What Style Pinot Noir, Syrah And Sparkling Wine From South Africa? – Forbes

One often tends to focus on the grape range when buying or choosing red wine. “I want a pinot noir with the turkey,” for instance. That can be a mistake. A pinot from Washington is very different from one from Burgundy. Central Otago in New Zealand is yet another big pinot region with its own specific design. We had one from Patagonia that was among the most effective wines we’ve had.

That the grape variety is not always a good indication of style was underlined at the big Michelangelo Wine Awards tasting in South Africa, where I got involved as a judge previously this year. White wines from different nations and regions often have their own specific design, even if they come from grape varieties that you may believe you understand.

Here’s an evaluation of a few of the styles that you can expect from South Africa and some excellent red wines to look for from the Michelangelo tasting.

The Franschhoek Valley white wine region in South Africa, copyright BKWine Photography

BKWine Photography

South African champagne, Cap Classique But instead of grape ranges, let’s begin with something that is not a grape type. Champagne. South Africa makes quite a great deal of champagne, and of excellent quality. Here, it is called” Méthode Cap Classique “,”Cap Classique” for short, or sometimes simply MCC, if it is made with the standard approach with a second fermentation in the bottle.

One tends to standard all sparkling wines versus champagne, which in a way, is a mistake, quality in red wine is constantly a question of individual preferences, but for the sake of recommendation, I’ll do that here too.

South African MCC is often more full-bodied and fruitier than champagne. If champagne can be really austere and nearly astringent, then MCC tends to be more full-bodied, with more ripe fruit and in some cases more fragrant, citrus, flowers. In some cases they can be nearly smoky with ripe apples. South African Cap Classique will delight those who think champagne is too acidic and edgy.

Here are a few of the South African sparkling wines that we liked best at the Michelangelo Awards:

• Mariette Blanc de Blanc MCC 2016, Belle Rebelle
• Canto Chardonnay Pinot Noir Brut MCC 2020
• Paul René MCC Brut 2018
• Christiena MCC Brut 2021, Van Loveren Family Vineyards
• Alvi’s Drift Personal Cellar, Brut Cap Classique
• Graham Beck Cap Classique, Ultra Brut 2016
• Graham Beck Cap Classique, Pinot Noir Rose 2017

The sea-view from Hermanus in the Walker Bay location on South Africa’s south coast, copyright BKWine … [+] Photography

BKWine Photography

Pinot noir Next up was pinot noir, the world’s ninth most-planted grape variety. The icon red wines here are from Burgundy in France. They are often fairly light in colour with high acidity and a lot of red fruits (cherries, strawberries …), typically with a great dose of wood ageing. They can have notes of really ripe fruits and forestland underbrush. American versions tend to be denser and with more ripe fruit. Pinot is not widely planted in South Africa but has actually had terrific success on a little scale in the Hemel and Aarde region in Walker Bay on the cooler south coast.Harvest in the vineyards in Hemel en Aarde in Walker Bay in South Africa, copyright BKWine … [+] Photography BKWine Photography South African pinot noir frequently reveals a great expression of the grape range with tidy and stylish fruit and little or just a touch of oak

aging character, stylish, clean-cut white wines. Delicious drinking when one desires fresh red fruit and not too much tannins. Here are some of the white wines we particularly liked at the Michelangelo Awards: Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2020, Bouchard Finlayson Ghost Corner Pinot Noir 2020, Cederberg Winery Chamonix Pinot Noir Feldspar 2020, Chamonix wine estate Leopard’s Leap Culinaria Pinot Noir 2020 PF Pinot Noir 2019, Peter Falke

Wines Pinot Noir 2021, That Wine Demesne

A choice of wines from South Africa, Koelenbosch, Anura, Tangram

, Du Plevaux, copyright BKWine … [

+] Photography BKWine Photography Syrah is worldwide a more popular, more planted grape range than pinot noir, 190,000 ha compared to 115 000 ha

. The two big producers are France and Australia, where it

is often called shiraz. The yardstick for syrah is often the very distinct wines from the northern Rhône Valley. They are dense, dark and concentrated. Scents cover a broad spectrum, from flowery violets but more often towards smoke, charcuteries and even tar, sometimes referred to as”reductive”. But this is a style that is not always found in syrah from other origins, therefore is likewise the case with South Africa. There are some examples of the effective and thick, in some cases reductive style of syrah however in basic, the white wines from here are more concentrated on the fruit. There is a great deal of scrumptious fresh dark fruit with great concentration and spices in the much better examples,

rarely frustrating or over-powering. The grape is in some cases identified as syrah and often as shiraz, however this is not a great indicator of the design( which it can be in some other countries). Vineyards in Hemel en Aarde in Walker Bay in South Africa, copyright BKWine Photography BKWine Photography Some delicious examples of South African syrah that we taster at the Michelangelo: Driehoek Syrah 2020 Holden Manz Syrah Reserve 2017 Onoma Private Cellar Syrah 2021 Babylonstoren Shiraz 2020 Erasmus Shiraz 2020, Cape Red Wine Business Monogram Shiraz 2017, Klein Welmoed Red Wine and Olive Estate Kleine Zalze Family ReserveShiraz 2018 Koelenbosch Shiraz 2020, Koelenhof Wynkelder Raka Bio Shiraz 2020 Ridgeback Shiraz 2017 Cape 5 Reserve Shiraz 2019, Stellenview Premium Wines Excellent Five Reserve Shiraz 2019

, Stellenview Premium Wines St Andrews Shiraz 2019, Wakefield Taylors Wines To sum up, each country and red wine region has

its own style, even if the grape range

is the exact same. The white wines from South Africa are often good examples with tidy

, classy fruit expressions of the grape variety. Absolutely worth looking for and getting to know. Here you can discover

more wine suggestions from the

Michelangelo International Red Wine and Spirits Awards.

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