Drinking in the Sun
Panel Report | wine
Our tastings of wines that are perfectly suited for summer—light-hearted and juicy, but always delivering a good punch of flavour By Irina von Holdt CWM
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lorious summer—the great South African fun in the sun time is finally here. Let’s admit it—it’s been a gloomy year, but let some warm, golden sunshine spill in and in no time at all the whole picture brightens up— literally and figuratively. The essential sun—giver of warmth and light, our very source of life—ripens every crop, especially our all-important fruit and grapes, endowing them with luscious sweetness and, very importantly for our wines, gives our sunny SA wines the fullness and generosity for which they are known. A friend’s greeting is, “May you always walk in sunshine.” What a wonderful thought—so let’s enjoy the sun, of course with a glass of cool wine in one hand.
Bring on the Bubbly We are so lucky here in the southern hemisphere—our sunny summers include the celebrations of Christmas and New Year. It’s the time to always have a bottle of MCC in the fridge—being caught without chilled bubbly is a serious social no-no. And a dashed nuisance. Can we ever be disappointed by bubbly? Yes, well, the picky panel can, and at the big annual tasting there are concerns. The wines are fun and well made, delivering billions of bubbles, but there’s more to MCC than that. “There’s a lot here that is delicious and fruity. I expected, though, to find far more Reserve wines, and that’s a pity,” says Christine. “I found a lot of freshness and lively acidity, but not too much depth and complexity,” adds Claude. “Actually a bit disappointing,” says Dave. Well, he said it. Before it could go downhill any further, Christine adds tersely, “For me, they were mostly aperitif styles, not celebratory styles.” We notice some wines with lots of frothy mousse. Are they actually MCCs? Yes, they are, but it’s unusual. The distinction between fizzy and frothy, a characteristic of cheaper, carbonated sparkling wines, or the elegant tingling fine mousse that is the defining character
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