Homework

I have a dog. The dog has never eaten my homework.

Tonight's homework was to taste two South African reds and write a blog on them. The wines were the Onyx 2007 Shiraz, the Guardian Peak SMG.

I had tasted the Onyx Shiraz at the previous Cape Cod Wine Tasting and it was delicious. Full, rich round smooth and darn tasty, on retaste this week I was surprised how good it was. So I retasted it again tonight. It's wicked good. A little barnyard in the nose and then just luscious flavors all the way through. AT $19.99 a bottle, I will be buying more this week. A potential big hit for summer grilling.

Guardian Peak is a sub-division of the Englebrecht-Els Empire of Wine. It's not really an empire but I wanted to use the aliteration. On my 2008 visit to South Africa, I had a planned visit to Ernie Els, yup, the golfer, winery. He makes, at least his name is on the label, a wonderful Bordeaux style blend, that I enjoy and will write about in depth later. At the end of the visit and tasting, the marketing director told me to visit their smaller winery down the hill, Guardian Peak. He made the phone call and the staff there spoiled me. What I didn't know is that they had a fabulous patio restaurant that was just opening for lunch. (Always visit the best winery in the morning, while your palate is still sharp) I asked if I could have lunch there and SNAP straight out of Goodfellas movie scene, a table was whisked from some hidden alcove and was set up at the edge of the patio with the best view of the mountains. Oh yeah, everyone was looking at who the bigshot was, little did they know it was only me. SMG is a blend of the 3 most popular grapes in a French Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache. This SMG was and is complex in aroma and flavor from the use of these big grapes, with hints of smoke, dark fruit and peppery spice. At $24.99 a bottle it is half the price of Chateauneuf and just as good, if not better.

There actually was a third wine tonight, but its story will run too long for this blog. The Chocolate Block for tomorrow night then.

South African Syrah

Another great find from this year's Cape Cod Spring Fling Tasting was the Graham Beck The Ridge Syrah 2005 at $29.99 a bottle. Graham Beck is on my short list of best all-around bang-for-the-buck winemakers in the world. Although most of them are under $20 a bottle, this amazing Syrah is a steal at 30.

Syrah and elegance are two words that are rarely in the same sentence. The Graham Beck Syrah is elegant. Silky smooth in the mouth it has typical gamey-peppery syrah flavors without the barnyardy typicity of Rhone wines nor the Raspberry fruitiness of Australian Shiraz, same grape, different spelling. In combination with this elegance is still the power you expect from a Syrah.

This is a great choice if you plan on serving a leg of lamb for Easter dinner. Smooth enough for the occasional wine drinking relative and complex enough for the astute wine drinker. I can't wait to try it with marinated lamb chops on the grill.

Graham Beck makes a few different Syrahs, make sure you get the one that has "The Ridge" on the label.

11 down, wow this is fun!