Fleur du Cap Noble Late Harvest 2012 vs KWV The Mentors Noble Late Harvest 2012
By Christian Eedes, 31 March 2014
-
Share:
1
Sugar rush.
South Africa makes cracking botrytised wines but when to drink them? Sweet food with sweet wine is overwhelming all too often and I prefer the notion of pairing savoury foods with these wines, the theory being that the excellent acidities that these wines have will be tempered but not cancelled out by the saltiness of a terrine or a pâté.
Yesterday a pork terrine from Joostenberg deli with Fleur du Cap Noble Late Harvest 2012, KWV The Mentors Noble Late Harvest 2012 (both rated 5 Stars in the current edition of Platter’s) and as a ringer, a natural sweet in the form of Buitenverwachting “1769” 2007 (5 Stars in the 2010 edition of Platter’s).
The wine that worked best was the KWV (R200 per 375ml bottle). From Sauvignon Blanc, it showed pear, white peach, lime and some mushroom. It was the lightest and most focused of the wines and was a good foil for the food. Score: 92/100.
The Fleur du Cap from 97% Chenin Blanc and the rest Chardonay, Sauvignon Blanc (not yet released) was hugely intense and thick textured and would have might have fared better with a fruit-based dessert like tarte Tatin but probably best drunk on its own. Previously reviewed on this blog, it was rated 91/100 (see here).
The Buitenverwachting was a curious wine. From Muscat de Frontignan, it showed intense marmalade, fynbos, spice and even a slight terpene note. It was forceful and savoury (score: 89/100) and just about worked with the terrine but could probably have used some blue cheese.
-
Share:
Comments
1 comment(s)
Leave a Reply
Related articles
Reviews
KWV The Mentors Grenache Blanc 2017 vs 2018
20 February 2020
Both the 2017 and 2018 vintages of Grenache Blanc under KWV’s top-end The Mentors label are available at R130 a bottle from the company’s Wine Emporium in Paarl. Ostensibly, they...
2
News
Meerlust appoints Wim Truter as new winemaker
8 November 2019
According to a media release issued by KWV, its chief winemaker, Wim Truter, will be leaving in May 2020 to join Meerlust in Stellenbsoch. News broke last month that Chris...
2
Opinion & Analysis
SA needs more “icon wines” but Dr Charles Niehaus probably isn’t one of them
19 July 2019
The red blend that is Dr Charles Niehaus from KWV is positioned as a kind of “super Roodeberg”, a signature blend made as a tribute to Roodeberg’s founder, Niehaus being...
Melvyn Minnaar31 March 2014
Couldn’t agree with you more about the fallacy that these NLH sweeties should be pared with pudding. Bring on the savoury stuff and cheese, yeah. And try a well-acified muscadel with curry. It works.