Life is too short to drink bad wine

During a weekend in Norway with some good friends, a couple of Mouton Rotschild were tasted. This is one of the top Grand Cru Classee in Medoc with the price per bottle varying from 200 to 500 euro. The 1990 is only selling at 333 € at the moment , so lucky us! Not knowing what we were served, we located the wine to be situated in Medoc, but beyond that it was difficult due to a rather sweet smell of red berries and oak. The taste was long, well balanced but also slightly sweet with a nice long aftertaste. It was a very nice Bordeaux indeed, but not enormously exciting. Taking into account the price (333 €) and the fact that nearly a case of Brane Cantenac or Domaine the Chevalier could have been bought for the same price, its difficult to understand why such prices are being paid... Our evaluation was supported by 1855.com, Parker and RVF who all give it around 88 to 89 points or around 17 to 18 points. The only excuse could be the transport down to the cabin, but it was given ar...

So our cases of wine arrived safely all the way from South Africa. What joy! We had ordered the Lynx Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Xanache, Viognier and sweet Shiraz (no label). The Xanache 2007 (6€ a bottle) named after their daughters (first two letters in each name) is a bargain of a wine. Its a Bordeaux blend with 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 10% Carbernet Franc.  Its got a nice deep red colour with purple rim, lovely smell of sweet cherry fruit and dark berries, a velvety smooth vanilla taste with nice soft tannins. Its not sweet or overcooked, but rather "cold" and silky wine. An absolute bargain at this price! The Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (100%) is more expensive and cost about 9€ per bottle. The wine has the same deep red colour, but on the nose there is more cassis, black fruit, hint of smoke and leather. The taste is again very smooth, well balance and long with a firm velvety finish. Another great product from Lynx! Both these wines are P++ even when addin...

Another Beaune 1er cru from Albert Morot, this time the "Les Aigrots" which is in the southern part of the Beaune appelation up towards Montagne St.Desire. In comparison to the 2001 Les Bressandes also by Morot, the colour is darker red. The nose has got a slightly strange perfumed smell and on the palate there is an immediate attack followed by firm tannins. Unlike the Bressandes, this one screams for food and went really well with just some dried saucisson. Just to compare to the 2006, this one was also tasted and showed more similar qualities to the Bressandes, medium red colour with a well balanced silky taste. The nose was similar to the 2001 but more flowery and nicely perfumed. No saucisson required for this one.... Beaune 1er cru Les Aigrots 2001 by Albert Morot ca 16,5 points 25€ P Beaune 1er cru Les Aigrots 2006 by Albert Morot ca 17,5 points 25€ P(+) The second bottle of the Aigrot 2001 that we opened were smoother with more red berries and a agreeable fruity we...

This Grand Cru Classe is situated between Lafite Rotschild and Cos d'Estournel. Quite an exceptional location one could say. In 1670, Vauban wrote,  « The only difference between the best terroir and the worst is that the second lacks the culture of the first  » We tasted the 2004, still young wine, but thanks to the 40% Merlot very smooth and elegant tannins. The colour was dark dark red with a very nice purple rim and good legs. The bouquet offered blueberries, wet wool and vanilla. The taste was long, fruity well balanced with a firm silky structure. Quite a nice wine and worth the 25€ paid for it Auchan. ... Lafon-Rochet ...

This is one of the few bottles that we carried with us from South Africa.  It costs 90 RAN or around 7.50€ . Dieter calls this his flagship which maybe not all that correct considering the other good wines he produces as well, but it is a great wine. The colour is not so intensely dark as you would expect from a "hot" shiraz which reflects what you are gonna find in the glass. On the nose you have delicate dark berries, spices and hint of dried meat. The taste is wonderfully balanced despite the above 14% alcohol (!) with a smooth juicy elegant fruity taste, not "hot", not "sweet", but more Rhone like with good control of the pepper. The only complaint I might have is the name , this is not Shiraz (hot & sweet like in Australia) this is Syrah on its best , just like in Hermitage and Cote Roti. Congratulations! A score around 18 for a bottle costing 7.50 € is P+++ and BUY BUY more! When is the case we ordered arriving darling? 

Lynx wines is a new small winery in Franschhoek. We visited the winery on our tour in the wine country and it turned out to be a truly great experience.  The first wines were produced in 2003, mostly reds as the first white, a Viognier, has just been released. Dieter Sellmeyer, previous engineer, treats his wine like small babies. He uses open concrete fermenters and spends lots of time during the fermentation process. He manually punches the skins back down to minimise pump-overs and allows 25 days of skin contact thanks to cold soak of 7 days, fermentation 7 days and maceration 7 to 10 days. All the red wine is then oaked in new french oak (1 to 3 years old) for 12 months before being bottled. Dieter was a very friendly guy , he showed us around and lead us through the tasting of his wines. I was most impressed by the purity and elegant style of his wines which meant that I had to order three cases!   At Lynx, they make the following wines and if you want to visit, an appointment is ...

Our trip to South Africa, Cape Town and the winecountry around is well past. We will come back with articles on the different domains and wines tasted. Overall the quality of the wines is high and the prices very favourable. Most of the wines are not as "hot" and "sweet" as the ones from California or Australia, which was a pleasant surprise. Also food and wine pairing seems to be a well advanced subject, as well serving a wide selection of wine per glass instead of bottles. It must be added though, that when you order a glass of wine, you get 250ml which in fact is 1/3 of a bottle! A thoruoghly enjoyable warm and friendly holiday experience with the following wine producers visited; - Meerlust (great Bordeaux blend) - Spier (great Sauvignon Blanc) - Waterford (great syrah with chocolate) - Morgenster (great lemon olive oil) - The tasting Room (one of the world's top 50 restaurants) - Lynx wines (small and great everything) - Moreson (big selection sparkl...