2003 Fairview JakkalsFontein Shiraz

As a Shiraz purist and having lived in close proximity to a fellow from down under, I get twitchy when people outside of Australia call their wine shiraz. Furthermore, my general preferences for wine regions have always been California and Washington, France and Italy, and Australia. However, like all oenophiles, I am always searching for a good deal on a spectacular wine. Or even a notable wine. Well, at least a drinkable wine.

I do not remember actually ordering this wine, but I did because I have the e-mail to prove it. It must have been an impulse buy. It was $20 from Garagiste.



This wine was hot, running at 15% by volume. Sara and I were quite sloppy after drinking it. We paired it with Mac and Cheese, which does not really soak up any alcohol. We both enjoyed the taste, and as you can see from the photo above, had a good time. And neither of us had head-aches the next day.

The wine itself was not like an Aussie shiraz. At least not the ones I typically buy. The wine was lighter, more medium bodied, and a sort of ruby color. There was no sediment to speak of. It was all bright fruit and supple tannins. Despite being 15%, it did not burn or have a bad finish. It seems like if I had to put it on a spectrum it would be right between your older, brighter Aussie shirazes and some of the California style zinfandels (the peppery ones, not the velvety ones).

If this is a good example of South African terroir, I think we are all going to have to take them very seriously. I highly recommend this one.