.: Tracy van Maaren wine tasting at Auslese

A good trade wine tasting at Auslese in Hope Street yesterday (pictures here) of wines distributed by Tracy van Maaren. Auslese is the tasting venue of Harold Bresselschmidt’s nearby Aubergine Restaurant. Harold had done two food pairings for wine on each table, see the blog for pictures and details. We started with Pol Roger bubbly, a rather lightweight Chablis and a Bourgogne Pinot Noir that didn’t shine as much as the local ones on show. Then on to taste John Loubser’s own 2009 Silverthorn The Green Man, lean mean, crisp and interesting MCC and his NV The Genie Brut Rosé, made from Shiraz. (John is the Cellarmaster at Steenberg). Kleine Zalze had three wines, all of which cried out for food and, serendipitously, we have had them matched with food today at the Winchester Mansions – see below. Their wonderful Vineyard Selection 2011 Chenin is rich and complex and many layered. Their classic 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon should be used as the benchmark for teaching students what a Cabernet grape should taste like when made into wine, as it is a very true expression of what the grape can do. Their Family Reserve Sauvignon Blanc made from Elim, Stanford and other bought in grapes is really lovely and shows no influences of hot climate sauvignon. Vin’s D’Orrance 2011 Simply White (Chenin Viognier) and 2010 Simply Red (Cab Franc, Cab, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Merlot, were interesting, but more interesting was the 2008 Cuvée Ameena Shiraz which was sophisticated, soft and ready to drink now. The Raats Family wines blew us away, starting with the many layered very elegant 2009 Chenin Blanc, which goes off in the mouth like a firecracker and then cries “NOW EAT!”. The Red Jasper 2010 has fruit flavours jam-packed into the bottle and ends with a lovely long salty licorice. Then came the long and lean Dolomite Cabernet Franc 2010, with incredibly intense flavours of hot cassis and more salty licorice. The flagship Mvemve Raats 2009 De Compostella, this year mainly Cabernet Franc, with Petit Verdot, Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet sauvignon, has had enormous accolades and the previous vintage was awarded 96 points by Neil Martin for the Wine Advocate and was Robert Parker’s highest scoring South African wine in November 2011. It has a very sophisticated nose, is already soft and ready to drink but filled with class, fruit, acids, tannins and we think will definitely be one worth adding to your cellar for future happiness.

Vriesenhof showed their smoky green leaf 2011 Chardonnay which has layers and layers of good fruit and then a surprising end with flavours of vanilla ice cream. Absolutely delicious and just the style we should be making. Their Pinot Noir is full of berry fruits on the nose and palate, lots of alcohol and then finishes with echoes of those long fruit flavours. The Pinotage is one for Pinotage fans, showing typical Pinot noir strawberry fruit with a rich, rounded, toasty vanilla base.

Why do we leave the best till last and then find she has already run out of wine? Next year we will be sure to taste first. Luckily Cathy Marshall managed to find us another bottle of her Pinot Noir, so we were able to enjoy a final tasting of this notable Pinot Noir and her very approachable Amatra Merlot 2011 soft and sweet Merlot, made for drinking now. It has absolutely no stalky green flavours, or mint or eucalyptus.

A few snapshots:

Rick Bennetts (Wine on Time) with Karen Loubser of Silverthorn