He is 'making some of South Africa's finest reds' and is one of five of the wine worlds 'movers & shakers' selected to have their picture on the front cover of The Wine Society new wine list.The others are Thibault Despagne of Chateau Bel Air, Susana Balbo in Argentina, Etienne Hugel in Alsace, Serge Hochar of Chateau Musar in Lebanon and Giovanni Manetti of Fontodi Estate in Chianti.
But in pride of place in the centre is this image of Warwick Estate's Mike Ratcliffe.
Warwick' wines currently listed by the Wine Society are their Trilogy bordeaux blend and a specially crafted Cape Blend. Winemaker Louis Nel told me that that for the Wine Society he experimented by adding some Shiraz to the Three Cape Ladies blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinotage. The Wine Society blend was so succesful that Shiraz then became part of the ever popular Three Cape Ladies.
The Wine Society's Exhibition Cape Blend 2004 (£8.95) is aged in oak for 24 months and is a serious richly textured and fruity wine and very enjoyable now, but I'm keeping some back for aging.
The Wine Society, whose full name is The International Exhibition Co-operative Wine Society is the world's oldest wine society, founded in 1874 after the international exhibition in London that year was left with some barrels of wine. The Society is owned by its members . Membership is forlife and can be passed on to your descendents. The Society maintains a wide range of own label wines in two tiers. The Exhibition range is the premium one.Pictured: the Society's 144 page wine list featuring Mike Ratcliffe on the cover
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A friend has recently pointed me in the direction of Pinotage.
ReplyDeleteI have been going for the easy drinkable Tesco range of Ozzie stuff but actually I have realised that I should try to broaden my views.
Thanks for highlighting Pinotage.