Wine Tasting Results... Our picks now at a store near you!

We had a great time at the Franschhoek wine festival last Sunday, tasting wines from 7 or 8 different vineyards, which varied in quality and price. It was interesting to see the differences between wines that were essentially made with grapes grown in the same valley.

The Franschhoek valley grows mostly red grapes, and some vineyards here do their own bottling, while a majority (there are vineyards everywhere) sell their grapes to the bigger producers. Anyone selling a Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay is probably using grapes from the higher elevations and rockier climate closer towards Cape Town.

Our picks:
Graham Beck Pheasants Run Sauvignon Blanc 2006. Whereas most SB's hit you with a strong floral bouquet right off the nose, this one is more subtle and "real" tasting with more mineral and grassy tones rather than an overwhelming floral or citrus bouquet. The other "regular" Graham Beck SB was just OK after the Pheasants Run bottle, as were all other SB's that we tried that day.

Graham Beck Varietal Shiraz 2003. Because this is a 2003 Shiraz that was just released this year, it's had some time to mature and its tannins to polymarize. To those who don't know (no worries, a wine tasting class gave me the explanation why), when a wine's tannins polymarize, they form long chains which give red wine that spice, bite or pop. A more mature red tends to linger on the pallet longer and is paired well with fattier, spicier meats. This wine also has a slightly figgy taste to it, says Jesse. It stood out in our minds compared with all the other Shirazs that we tried.

Graham Beck is imported into the States by "The Country Vineyard" based out of NY ( I think).

Our last vineyard, Lynx, was a relatively new vineyard started by an ex-solar engineer from South Africa. Fed up with the way things were going at this company, he quit and decided to start growing grapes. When asked how he acquired his knowledge of grapes and wine making, he replied that he "Read a book or two and talked with some locals, who were more than willing to share tips, tricks and pointers on how to grow grapes successfully." At first he sold his grapes to bigger producers, then decided to keep some for himself and try his hand at wine making. Two and a half years later, he's producing award winning wines. This was inspiring for Jesse and I to know that it is possible to completely switch careers, from engineering
to wine making and at least enjoy what you're doing. (Note: the question of being profitable didn't come up, so I can't say he was doing well).

Lynx Shiraz 2006: A very good young Shiraz. Because we tasted it at the end of the evening, our pallets were blown out from all the wine we'd tasted, however, when drinking a bottle last night, we weren't too far off the mark. This was a slightly sweeter, but still nicely spiced Shiraz. With another year or two on the shelf, this would be fantastic.

Lynx Xanache 2006: I'm not a fan usually of red blends of wine, but for some reason, this wine really appealed to my pallet. 50% Cab Souv, 40% Merlot and 10% Cab Franc grapes make for an extremely tasty red wine. I'd say that it could be easily overpowered by stronger meats (ie: lamb or SA dried meat, Biltong, as they call it) but when you're looking for a red that can be drank solo when you want a red, this one's a winner.

Lynx Port Year Unknown: We talked with the owner of Lynx for a couple hours after the official festival was over, but he was gracious enough to show us around his limited cellar. Toward the end of the evening he disappeared and came back with two glasses of "unknown" wine. First considering that he was serving us home made moonshine, he reassured me that this was an experimental wine that had been made from some shiraz grapes that his harvesters had "missed" harvesting at the right time. When the grapes had shrivled up into raisins, he harvested and pressed the grapes, making an extremely wonderful port wine. Mostly dry, with a hint of sweetness, he calls it his "raisin wine". The bottle that we bought from him is unlabeled, so I don't think you'll find it in the states, but look for a Lynx Port in years to come if you're looking for a good Dessert wine.

~S