Our trustworthy guide Greg Sherwood MW helps navigate the complicated world of wine in the second instalment of his three-wines-a-week series, An Informed Opinion.
Trust him to keep your wine selection relevant, nuanced, and interesting. Which in these trying times seems like a necessary service. We invite you to keep an eye out and see what appeals on the day, be it an investment, something eclectic, or a sure thing midweek wine – you’re bound to find something to suit your mood (and pocket). Or even discover something NEW.
#AnInformedOpinion
An Investable Wine
These are showstopper wines worthy of their price tag, and something to invest in.
96 Points – Greg Sherwood MW
“This is another really impressive expression of a Cabernet Sauvignon based wine from one of South Africa’s preeminent Stellenbosch proponents. The aromatics are spectacularly lifted and intense with perfumed notes of saline black liquorice, oyster shell, lilac, cassis leaf, black currant and hints of fresh mint, wet tobacco and buttered brown toast. The palate shows incredible precision framed by crisp linear acids that add to both a tightly knit steely texture and wound-spring tension. Lacking no amount of saline black fruit, the wine is also mineral and focused with hints of graphite, sweet cedar spice and a broody, stony veneer on the finish. This wine is all about sinewy tension, complex gravelly minerality and restrained, classical fruit intensity. Stellenbosch and the Jonkershoek Valley excel yet again! Drink from 2022 to 2035+.” – Greg Sherwood MW.
A Mid-Week Wine
A wine to elevate any random Tuesday without breaking the bank.
92 Points – Greg Sherwood MW
“While Koen Roose’s Chenin Blancs and Pinotages might be more famous among consumers, his execution with this top Elgin Pinot Noir really impresses making this wine a particular success for the vintage. The nose shows lovely wafts of bright tart crunchy red and blue berry fruits with aromatic hints of sweet rose petals, orange rind, savoury bresaola and warming exotic Christmas spices. The palate is electric and vibrant with a beautiful acid tension that resonates across the palate from the first sip. Medium bodied, crunchy and focused with satin tannins, the finish is super charged with yet more mouth-watering tart red cherry rock candy and blue berry nuances on the concentrated finish. This is a thrilling wine that will most certainly appeal to lovers of Burgundy’s Cotes de Nuits reds but Morey St Denis in particular. Drink this now and over the next 5 to 8 years.” – Greg Sherwood MW.
An Eclectic Wine
A story wine worthy of its salt, and your cellar.
93+ Points – Greg Sherwood MW
“This impressive wine comes from a vineyard planted in 1995 on the Stony Brook farm in the Bo-Hoek area of Franschhoek. Despite its ultra-crystalline clear translucent colour, the wine saw a small amount of skin contact in the press before an extra four months ageing in stainless steel. There is an alluring dusty, stony mineral aromatic character on the attractive nose before more complex notes of lemon grass, lime peel, white pear, green herbs and lemon pastille emerge. At 10.5% Abv. the wine is impressively ample and ripe with taut textural layers of tart peach stone fruits, wet river pebble minerality and lime cordial, all framed by a steely, intense, glassy acidity that has more in common with Australia’s tart, dry Hunter Valley expressions than the more generous, glycerol, lanolin and lemon fruited expressions we are more used to from Franschhoek’s famous old vine vineyards. Like Lokaia’s other wines, this is another super classy expression that will seduce the fussiest of Old World fine wine aficionados. Drink from release and over the next 8 to 10+ years.” – Greg Sherwood MW.
