A South African Pinot Noir Wine

We have been doing a lot of South African wines lately, and many of them have been quite successful. Pinot Noir can be a fine grape; personally I often go for it. I like its classic tastes of earth and mushrooms and the fact that it isn't very tannic. And it's considered food-friendly. The site where it's made is fantastic, at the conjunction of the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. It's not only beautiful (what vineyard isn't?) but it's said to be a winemaker's dream. On the down side, Pinot Noir is not usually at its best in South Africa.

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Wine Reviewed: - Two Oceans Pinot Noir 2008 13.1% alcohol about $9.50

Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting Note: Pale ruby colour with a slight hint of garnet; aromas of blueberry, cherry, and earth; dry, medium bodied, with flavours of toasty oak, and raspberry on the long smoky finish. Serving Suggestion:- Serve with roast chicken or duck:- And now for my review.

At the first sips the wine was almost mouth filling, with touches of earth. Its first pairing was with a commercial chicken potpie. The wine was thick, earth tasting, and quite short but there was the taste of the underbrush. I added zesty green jalapeno pepper sauce and the Pinot Noir gained in roundness and perhaps length.

The next meal involved chicken meatballs and a barbecued chicken leg with a black bean, corn, chickpea, and pimento salad. This time the wine was almost hefty and fairly dark with lots of chocolate and good length.

My final meal was composed of hamburgers, green beans in a tomato sauce, and a salad described below. The wine was dark with a slight aftertaste. There were dark cherries but no tannins. It was stronger with the green beans but the aftertaste remained. With the accompanying red, yellow, and orange plum and cherry tomatoes and basil leaves this Pinot Noir had a touch of harshness and not much flavour.

I ended the bottle with two local cheeses. With a virtually tasteless brick cheese the wine did not have much taste. So in a way, it was a balanced pairing. With somewhat stronger yellow cheddar the wine perked up a bit and I tasted some oak.

Final verdict: - I don't plan to buy this wine again. While it did manage some fairly good wine pairings it was far from consistent. And with all the inexpensive wines on the market that just isn't good enough.

A South African Pinot Noir Wine by Levi Reiss
Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian, French, or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and spend time with his wife and family. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. Among his many web sites he is particularly proud of his Italian travel site with a special focus on regional food and wine at http://www.travelitalytravel.com. Check out his global wine website at http://www.theworldwidewine.com with his weekly column reviewing $10 wines and his new sections writing about (theory) and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.

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