South Africa’s wine has matured greatly over the last 20 years. This is largely due to a flood of foreign investment monies and foreign winemaking knowledge. One of the early legislative decisions, back in 1973, was the creation of the “Wine of Origin” concept. The country, it seems , has caught up with and may be out growing the original governing wine laws.
The Wine of Origin (W.O.) is a structural designation that a wine boasts with a certification seal on the bottle. This seal guarantees the bottle was tasted by an independent panel. If the vintage is stated, 75% must be from the stated year (85% if sold in the EU). If a variety is stated, 75% must be from the stated grape (85% if sold in the EU). The strictest guideline is that 100% of the grapes must come from the stated production area.
If you have not had a S.A. wine lately, I would encourage you to try one. If reds are your thing, I recommend trying Pinotage (which is a grape that resulted from a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault. If a sweeter white is more your speed, the Muscat of Alexandria grape (called Hanepoot here) makes stunning dessert wines, with one of the best examples being Vin de Constance.
I plan on doing a future class on S.A. wines so stay posted. Leave your e-mail address or subscribe to the RSS feed on the homepage. Thanks.
Masters of Wine
Wine and Spirits Education Trust
Rhone blend: recommend perfect food pairing, please.
I would first ask if you mean white or red and if it is from Rhone or a Rhone blend from elsewhere. With Rhone, north and south are very different but since you said “blend” I assume you mean southern. Let’s assume also that you mean a true Rhone and red rather than white. Southern Rhone reds also differ in their complexity depending if they are a Cote du Rhone, Cote du Rhone Villages, or a named area like Châteauneuf-du-Pape or Gigondas. With all of the other assumptions, let’s say we are having a Cote du Rhone Villages with our food.
First, when we say “Villages”, what do we mean. Well, there are 171 villages or “communes” (townships) in the Southern Rhone; 95 of them carry the official appellation (AOC) of Côtes Du Rhône Villages and only 18 can add a specific geographical name to that appellation. Also, there are 9 crus in the Southern region : Vinsobres, Gigondas, Vaqueiras, Beaumes de Venise, Chateauneuf-Du-Pape, Lirac, Tavel, Rasteau, and Muscat de Beaumes de Venise.
This is one of the most diverse wine areas in the world, with multiple soil types and differing percentages of grapes in the blends. The most common red grapes are Grenache Noir, Mourvède, Carignan, Cinsault, Syrah and some other lesser known varietals such as Counoise or Terret Noir. The resulting wines can have a multitude of fruit and herbaceous components.
Having said all this, the pairing will vary greatly depending on the wine itself. However, in my experience, I have found these wines do pair well with foods. I have had success with lighter meats such as chicken and pork, especially if there is a rich accompanying sauce or if the meat was grilled. I have also had it with pizza and it worked wonderfully. Unless you know it is a fuller-bodied wine, I would shy away from heavier meats like beef and lamb. Lighter game dishes like quail would work.
Please let me know if this answers your question. Also, let me know what meal you have and the accompanying wine. Don’t over-think it. Wine and food should be fun. Thanks for your interest.
Any recommendations on a particular pinotage to try?
It really depends on what is available in your area and your budget. You can find a good one available for under $25 a bottle. I would try well know wineries like Neil Ellis Wines, Ken Forrester, Warwick Estate, and Tumara to name a few. Talk to your local wine store about Pinotage. If they don’t sell it, tell them to get with the times. Thanks for the response.
Chocolate Block, really show S.A differences.
I agree. The blends vary widely year to year, but the ones I’ve had have been very palatable and great with food, maybe due to the retained acidity. They seem to be getting the extraction of varietal aromatics, without overly pushing up the alcohol. Again, the country has come a long way. This wine is made by Boekenhoutskloof, a located in the town of Franschoek in the Western Cape region of South Africa. The producer’s name is Afrikaans and means “Ravine of the beech trees”. Pronunciation is close to BOO-KEN-HOTES-kluaf. Thanks for the comment.