On the 13th of October Caroline held a top tasting of quality Californian wines at her main wine shop at 62 Strand street Cape Town. This tasting was special for a number of reasons. Firstly, Caroline remains one of the few wine retailers in Cape Town specializing in top niche imported wines. It is very difficult to sell imported wines in South Africa as the local wine market is so strong. Wine producing countries tend to drink their own wines…it is a global trend.
Secondly, it is especially difficult to buy Californian wines in South Africa so this tasting was a rare experience. Finally, they had an excellent presenter in the form of Cape wine master Andy Rodieger. Andy has been to California on numerous occasions (he’s had dinner with the late Robert Mondavi’s widow) and displayed an erudite understanding of both Californian wines and the wines of the US in general. He explained that there is more to Californian wines than the Napa Valley and that California is a very large and complex wine region. It accounts for 90 per cent of the total US production.
Whilst one can purchase their wines across numerous price spectrums (the famous 2 buck Chuck being an example) our focus was the top end which can be extremely expensive.
I have always loved Californian wines for their sensuous nature. Californian wines tend to be fat and rich with most importantly beautiful aromas. What I noted from the tasting immediately was that although (typically) the wines displayed beautiful aromas there was a poor follow onto the palate. Many of the wines had beautiful, open aromas but when it came to the palates they were frequently closed. This did not prevent them from being beautiful wines, however. Andy conceded that this represented a weakness in Californian wines but that in most cases the palates would open up explaining that “the noses of Californian wines were New World and the palates Old.”
Onto to some of Andy’s excellent selection of wines professionally coordinated by Caroline.
Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Napa St Helena. Pale Straw. Green tinges. Lovely gooseberries and peaches on nose. Beautiful aromas. Palate less impressive. Price R319.
Saintsbury Chardonnay 2006 Carneros. Medium Straw. Green tinges. Nose lovely peaches and caramel. Palate smooth and creamy. Delicious! Good acid and body. Excellent follow on. One of my favorites. Price R356.
Stags Leap Chardonnay 2008 Napa. From a very famous producer in the Napa renowned for its red Cask 23. Pale gold. Green tinges. Nose oaky. Slight citrus. Nose perfumed. Palate closed. High acidity will age 15- 20 years. Fine wine. Price R570.
Rex Hill Pinot Noir 2009 Willamette Oregon. Medium Cherry. Lovely Cherries, cloves on nose. Palate less impressive. Price R391.
Saintsbury Pinot Noir 2006 Carneros. From another famous producer. Dark cherry. Nose creamy and brooding. Palate less generous. Closed. Give time. Price R530.
Hess Zinfandel 2007 Mendocino County. From the famous Hess Foundation owners of Glen Carlou in Paarl, South Africa. Medium Cherry. Nose sour. Fruity, accessible palate. Price R501.
Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 St Helena. Lovely brooding creamy and oaky too. Lovely palate- very accessible. Good follow on from nose to palate. One of my favourites. From a top producer. Price R668.
Duckhorn Discussion 2009 St Helena. Dark ruby. Creamy nose as possible. Lovely, clear cut. Palate still tight. More classicism evident than other wines. Clearly needs time to develop. Considered top wine for the tasting. Pricing evident at R1357.
What emerged from the tasting is that top Californian wines are lovely and sensuous in nature with plenty of body and feel. What is evident is that they showed plenty on the nose while showing less on the palate. Whether they are simply slow developers on the palate and quick developers on the nose is a question that I cannot easily answer. All I can say is that Californian wines possess beautiful aromas!
