Skip to main content

Chocolate Block 2007 by Boekenhoutskloof

Boekenhoutskloof is a winery in Franschhoek South Africa. We went there for a bit of wine tasting on our holiday, beautiful place, tasting room and mountains. Their top wines are the Boekenhoutskloof Syrah which is listed as one of the top syrahs of the world in the American wine magazine Wine Spectator as well as the British Decanter.

Rather pricy stuff at around 260 to 390 RAN (take away last number and reduce 20% and you are in euro) but fantastic wines. We tried the 2006 and 2003 both made of 100% Syrah; both filled with spicy blackberries, dark fruit and very long well balanced fruity elegant taste. The 2003 being just that bit longer and bigger than the 2006. 

Anyway we bought the "Chocolate Block" to take home, a wine made of 5 grapes; Syrah 55%, Grenache 16%, Cabrenet Sauvignon, Viognier (white) and Cinsault. The wine has a nice perfumed smell (probably from the viognier) dark berries, wet wool, chocolate with very smooth tannins and a big fruity beautiful balanced aftertaste. Absolutely great stuff and at 150 RAN you are on a high range in South Africa, but its well worth its price (although we still fancy the Lynx wine in terms of price quality).

They also have a very good Sauvignon Blanc in their Porcupine Ridge range at only 30 RAN (I am not joking!!) A very good winery with a very nice and high quality selection of wine.

Chocolate Block 2007, Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek 150R a def P++ or score around 17,50

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chambolle Musigny 2006 by Patrice Rion

I am still in Burgundy mood, which is a very expensive mood to be in wherever you live but especially when stuck in Norway. Luckily the selection is quite good and Friday my eyes landed on a Chambolle Musigny 2006 by Patrice Rion. Patrice Rion is a small bio-dynamically family run winery in Nuits St George and was created in 1990. According to what I was told previous weekend in Paris, Volnay and the Chambolle are the two most elegant and seductive wines from Burgundy. The wine is not unlike a Beaune Premier cru with  a medium dark red colour but perhaps slightly less "fat" with a lovely delicate smell of raspberries and cherries. The taste was soft, elegant, silky , smooth, velvety with lovely fruit, balance and creamy tannins. Very yummy indeed and so is the price at around 40€, but when you need Burgundy its worth every penny! Chambolle Musigny 2006, Patrice Rion P+ and drink between 4 to 6 years old. Domaine Michele et Patrice RION, vins de Bourgogne and please

Leoville Lascases 1988

Last week was a special week for me as I received my last pay check from my previous employer. An event that required some sort of celebration with some good friends. Of the many bottles opened during that evening was a Leoville Lascases 1988. This Bordeaux wine from St. Julien is second Grand cru classee but it has the quality of a first growth. This chateau was also the wine that made me change from beer to wine as I had the pleasure of tasting a Leoville Lascases 1945 back in 88.  The 1945  just knocked me off my guard and I remember thinking what a fantastic wine it was and what an experience to drink this wine from the year when world war 2 ended. I was in shock and I then just decided to enter into the world of wine. I have always had a soft spot for this chateau ever since. And to my pleasure  it has been performing well at much more reasonable prices than the much more expensive first growths in the 1855 classification. Nowadays a bottle of this wine costs around 180€ while a p

Wiston BdB 2011 - England

This is a fantastic 100% Chardonnay (Blanc de Blancs) from Wiston estate in England. Below are some remarks from the estate itself and Decanter: Selected from the chalkiest and steepest part of our vineyard, Wiston Estate Blanc de Blancs 2011 is elegant and expressive, with enticing notes of white peach, apricot, brioche and crushed oyster shells. Awarded the very top prize of ‘Best in Show’ in the Decanter World Wine Awards 2019 (the equivalent of the Wine Industry’s Oscars!), this decadent single vineyard, single vintage, single varietal Blanc de Blancs is perfect for immediate drinking and will also age beautifully. “Time spent on lees after secondary fermentation pays huge dividends for English sparkling wine, endowed as it always is with high natural levels of acidity. That’s a lesson triumphantly proved by this 2011 Blanc de Blancs, with its soft mousse, lifted, almost floral aromas and deft weave of apple, tangerine and pear fruits rippled through with yeasty, bready rich