Posts tagged as:

Shiraz

1999 “The Freedom” Shiraz, Langmeil vs. 1997 Hermitage “La Chapelle”, Paul Jaboulet Aîné – 88 PP vs. 93 PP

by Oliver Bauer on 19 April 2012 · 0 comments

Year: Wine: Producer: Country: Region: Variety(-ies): Size: Closure: Filling level: Alcohol: Taste: Colour: Group:
1999 “The Freedom” Shiraz Langmeil Australia Barossa Valley Shiraz 0,750 l natural cork high fill 14.00 vol.% dry red V

Fat, alcoholic and sweetish – those are often the attributes of common prejudices concerning Shiraz from Down Under and like all very general statements that’s pure nonsense. Of course there are also hefty, alcoholic, overripe and over concentrated wines there. But those you can find .....

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Robertson – part I

by Raluca Bauer on 20 March 2011 · 0 comments

We are moving on
After such a marathon in Stellenbosh, it has been about time for us to change the location and  to drive to our next destination: Robertson
Signs on the roads like “Don’t feed the baboons” seemed nonsense to us, but in not even 200 m, the first baboons already stared at us, yet minding their own business.
While driving dusty gravel roads, Oliver has been forced (by me ) to stopp every time I saw a bird, an ostrich, an antelope, or other living creature.  What a beautiful, fascinating landscape !
Our accommodation for 2 nights has been the .....

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Stellenbosch – part II

February 20, 2011

Grangehurst

The property known as Grangehurst was purchased by winemaker Jeremy Walker’s parents in 1973. A small winery, but for sure a powerful voice in the red wine production. It has been early in the morning when we arrived at the winery but again a very friendly person opened the door and invited us for a wine tasting. We already knew their (still young) ‘98 “Nikela” and I think they have been also happy about our positive feed back concerning this wine. But in general the wines of Grangehurst hold an excellent ageing potential and the wines do have time to .....

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Stellenbosch – part 1

February 13, 2011

The accommodation in Stellenbosch has been simply perfect : a cosy place, far away from home but feeling like home : )  and really nice equipped – perfect for our self catering intentions for the next days.
Hans, our host, surprised us from the start: a hand written letter was waiting for us in the room with all  the needed “house rules”. The place is really familiar and the silence of the day is only from time to time broken by the “voice” of a  peafowl …
We started our “wine discovery journey” in Stellenbosch  early in the morning, with a long .....

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Paarl – The pearl of the Cape

February 2, 2011

Paarl is the biggest town from Cape Winelands, with commercial structures that haven’t yet affected the “picturesque” of the area. This part of Cape is more known for the Shiraz, but recently also Viognier and Mouvedre are more and more present in warmer areas.
The medium temperature during the winter time is about 14 C and in the summer time 29 C. Considering the fact that Paarl is further afar from the ocean, temperatures can become lower during the winter. It was also interesting to feel the “Cape Doctor” (wind) healing us from the high temperatures of the summer .....

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Cederberg Private cellar

January 31, 2011

There is a simple reason why I am talking about just one winery today: it’s because in this area (Cederberg) there is only one cellar!
And we are talking here about a 1036 meters above the sea-level winery. The highest one in South Africa
The road guided us through big citrus plantations embed in bizarre mountains valleys, where giants played with big rocks and forgot them in strange arrangements. We travelled among wild baboons not minding a bunch of tourists leaving a lot of dust behind them and we disturbed even a cobra (beautiful and fascinating animals). Unlike the baboons, this one .....

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Some info about South Africa

January 26, 2011

According to the latest available data (2006), South Africa is the 7th large wine producers
Number of wineries in 2009: 604
Total wine area: aprox. 101 000 ha
Consumption per capita (l): 6.9
Anual Local wine sales: 340 mil litres
Most planted cultivars: Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Colombard, Chardonnay, Shiraz
Most Uprooted cultivars: Chenin Blanc and Colombard
Source:
2006 Overview of the SA Wine Industry
2011 Platter’s SA Wines

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1998 Georgia’s Paddock Shiraz, Jasper Hill – “the northern Rhône” of Australia

November 9, 2010

09.11.2010
Year: Wine: Producer: Country: Region: Variety(-ies): Size: Closure: Alcohol: Taste: Colour: Group:
1998 Georgia’s Paddock Shiraz Jasper Hill Australia Heathcote Shiraz 0,75 l natural cork 15.5 vol.% dry red V

I am a big fan of wines made out of this variety – if they are from the northern Rhône . In the rest of the world producers are defining too often the quality of their shiraz wines by the level of alcohol and viscosity and I am simply .....

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d’Arenberg “The Dead Arm” Shiraz 2005

May 26, 2010

27.03.2010
A long time I sneaked around this bottle until I was finally able to “kill”it.”The Dead Arm” is considered to be one of the best Shiraz of Australia (whatever that means …). However, let’s form our own opinion. The first impression is a very “dark” one, because of its incredible deep black-ruby-red color. In front of the opening, I kept the bottle already upright for 4 days, because of a soft turbitity. The nose is surprisingly closed in the beginning, but quite typical for Syrah. Sloes, black pepper, fresh meat, new leather, juniper, bay leaf and also a bit .....

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