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The Steve Tanzer March/April 2007 tasting notes are in. The can be read here, or please go to Steve's website. |
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Steve Tanzer IWC 2007 |
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The Steve Tanzer March/April 2007 tasting notes are in. The can be read here, or please go to Steve's website.
Steve Tanzer – March/April 2007 Tasting Notes
Avondale
2006 Avondale Chenin Blanc Paarl 87
($12) Pale, bright yellow. Slightly exotic but pure aromas of lime, grapefruit, pineapple, quince and honey. Dense, ripe and juicy; perked up by some unabsorbed CO2 but essentially a pliant, ripe style with tangy peach and lime flavors and good intensity and freshness. Finishes with piquant notes of lime, melon, kiwi and mint.
2005 Avondale Chenin Blanc Paarl 88
($12) Pale, bright yellow. High-toned aromas of lime and melon lifted by a floral top note and complicated by a leesy nuance. Juicy, tangy and ripe, with some CO2 contributing lift and grip. Firm-edged, classically dry finish features a bitter quinine quality that calls for food. This is interesting.
2004 Avondale Syrah Paarl 87
($20) Bright ruby-red. High-pitched aromas of violet rose petal, licorice and meat. A sweet, lush fruit bomb in the mouth, with dark berry and chocolate flavors showing good intensity but a bit less complexity than the 2003. Currently a bit abrupt on the end, with some oak tannins enjoying the upper hand.
2003 Avondale Syrah Paarl 87
($20) Ruby-red. Sappy aromas of raspberry, meat, cotton candy, licorice and spices; shows a grapey immediacy. Sweet, supple and a bit high-toned, with dark berry and meat flavors. Falls down a bit on the back end, where the chocolaty tannins come across as rough and a bit dry.
2003 Avondale Graham Reserve Red Wine Paarl 87
($20; 50% cabernet sauvignon and 25% each merlot and shiraz) Medium red. Aromas of plum, coffee, mocha and animal fur. Sweet and plummy, but with a slightly screechy herbal element giving the mid-palate a disjointed quality. There's good intensity and firm acidity here but the tannins are a tad dry.
2005 Avondale Muscat Blanc Reserve Paarl 88
($15) Full gold. Wild aromas of apricot, flowers and marzipan. Supple, fresh flavors of peach, apricot, licorice and cherry-almond. Obviously a sweet wine but with lovely lift and just a bit of heat. Finishes with surprising delicacy. This would go well with foie gras.
2006 Sauvignon Blanc Coastal Region (86)
2006 Pinotage Paarl (86)
2004 Amira Syrah Coastal Region (85).
BWC Wines
2006 BWC Wines Sauvignon Blanc Stellenbosch 87
($14) Very pale color. Scented, floral aromas of lemon, lime, passion fruit and mint. Supple, aromatic and rich but dry and delicate, with 2.5 g/l r.s. neutralized by high natural acidity. Dusty, uncompromising finish.
2004 BWC Wines Syrah Paarl 89
($20) Bright medium ruby. Scented aromas of blueberry, licorice, flowers and stone, with a whiff of gunflint reduction. Supple, pure and juicy, with very good lift to the flavors of dark raspberry, blackberry and flint. Finishes with sweet, firm tannins. A stylish syrah made without new oak; this reminded me of a Saint-Joseph.
2005 Pinot Noir Coastal Region (85)
Hartenberg Estate
2004 Hartenberg Estate Chardonnay Stellenbosch 87
($20) Bright, pale yellow-gold. Lemon drop and flowers on the nose, plus subtle notes of nutty oak and minerals. Offers a rather suave, silky texture, with a combination of tropical fruit, soft citrus and oatmeal flavors that reminded me of a hypothetical Meursault/Maconnais blend. A wine of moderate concentration and complexity. Finishes with an edge of acidity and some nutty oak.
2004 Hartenberg Estate The Eleanor Chardonnay Stellenbosch 87
($35; aged for ten months in all-new French oak) Bright, full yellow. Aromas of peach, apricot, minerals and talc, plus a hint of toasty, nutty oak. Juicy and bright if a bit youthfully unyielding, with citrus fruit, mineral and fresh herb flavors. Possesses good weight and conveys an impression of soil character, but this is hard-edged today and needs a year or two of patience to absorb its vanillin oak.
2003 Hartenberg Estate The MacKenzie Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Stellenbosch 88
($40; a 70/30 blend) Good red-ruby. Expressive aromas of currant, licorice, dark chocolate and mint, plus a grapey hint of black cherry. Sweet, supple and nicely balanced; not at all overwhelmed by the 100% new oak. Not especially complex but offers attractive berry and violet flavors and a captivating sugar/acid balance and lingering sweetness.
2003 Hartenberg Estate The Stork Shiraz Stellenbosch 91
($40) Bright ruby. Varietally expressive aromas of spicy berries, violet, smoke and chocolate; I would have picked this as a northern Rhone wine. Sweet and lush but firm, with concentrated, slowly opening flavors of black raspberry and bitter chocolate. Just a hint of game to this very primary wine. Finishes firm, sweet and long, with noble tannins. At once modern and downright sexy. (A bottle I tasted in South Africa was a bit more inky and closed, with a medicinal dark fruit character and more obvious tannins.)
2003 Hartenberg CWG Gravel Hill Shiraz ($85) Deep, bright ruby. Flamboyantly ripe aromas of smoked meat, black raspberry, black olive tapenade, truffle, iron and wood smoke (a sample I tried earlier in South Africa showed more pronounced surmaturite Sweet, densely packed and fine-grained, still with a youthful firm edge to its wild dark fruit and smoked meat flavors. Not yet particularly fleshy or pliant but has the stuffing and structure-not to mention the inner-palate energy-to reward bottle aging. Finishes long and sauvage, with ripe tannins. 92 points
2005 Weisser Riesling Stellenbosch (85)
Le Riche
LeRiche Cabernet Sauvignon CWG Auction Reserve 2002 ($85) - Saturated ruby color. Primary but complex and perfumed nose offers blackberry, cassis, tobacco, minerals and licorice; became smokier and more Graves-like with aeration. Leanish but intense and penetrating, with black fruit and tarry flavors joined by a sexy wood smoke quality on the back end. Not a fleshy style but this seemed to put on weight as it opened in the mouth. A structured, vibrant cabernet that finishes long and aromatic, with suave tannins. 92 points
Monterosso Wine Estate
2006 Monterosso Chenin Blanc Old Bush Vine Stellenbosch 87
Pale green color. Somewhat stunted aromas of lime and pepper. Juicy, fruity and brisk, with pear, citrus and mineral flavors showing moderate intensity but good focus. Finishes a tad dry.
2006 Sauvignon Blanc Stellenbosch (86)
2005 Chenin Blanc Old Bush Vine Stellenbosch (85)
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot Stellenbosch (86)
Morgenster Estate
2003 Morgenster Estate Lourens River Valley Red Stellenbosch 90
($30; 68% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon and 12% cab franc) Deep, saturated ruby-red. Elegant nose combines currant, chocolate, truffle, coffee, tobacco and spices. Suave, silky, seamless and dry, with the strong spice character following through in the mouth. Round and expressive. Finishes with firm, building tannins and complex notes of currant, tobacco and spice. (An earlier sample in South Africa was a bit less showy and slightly green-edged on the finish, meriting 89 points.)
2003 Morgenster Estate Morgenster Stellenbosch 91(+?)
($35; 39% cabernet sauvignon, 31% cabernet franc and 30% merlot) Saturated ruby-red. Pungent, claret-like aromas of redcurrant, tobacco, mint and underbrush, with a slightly exotic berry and baking spice character; there's something vaguely Cheval Blanc-like about this (no coincidence, as Cheval's estate manager Pierre Lurton advises here). Supple, plump and sweet, with a silky texture leavened by subtle vinosity. Offers a compelling combination of South African ripeness and sappy freshness. Finishes with substantial, broad, palate-dusting tannins and more thrust and length than the Lourens River Valley wine. This blend of merlot and the two cabernets has quickly become one of South Africa's top bottlings. (The Wild Grape, Burke, VA)
Muratie Estate
2004 Muratie Estate Shiraz Stellenbosch 89
($22) Bright ruby. Raspberry and sexy smoky oak on the nose, with some meaty, gunflinty reduction. Fat, sweet and ripe, with slightly warm but concentrated flavors of dark raspberry, blackberry and pepper. Finishes with dusty, broad, building tannins and good lift.
Vriesenhof Vineyards
2003 Vriesenhof Vineyards Enthopio Stellenbosch 88
($20; a blend based on 81% pinotage) Bright, full red. Aromas of currant, cherry, spices and burning tobacco; old-fashioned in a positive way. Supple, slightly high-toned flavors of dark berries and meat. Finishes with a flavor of liquid smoke, and some drying, dusty tannins that call for food. This distinctive wine may well develop more complexity with time in bottle.
2005 Vriesenhof Vineyards Melelo Muscat d'Alexandrie 89
($18) Palish clear red. Red fruits, rose petal, maple syrup and floral honey on the complex nose. Sweet and fat but not heavy, with red raspberry and truffle flavors lifted by a strongly floral rose petal quality. Finishes with ripe tannins and only moderate sweetness, with very good grip and persistence. An intriguing fortified wine.
2003 Vriesenhof Vineyards Pinot Noir CWG Auction Reserve ($80) - Good full medium red. Wild, smoky aromas of dark cherry, coffee bean, meat, peat, black olive, leather and bonfire; I would have picked this blind as Graves or pinotage before pinot noir. Then sweet, supple and fairly dry, with complex flavors similar to the aromas. The strong finishing note of wood smoke repeats the wine's pinotage impression. 89 points
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