The One and I once enjoyed a holiday along the Southern coast of South Africa. We started our trip in Cape Town and very much appreciated the scenery, hospitality, wild life, weather and the food & drink.
Most hotels could be relied upon to stump up a complimentary bottle of Cap Classique, the local name for traditional method sparkling wine, in response to the word 'honeymoon' even if the recipients were middle-aged. Very kind.
It is in fond respect of that wonderful time that I have selected this week's wine:
Week K (2015) Klein Constantia Riesling, 2012. The Wine Society, £9.95.
I like generally like Riesling, the typically German superstar grape that suffered a bad press during the later stages of the 20th century, and I think this is in part due to it having easily recognisable character. The wines that gave all of Germany's output a bad name, in a clear example of unfair collective tar brush application, were in most cases not made from Riesling or, if they were, came from high yield (lots of fruit from each vine) vineyards and the results were thin, acidic and bland. The worst examples were also sugary sweet which was partly the fault of the drinking fashions of the UK at that time.
This Riesling is not German, as I think you may have spotted from the introduction, but comes from the vineyards around the lower slopes of the mountains that a few miles to the North include the iconic Table Mountain.
Vines were first planted in the Cape at the same time as the English Civil War was coming to an end, in 1651, which neatly knocks on the head the idea that South Africa is part of the 'New World' in terms of wine production. The Klein Constantia winery itself has existed in various forms and combinations of estates and owners since the early 18th century.
They produce a famous dessert wine, Vin de Constance, which I will find an opportunity to include in may explorations as soon as the alphabet allows, but that one comes at a real premium price. This week's wine is by any analysis a very good value alternative example from the same producer but is not at all similar. Or sweet.
It is a lightly coloured, aromatic and appealing. It has that characteristic Riesling smell that hints at petrol (that's the word most often used, and not always favourably) and which I like. I has apples, pears and citrus flavours and a long crisp finish. It will not be everyone's cup of tea (can a wine be a cup of tea? Discuss.) but The One approved and suggested we bought some more. That can't be bad.
Most hotels could be relied upon to stump up a complimentary bottle of Cap Classique, the local name for traditional method sparkling wine, in response to the word 'honeymoon' even if the recipients were middle-aged. Very kind.
It is in fond respect of that wonderful time that I have selected this week's wine:
Week K (2015) Klein Constantia Riesling, 2012. The Wine Society, £9.95.I like generally like Riesling, the typically German superstar grape that suffered a bad press during the later stages of the 20th century, and I think this is in part due to it having easily recognisable character. The wines that gave all of Germany's output a bad name, in a clear example of unfair collective tar brush application, were in most cases not made from Riesling or, if they were, came from high yield (lots of fruit from each vine) vineyards and the results were thin, acidic and bland. The worst examples were also sugary sweet which was partly the fault of the drinking fashions of the UK at that time.
This Riesling is not German, as I think you may have spotted from the introduction, but comes from the vineyards around the lower slopes of the mountains that a few miles to the North include the iconic Table Mountain.
Vines were first planted in the Cape at the same time as the English Civil War was coming to an end, in 1651, which neatly knocks on the head the idea that South Africa is part of the 'New World' in terms of wine production. The Klein Constantia winery itself has existed in various forms and combinations of estates and owners since the early 18th century.
They produce a famous dessert wine, Vin de Constance, which I will find an opportunity to include in may explorations as soon as the alphabet allows, but that one comes at a real premium price. This week's wine is by any analysis a very good value alternative example from the same producer but is not at all similar. Or sweet.
It is a lightly coloured, aromatic and appealing. It has that characteristic Riesling smell that hints at petrol (that's the word most often used, and not always favourably) and which I like. I has apples, pears and citrus flavours and a long crisp finish. It will not be everyone's cup of tea (can a wine be a cup of tea? Discuss.) but The One approved and suggested we bought some more. That can't be bad.
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