James Handford MW, a leading London independent fine wine merchant owning Handford Wines in South Kensington stocks some of the best ranges of South African wine in England. Last week he hosted a blind tasting of 12 block buster wines from South African flagship red Bordeaux blends from the excellent 2004 vintage.
Helping him in the tasting was Greg Sherwood, the 37 year old Master of Wine from South Africa who manages the store and is one of the four South Africans awarded the rare MW qualification, in November 2007.
Vergelegen was the runner up mustering a third of the points (11) as compared to the Paul Sauer (33).
The tasting line up featured the following wines, most of which were selected from Stellenbosch, an area known for its Bordeaux blends for several years now:
1. Buitenverwachting Christine 2004, Constantia
2. Sherwood Berriman 2004, Constantia
3. MR de Compostella 2004, Stellenbosch
4. Vergelegen 2004, Stellenbosch
5. Meerlust Rubicon 2004, Stellenbosch
6. De Toren Fusion V 2004, Stellenbosch
7. Rustenberg John X Merriman 2004 (in Magnum), Stellenbosch
8. Morgenhof Estate Red 2004, Stellenbosch
9. Beyerskloof Field Blend 2004, Stellenbosch
10. Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2004, Stellenbosch
11. Warwick Trilogy 2004, Stellenbosch
12. Rupert & Rothschild Baron Edmond 2004, Western Cape
Presented in four flights to a panel of expert fine wine consumers, tasters were required to rank their first, second and third best wines, rating their first choice 3 points, their second choice 2 points and their third choice 1 point. Scores for the twelve wines were tallied at the end of the tasting and then wines were revealed, according to the Handford website.
Other than the Constantia pair that opened the proceedings, the evening in reality doubled up as a competition of the blue blooded Simonsberg / Stellenbosch blends from South Africa's premier viticulture region.
In assessing the results, Greg Sherwood said "it was always felt that it was going to be a close run affair. With such a high level of quality across the line up, the wines did South Africa proud. There can be no doubt that South African produces some of the best examples of a Bordeaux blend in the world."
Based on the blind consumer scoring system, the results as reported by wine.co.za were as follows:
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Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2004 |
33 points |
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Vergelegen V 2004 |
11 points |
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Warwick Trilogy 2004 |
10 points |
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MR de Compostella 2004 |
9 points |
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Meerlust Rubicon 2004 |
9 points |
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De Toren 2004 FusionV 2004 |
9 points |
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Rupert & Roth.Baron Edmond 2004 |
9 points |
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Buitenverwachting Christine 2004 |
8 points |
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Rustenberg John X Merriman 2004 (Mag.) |
5 points |
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Beyerskloof Field Blend 2004 |
3 points |
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Morgenhof Estate Red 2004 |
2 points |
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Sherwood Berriman 2004 |
2 points |
The South African Bible for wines, Platter’s Wine Guide 2009 had awarded the Winery of the Year award to Kanonkop. However, The Beyerskloof Field Blend 2003 had won 5 points-highest by the Guide as compared to the 4.5 for the 2004 vintage for Kanonkop.
Said Greg Sherwood MW, ‘for Paul Sauer to walk away with the title of best red Bordeaux blend in the line up with a staggering 33 points is a true testament to the iconic lineage if this wine.’
Said James Handford MW, ‘If you consider the price of these wines in relation to the best from Bordeaux, France or Napa Valley, they represent exceptional value for money and importantly, wines that are definitely age-worthy, something important for fine wine collectors globally.’
Greg Sherwood concluded "there is no question that along with Syrah, Syrah blends and perhaps a handful of top Cape blends, the Bordeaux red blend is certainly one of the strongest cards in the South African wine industries hand."
Indian Wine Academy which had organized a Guided Tasting of South African Wines at the IFE-India 2008, among five similar tastings from different countries, had specially procured Paul Sauer from Kanonkop, hand-carried courtesy WOSA, in keeping with its objective of providing the best and unique wines possible from different countries so that the participants get to taste something special. Beyerskloof also took part as an exhibitor at the Show with a label at the tasting.
Meerlust and R & R are being imported into India by Brindco. Rupert & Rothschild has generally been recommended by Indian Wine Academy as one of the best value for money, quality Bordeaux blends in India.
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