blend, the Louisvale Cab, the Black Dog Malbec, and the Full Flight.
Somewhere in between the reds I also stumbled upon some delicious desert wines (an opportune pun, I probably did literally stumble too) – the Nederburg Wines The Winemasters Noble Late Harvest and Paul Cluver Wines Elgin Riesling Nobel Late Harvest were absolutely delicious. The Delaire Graff Port won the trophy for best Port, and it was worthy of the accolade.
I bumped into foodie Claire Bear Allen somewhere around the Nederberg Late Harvest, and met some fun and passionate winemakers – Nicky Wallace from Paul Wallace wines, Nic the GM Winemaker from Oldenburg, and Simon from Louisvale.
So there it is – a who’s who of the best wines in SA. If you can’t find your next favorite wines from the ones I’ve sampled here, you need to hand back your wine collection and start drinking water.
Apparently there was another wine show tonight but there’s only so much a man can do.
Next week, I start visiting some of these estates, starting with Louisvale. I’ll bring you some of the winemaker’s passion and a virtual tour of the cellar.
