Kiwi fruit

Today in the Irish Examiner I’m highlighting  the half dozen whites which, to my mind, stood out at that annual The New Zealand wine trade fair that took place in Dublin last week. All are available in outlets nationwide and/or online.

In this instance, choosing just six bottles to highlight didn’t feel like I was doing justice to the quality of wines on offer and for what it’s worth I’m firing up an extended list  here.

The prices quoted are the importers’ recommended retail prices, and there can be quite a difference between that and what you’ll find in shops. Of course, where the importer is the retailer (for instance James Nicholson or O’Briens) the price quoted is your actual price.

Cassidy Wines

Nautilus Estate Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2010 €13.99
Stockists - Nationwide Superquinn; Dublin McGraths Drumcondra, Kelly’s Clontarf, Baggot Street Wines, Cheers Palmerstown; Sweeney’s, Glasnevin;  Nolan’s, Clontarf; The Orchard, Rathfarnham; The Drink Store Manor St; Bin No. 9 Goatstown; The Corkscrew, Chatham St. Limerick Next Door Westmeath The Old Stand, Mullingar.

Liberty Wines

Tinpot Hut Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011   €16.99
Delta Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011                  €16.99
Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011    €21.99

Yealands Estate Riesling Marlborough 2011                        €16.99
Yealands Estate Gewürztraminer Marlborough 2011   €16.99
Yealands Estate Viognier Marlborough 2009                    €17.99
Yealands Estate Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011  €16.99

O’Briens

ARA Pathway Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011                    €12.99
ARA Single Estate Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011          €11.99
ARA One Estate Sauvignon Blanc Brut Marlborough NV     €12.99
Available at O’Briens and obrienswines.ie

Ampersand
Babich Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011                                                           €12.99
Babich Headwaters Organic Block Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011    €16.99
These vintages are not in the shops yet    

Nash Wines

Elephant Hill Sauvignon Blanc Hawke’s Bay 2010             €12
Elephant Hill pinot gris Hawke’s Bay 2011                            €15
Elephant Hill Chardonnay Hawke’s Bay 2010                      €14
Stockists include Cork Matson’s, Bandon; Dublin The Hole in the Wall, Blackhorse Avenue; Galway Cases;  Waterford Ardkeen Stores; Wicklow The Parting Glass, Enniskerry.

Greenlea Wines

Giesen Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011                                            €10   
Giesen The Brothers Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2010          €15
Giesen The August Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2010              €16

James Nicholson Wines

Mud House Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011

Delegat’s Wine Estate

Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011    €11.99
Oyster Bay Chardonnay Marlborough 2011             €11.99
Widely available

Irish Distillers / Pernod Ricard

Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011 €12.95
Widely available

Findlater

Saint Clair Vicar’s Choice Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2010   €13.39
Nationwide O’Briens, Next Door, Fine Wines; Cork Bradleys, O’Driscolls; Dublin Mitchells & Sons; Tipperary Eldons, Clonmel, Galway Cases; Joyces.
Saint Clair Sauvignon Blanc  Marlborough 2010
O’Briens, Molloys, Next Door, Jus de Vine, Tipperary Eldons Clonmel; Cork O’Driscolls.

Classic Drinks

Old Coach Road Sauvignon Blanc Nelson 2011    €13.99
Old Coach Road Riesling Nelson 2011                         €13.99
Seifried Sauvignon Blanc Nelson 2011                       €15.99
Aotea Sauvignon Blanc Nelson 2011                           €16.49

Stockists include Cork Pinecroft, Grange; Matsons, Bandon; Mannings, Bantry. Dublin Hole in the Wall, D7; Tipp The Wine Cellar, Cashel; Waterford No 5 Off-Licence; Worldwide Wines.

Barry & Fitzwilliam

Villa Maria Private Bin Riesling Marlborough 2011                                 €12.99
Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2011             €12.99
Widely available 

Liquid engineering

THE only thing that should really matter to wine fans is the quality and value of the wine in the glass. But I’m swerving a little off-piste in my column this week to look at one aspect of the bigger picture — closure (it’s in today’s snazzy new-look Irish Examiner Weekend or click here to see it online). Specifically, I’m looking at the Zork which joins the screwcap and the plastic corq as the latest alternative closure to the traditional cork.

The inspiration for this focus is the first wine bottled under Zork that’s widely available in Ireland. Namely, Ocean’s Edge Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc (at an introductory price of €9.99  at Tesco). It’s a cracking party fizz, a simple, light bubbly with saucy lemony  acidity. That price is remarkably low, given the €4+ excise duty on  all bubbly. However it’s important to point out that Ocean’s Edge isn’t like the sparkling  wines that I’d generally recommend here: Instead of the classic secondary bottle fermentation used in Cavas and Champagnes and adopted more recently by serious winemakers worldwide, this one is simply carbonated. Like running your vin blanc through the SodaStream.

I have mixed feelings about the Zork establishing its bridgehead in Ireland on this particular wine, because I think it may inadvertently cause drinkers to associate that closure with mere cheapness. Because in fact the Zork may spell a new beginning. For the first time, here’s a reliable synthetic closure that can be used for high-pressure sparkling wines. (Unlike some frizzantes and proseccos which can be bottled under regular stoppers, the dissolved CO2 in an unopened bottle of ‘proper’ bubbly amounts to several atmospheres of pressure, hence the cork and wire cage assembly we’re used to, and it’s  why you won’t see screwcaps  on bubbly).
The Zork is quite an ingenious little device, and is the only wine stopper I’ve encountered that seals the bottle both inside and outside the neck. (In the argot of fitters and engineers, these fittings are ‘male’ and ‘female’ respectively, making the Zork the first hermaphrodite wine stopper).

As Jennifer Aniston might say, here comes the science bit. You start by tearing off the tamper-proof spiral strip. Below that lies the two-part business end of the Zork: the visible part which covers the top of the neck, and a pop-up button in the centre which seals the bottle from the inside. It reminds me of the connector fittings you’ll find on garden hose systems such as the Hozelock.
The Zork is suitable for still wines of course, and the stellar d’Arenberg is among the wineries to try it out on theirs. But it’s got two unique advantages when it comes to sparkling wines. First, unlike any synthetic closure, it can cope with the immense pressures in a sparkling  wine. And better again, you can reseal the bottle at the pop of a button, and the fizz will be sustained for when you return to the bottle for further study on the morrow — that’s something you can’t do with any other closure, traditional or synthetic. ♦

Great value wines at Aldi and Dunnes

THIS is rather a long post, but the meat and two veg — suggested Christmas shopping lists for Aldi and Dunnes — are quite brief. So please scroll down to the recommendations picked out in blue if that’s all you’re interested in. If you have time you might like to take a sconce at the other bits which develop a few points arising and answer a few questions you may have.

IN today’s Irish Examiner (Saturday December 11) I’m looking at some of the best value wines in Dunnes Stores’ current wine promotion which runs until January 4. As well as listing my recommendations from Dunnes, I’ve also added in the highlights of a recent tasting of Aldi’s best, below.

Dunnes Stores, St Patrick Street, Cork.

But first a bit of a fógra oifigiúil.  Today’s column included a promise  to mention some further recommended wines reduced in price in Dunnes but unfortunately it turns out I’m unable to do that.

The list Dunnes sent me enumerates a number of bottles on promotion as being “Laurent Miquel”, reduced from €8.99 to €6.99 each. But the two Laurent Miquel ranges I tried at Dunnes’  most recent tasting (Pere et Fils and Nord Sud) were listed as having an “offer price” of €8 and €8.99. I don’t know if that refers to the then current price or the reduced price. So I don’t know which ones are on special offer now, whether they’re the ones I’d rate highly, nor whether I’ve tasted them at all.

Apologies for not being able to follow through with further wines as promised but clearly it’s better to omit  them entirely rather than inadvertently mislead you. I hope the suggested shopping list in today’s column provides enough inspiration for now.

Here are the Dunnes exclusives I’d particularly recommend.

Vina Maipo Gran Devocion Sauvignon Blanc 2009 DO Casablanca (€14.49 €10)

Chateau Longbosq Médoc 2006 (€12.49 €9.49)

Grande Reserve de Beau Rivage 2007 (€13.99 €6.99)

Chateau Bois Pertuis 2008 (€14.99 €8.99)

Clos Malverne Pinotage Reserve 2008 (€13.33 €9.99)

While I admire much of Dunnes’ exclusive portfolio, and find great value in some of their ‘sale’ items,  I’ve got to agree with this British commentator:

“One of my pet hates is seeing a wine ‘reduced’ from £7.99 to £3.99. How can consumers judge its real value?”

Some of the big supermarkets — especially Tesco and Dunnes — run a seemingly perpetual cycle of ‘sales’ that aren’t really sales, but a three-card-trick of raising prices and then dropping them (to the prices they intended to charge all along) solely to keep us consumers agitated.  They work only for the most canny and energetic shopper who has time and focus to build a shopping list of their target wines and carry out raids when the so-called sale begins. And yes by the way, these sales are lawful once they abide by certain ground rules.

So who is responsible for the quote above — A campaigning blogger or newspaper columnist? Or a consumers advocate agency?

In fact it was Aldi’s chief wine buyer, Danny Gibson. While I’m no spokesman for Aldi, and treat their wines with the same scepticism as I do every other retailer, he is correct in saying that what you see is what you get at Aldi. Generally there is no farting around with “sales”. So the numbers cited below are the stable, long-term prices for the wines in question.

Aldi has proved adept at sourcing quality wines and selling them cheaply, and there was further evidence of that at a tasting I attended in Dublin recently. Here’s my Aldi Christmas hit-list.

Aldi's great value NZ SB

Freeman’s Bay New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc 2010 (€8.49)

Contrasting wonderfully with the Sancerre below, this is New Zealand sauv blanc writ large: flamboyantly pungent, followed through on the palate with mouth-watering flavours tinged with crunchy green apple.

Cave de Monterail Châteauneuf-Du-Pape 2008 (€12.99).

Despite its grand reputation, the Châteauneuf-Du-Pape appellation often disappoints. This rich savoury red bottle, however, offers an affordable glimpse of the best side of that excellent tradition.

Râmon Lopez Murillo Rioja Reserva 2005 (€7.99).

Despite the price, this is a proper ‘grown-up’ medium-bodied dry tempranillo. An old favourite of mine at Aldi, it evolves beautifully into a glassful of red fruit cut across with spice and deliciously sweet topnotes.

Bushland Reserve Shiraz, South Eastern Australia, 2008 (€5.99)

Winemaker Michael Hope’s typically generous and creamy red is one of the best value wines on the Irish market. The welcoming scents of baked sweet red fruit follow through on the palate in a spicy, creamy texture.

Bushland Grape Selection Semillon Chardonnay, South Eastern Australia, 2008 (€6.99).

You wouldn’t normally expect to see these two grapes together, as they share a tendency to plumpness. But this is a beautifully blanced white, its full texture contrasted by fresh lemony acidity.

Selection les Terres Blanches Sancerre 2009 (€10.99)

This matches up pretty well to its often costly brethren from the Sancerre appellation. More importantly, it’s an excellent firm and savoury old world sauvignon blanc that could grace any high table at a great price.

♦

WHILE no retailer will get it right (or wrong) all the time, Aldi has certainly trumped Dunnes with regard to one appellation. Dunnes’  Chateauneuf-du-Pape (reduced from €25 to €20 ) is blown out of the water by Aldi’s €12.99 model.

I don’t think this particular instance is anything for staff or fans of one store or another to get het up about. If anything, it underlies the challenge wine buyers face, attempting to sate our lust for famous names including the likes of Champagne and Chateauneuf-du-Pape, at a discount price. In general, I’d suggest it’s time for us consumers — and in turn retailers — to get over the hypnotic spell that posh names like those two seem to cast over us.  Even when of good quality and heavily discounted — as done by both Dunnes and Aldi — they are generally too dear.

I love good Champagne and Chateauneuf-du-Pape. But in general, barring rare exceptions such as Aldi’s CdeP above, I have no intention of buying anything from either appellation, and find no reason to recommend any of them.  Both appellations routinely underdeliver on any sane price-quality quotient. To put it another way, both attract esteem far in excess of what they deliver.

I believe both appellations have been, in part, sustained by the purple economy.  This is the the market where people funded by lavish (and sometimes unvouched) expense accounts choose to enjoy hospitality they would never countenance if paying out of their own household budgets.

In the past I have occasionally recommended Champagnes only because I got feedback along the lines of ‘yes, we get that value-for-money thing but this is a special occasion so what do you think is the best value Champagne?’ I also recently tipped Dunnes’ CdeP in my column, but with the important caveat that I thought it was too dear. I did this in the mistaken hope / belief that it was due to be reduced from its lofty €20 price tag, which in fact turned out to be the destination price.

Yes, buying quality Champagne and CdeP makes perfect sense for people who belong to the shrinking minority of people who can afford the likes of it. Bless them, and may they enjoy it in good company. I raise my glass with a hearty ‘sláinte beo’ to anyone enjoying their wine, whether it costs an €8 or €80.

However I am not going to be gulled into contributing in any way to the myth promoted by the wine business and wine fans alike that there is something inherently better or special about over inflated appellations.

This isn’t the ranting of a recessionista. I’ve been broadly consistent in this view right through the co-called boom. We should by know have a rough idea of what happens when we spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need. As with houses so with wines, still or sparkling: think “property bubble”.  ♦

Stop the press!

WOAH! Just seen the details of a short snappy sale on at Curious Wines online or at their store near Smyths Toys at the Kinsale Road Roundabout* in Cork. I’d stongly suggest you check it out.

The sale, offering 30% off 30 wines for 30 hours (ie until 6pm Tomorrow, Saturday) includes a number of wines I’ve happily recommended at their normal price. Taking a third off wine that is already good quality and great value is my kind of sale.

Here’s a swift gallop through the ones I have suggested recently.

Gregorina Sangiovese Superiore 2008 Emilia-Romagna (€11.99 €8.99).

Star anise… celery… You’d swear bitterness was a pejorative or guilty secret but it’s a vital component of delicious flavours in all good  food and drink. It’s here playing a mouth-wateringly fragrant foil centre-stage in a beautifully-balanced herb-inflected sangiovese.

Borgo Magredo Prosecco Extra Dry NV (€16.99 €9.59).

One way the Champagne people have gotten away with their nonsense for a century is its customers have learned to expect some sort consistency. The variability of flavour and fun you might find in “Prosecco” down the years has done the reputation of those Italian sparklers no such favours – but happily this is changing rapidly.  This one is gorgeous, fresh and fruity.

Woodstock Shiraz Cabernet McLaren Vale 2006 (€14.99 €11.99)

Rich, swoony shiraz with a fabulous heady scent.

Cuvee Jean-Paul Sec Cotes de Gascogne (€8 €6.39)

It’s all very well to prattle on about overpriced wine (and I do). But on the other side of the coin is a slew of undervalued, overlooked wine styles, chief among them Portuguese vinho verde and this style from south west France – a fresh, delicious colombard ugni blanc blend. You don’t have to be recessionista to enjoy this wine. It rocks regardless of price, and I’d have been just as happy to recommend it during the so-called boom.

Chateau Bauduc Clos Blanc Sec 2007 (€16.99 €11.99)

White wine fashions come and go more rapidly than the tide. But really the interplay between firm zesty sauvignon and plush aromatic semillon in a well-made Bordeaux blanc is the business with shellfish. And I particularly love the assertive lemon and lime edge on this one.

* You may have heard of the traffic chaos this morning as some key roads around Cork including  the Kinsale Road / Ring Road interchange suddenly iced up.  Well getting your hands on these bargains won’t be an issue as you can pay for it now online and pick it up when the thaw comes.

Range rovers at Bubble Brothers

AS with any biggish wine tasting, some interesting themes emerged as I lurched around the recent Good Wine Show in Cork.

Three retailers ran the 'Good Wine Show' tasting in Cork.

First there’s the relatively rare phenomenon where I find myself becoming an enthusiastic advocate of a winery’s entire range.  Sure, the world is awash in ‘good’ wineries, any of whose products one should be happy to consume, and whose wines could sit nicely in anyone’s drinking repertoire. But some ranges are further impressive by providing something interesting, characterful and of good value in every one of its wines, at all price points and in each wine style it makes.

The two wineries scattered among Bubble Brothers’ stands that impressed me so were Mas Codina and Ch Jouclary.

Mas Codina pulled off this mightily impressive trick across the widest variety of styles – white, red, rose and sparkling. And a pair from Ch Jouclary was like a tutorial in what oaking adds to, and subtracts from, a wine.

Of course Bubble Brothers was only one leg of the stool at that tasting, the other two being Curious Wines of Bandon and Karwig’s, Carrigaline – both of which also sell online. I’ll be following up here shortly with my Christmas dinner wish-lists from all three, along with other Irish retailers.

In today’s Irish Examiner I’m suggesting you try out a pair from Ch Jouclary and all four wines from Mas Codina. At the Bubble Brothers stands I also revisited some of their smashing wines such as those from Mount Langi and Yering Station, and below are a handful of others I’d highly recommend.

Marlborough is of course the best-known and most sought-after region in New Zealand, the north-east coast of cool South Island made famous by the smashing but grossly over-rated Cloudy Bay. That winery, and the many others which have successfully emulated it, makes wines whose exotic pungency is a treat for me and many wine lovers. But frankly the excitement can also be exhausting, and can easily scare the womenfolk and servants.

Further to the west, nestling in a sheltered north-facing bay, lies the region of Nelson. It strikes me that the wines from there tend to be more simpatico, more rounded and reasonable citizens than the Marlboroughs.

Brightwater Sauv Blanc

And so it is with the alert, vibrant Brightwater Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2004 (€16.95), with all the urgency you’d expect of a premium Kiwi sauv blanc, but that flash accompanied by the bang of gorgeous complexity. I also greatly appreciated the freshness, wonderfully complex nose and generous length of Brightwater Vineyards Riesling 2008 (€18.50).

And finally, if you’re musing about what wine Santy might pop in your sock, how about Agostino Pavia e Figli La Marescialla Barbera Superiore 2006 (€26.95). This is superb. Generous, complex and seemingly going on forever, its elegant richness all about seducing rather than overwhelming your palate. Habitués of Bubble Brothers might be more familiar with the estimable Bricco Blino Barbera 2007 (€16.95) from the same producer but if you’ve the bobs I’d suggest you consider its more upmarket stablemate cos I think its one of those cases where each extra euro really does count. Yum!

+++

BUY these wines online from www.bubblebrothers.com, or at Bubble Brothers’ shops in Cork at The English Market and Marina Commercial Park, Centre Park Road.

The following stores stock wines from the Bubble Brothers range.

Cork City: JJ O’Driscoll’s, Ballintemple; O’Keefe’s Delicatessen, St Lukes Cross; Sunday’s Well Corner Shop; The Rendezvous Bar, Model Farm Road;
Co Cork: Ballycotton Seafood, Midleton; Harrington’s Deli/Café, Ardgroom; Lucey’s Butchers, Mallow; O’Callaghan’s Delicatessen, Michelstown; Stuffed Olive, Bantry; Taste, Castletownbere; URRU, Bandon; West Cork Gourmet, Ballydehob.
Clare Jayne’s Off License, Ennis.
Dublin Butlers Pantry at Greystones, Sandycove and Temple Hill; Morton’s of Ranelagh, Rathmines; Wilde & Green, Milltown, D6. Galway Mortons; The Vineyard.
Kerry Jack’s Delicatessen, Killorglin; John R’s Delicatessen, Listowel; O’Driscoll’s Off Licence, Cahersiveen.
Waterford Nude Food, Dungarvan;
Airports Travel Value Retail at Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports.

Enowine

Tasting dispenser at Enowine

Warning – wine ahead

• Enowine, The Crescent, Monkstown, Co Dublin (01 230 3500)
• Enowine, Mayor Square, IFSC, Dublin 1 (01 636 0616).
• www.enowine.ie

THE two Enowine shops are unique, offering dozens of their range for tasting all day every day, the bottles arranged in dispensers around the shop, the whites and rosés in coolers of course.
You get a little ATM-style debit card at the counter where you also charge it up for a tenner or whatever amount you want to spend – the 25ml tasting samples start at 50c. Help yourself to one of the good, generous glasses they offer, put the card in the slot of the section you want to start with, and off you go.

Wine ahead

I had a long-overdue catch-up tasting at Enowine’s IFSC this week where I found quite a few to recommend, and four or five that stood out as extraordinarily good. Although I’d recommend all the wines below, I’d particularly highlight

[] The gewürztraminer
[] Boschkloof cabernet sauvignon
[] Vigna Piccola Chianti Classico
[] Corbières
[] Bodegas Martué

Especially amid the convulsions in the banking and economic life of this country, I couldn’t help feeling the IFSC is a strangely ironic location for Enowine. The suck-it-and-see openness, and the way the store puts authority back into the hands of us ordinary people exhibits pretty much the opposite philosophy to the deranged property pyramid scheme that we’re all paying for now. By the way, that road sign above alerting oenophiles to impending wine is on Custom House Quay not far from Enowine.

 

The Crossings

 

The Crossings Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough New Zealand 2008 €14.99.
No surprises here in a handsome fragrant wine that runs the gamut of kiwi sauvignon blanc — from fresh firm acidity to flashes of richer tropical fruit. The safe but rewarding bet of today’s two sauvignons.

3 Stones Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough New Zealand 2008 €13.95.
Buckle up! Especially when compared to Enowine’s estimable, poised Crossings sauv blanc, this is an exciting roller-coaster ride up and down the kiwi spectrum of the grape, from grass and asparagus to lemons and pineapple. A bargain.

Becker Gewürztraminer Alsace 2004 €16.95.

gewürztraminer

The gewürztraminer grape, mainly grown in Alsace, in Eastern France, and Germany isn’t for everyone as it can be overwhelmingly intense. Typically exhibiting heady, floral aromas, an often unctuous texture and apparent sweetness (even when it’s quite dry) wines made from this grape just don’t fit in with our expectations of what wine can – or should – be.  A pity, as it can be a delicious glassful, and even an excellent food wine offering exciting contrast to highly spicy food. This is a very good example, its floral perfume matched by ripe tropical fruit, its sweetness leavened by an almost minty minerality.

Chateau Saint Florin Rosé Bordeaux 2008 €11.99.

An untaxing, dainty compromise between the much derided but entirely valid blush style and a full-throated rosé, this surprisingly characterful pink cabernet merlot blend would be excellent company on a warm summer afternoon.

Champy Macon-Uchizy 2007 €14.50.

A rare appearance by Burgundy on this blog, this certainly earns its place — complex, elegant and long, it’s good value compared to its peers among premium chardonnays from anywhere else in the world. Just don’t ask me to pronounce its name.

Beaumirail Vacqueyras Noir et Or 2007 €13.

Confusingly, the producer, Gigondas la Cave, bears the name of a neighbouring appellation. But there’s no mistaking the rich elegant parade of red fruit and spice from this southern Rhone blend of grenache, syrah and mourvèdre.

 

Bodegas Martué

 

Bodegas Martué vino de la Tierra de Castilla 2007 €12. 99.

Another eureka moment — the nose alone recommends this Spanish red blend (tempranillo, cabernet and perhaps syrah). Don’t be fooled by its lack of pretension: the come-hither of its scent is followed up by a gorgeously nuanced, complex, elegant wine.

Unlike all the other bottles featured here, this excellent Spanish red doesn’t seem to be listed on Enowine’s online shop but I presume that’s a temporary aberration.

Arnaud de Lamy Ch Fontareche Tradition Corbières 2006 €10.95.

Corbières

The bargain of the bunch, this grenache, syrah and carignan blend has all the generosity you’d expect from this appellation and much of the subtlety you wouldn’t expect.

Il Vescovino Vigna Piccola Chianti Classico 2004 €15.99.

One of my favourites at the tasting, this is gorgeous fragrant sangiovese, stuffed with a generous platter of fresh red fruit lifted by touches of savoury herbal notes.

 

Boschkloof

Boschkloof Cabernet Sauvignon Stellenbosch 2000 (€14.99, six for €60).

My money-no-object favourite of the bunch, this South African is stunningly rich and complex, its beautifully nuanced red fruit and spice evolving in front of your eyes. A big wine for when merely big just isn’t enough. ♦