Excelsior 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Too tart for this guy...the hint of strawberry sweetness is quickly covered up by the currant tidalwave. Mostly plum, blackberry and hints of chocolate. Very juicy.

While it's 90% Cab, it also contains 8% Shiraz and 2% Petit Verdot. Here is a better review than mine. :)

Overall, not a fan. 3/10 rating despite the inexpensive price tag of $7 from Costco.

2004 Longridge Pinotage South Africa

The price tag still shows the R95.00 we paid for this while in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2006. That's just under $10 at today's conversion rate and ~$13 when we visited. Cape Town was unbelievably cheap when we visited and with the Rand even lower now, make the trip if you can. The wine, the food, the views...spectacular.

Hauling this excellent Pinotage across the world was certainly worth it. My initial reaction to this wine was 'wow, what a great bouquet'. A very heavy tobacco smell and flavor which makes it very strong. It's also sweet - ripe cherries and plums. Somewhere in-between the sweet start and the tobacco finish, the Pinotage has a creamy vanilla hint for a split second. All of these flavors in an under $15 wine, fantastic. You can find this 2004 for several places online for about R100.00, but I didn't look into if they shipped to the U.S.

8/10 rating: hunt this one down.

Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc - Stellenbosch, South Africa

We've had this wine several times and visited the winery in Stellenbosch, South Africa - so we knew what we were getting into here. 8.5/10 rating as it's one of the top Sauvignon Blancs out there, in our book. The Mulderbosch isn't as dry as the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, so a great flavorful choice to complement last night's stuffed sole (fantastic work, McCoy's). The Mulderbosch dances a quick ditty on the tip of your tongue before drying up on it's way down. Crisp and clean. $18 at Sam's and pretty easy to find. You'll easily remember the creative label of this vineyard.

While in SA, this was on our short list of must-hit wineries because of this exact wine. Little did we know it wasn't open to the public. Regardless, the Viticulturist welcomed us in for a tasting. As we sat in what was more like a living room than a tasting room, he scrambled off for to get something "we must try". He returns with a golden/apple juice colored wine in the bottom of an empty Evian bottle. He tells us it hasn't even been bottled yet, asked what we thought, and the proceeded to ask for help naming it after hearing we were both in advertising. We were both speechless, which is rare ;). It was a Noble Late Harvest dessert wine, which still isn't on their website. Fun times!

Boschendal Grand Reserve 2003

Delicious. We picked up this beauty on our Cape Town journey in Nov 2006, so it's unfortunately tough to find. This 2003 Grand Reserve is a Red Blend with 70% Cabernet Franc, 10% Malbec, 10% Shiraz, 10% Cab Sauvignon. Extremely smooth with immediate rocky/earthy flavors (I've noticed that with much of the region's wine - it's a good thing) very rich with flavor, and a finish which would be hard to improve upon. Smells of a campfire and legs like Giselle.


9 out of 10 for this champion. The winery is one of the oldest in South Africa and the grounds are breathtaking. Our taste buds must have been on that day, even though my driving skills were not (on the left side of the road with a stick shift in my left hand + wine). From what I can find on the 'net, the price point is around $25-30US. Worth seeking out, but does not surpass the previously reviewed Rust en Vrede. A special thank you to American Airlines for not breaking any of the 8 bottles that were in our luggage for the 4000 mile journey home.

Rust en Vrede Stellenbosch Estate Reserve 2003

This was one of the eight wines that were tightly packed in our baggage home from South Africa - and the best of the bunch. We've saved this for a special occasion, and New Years Eve 2007 was it.

It's $45 at wine.com and we paid equiv to $25 over there...well worth every penny, either way. I saw it on the menu at Harry Carey's for $70 as well. Word on the street is Sam's Wine has it too, but it's not on their website.

Since this post is a month delayed, I can't remember the tasting specifics, other than this currently is the wine to measure all others at a 9.5 out of 10. Here are the winemaker notes from wine.com:

Deep purple color. Massively rich aromas with an array of ripe cherry and blackberry, exotically spiced. The palate is packed with these flavors –deeply concentrated. Almost explosively mouth filling, with a fine tannin finish. Chosen as one of Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines four years in a row.