Slurring at Slanghoek

Greetings to all you winelovers,

From Jason's Hill we went a little further on to Slanghoek. And with wine this affordable (which seems to be the usual way of things around here), you'll be slurring in no time. Starting with the Chenin Blanc (R17), we picked up pear, canned peaches and sweet melon - certainly a fruit salad mix and good value. The Sauv Blanc (R23) was also an interesting mix of green pepper, fig leaf and grassy qualities with an unmistakable pinch of lemon on the finish, giving it a clean, crisp finish.

Of the reds, I enjoyed the Camerca blend (R20), which is an equal blend of Cab Sauv and Merlot, with strong mocha and cigar box smells and smooth black currant and dark berries on the palate, this wine is ready to drink at night around the braai-place after a satisfying meal. The Shiraz also stood out (R27) with a roasted meat nose and a subtle smoky, freshly opened jar of coffee smell with red berries on the palate alongside some cinnamon, cloves and white pepper - surprisingly complex for such a well-priced wine - although, again, better drink this one now than much later. The Cab Sauv (R29) was also quite deliciously complex with black currants, coffee, blackberry jam, pencil shavings, dried pine needles and fynbos to be found - this one can lay down a while, maybe an extra year or three might do it some service. At such a good price, it may be worth your time to buy a case or three of it and try storing it well to see how it develops (and drink a few bottles of it while you wait).

Finally, we tasted two natural sweet wines, starting with the Creme de Chenin which had some quite unique characters with fresh over-ripe peach and guava smells (like they'd just fallen off the tree and had been baking in the sun for hours), saltanas and dried fruit smells. Certainly very pleasing at R22 a bottle and something I'd easily buy to help convert people to the wonders of wine. The last wine we tasted was the Noble Late Harvest (R95) which is mostly Chenin with a touch of Hanepoot, and certainly was a much more typical sweet dessert wine with honey, dried apricot and peachs dominating the wine.

Catch you all later,
Val