Montauk Wine Club Brings Out the Vuvuzelas

On June 24, the Montauk Wine Club conducted our own "World Cup" revelry with some wines from South Africa. Each time we voted on a wine, our choices were accompanied by vuvuzela sound effects thanks to one of our loyal members. We first tried a 2009 Graham Beck Chenin Blanc (14% alcohol) from the Beck family game preserve in South Africa which we matched against a 2007 Le brin de chevre chenin blanc from Touraine, France (11.5% alcohol). Then we saw how a 2008 Graham Beck Pinotage (a hybrid of Cinsault and Pinot Noir unique to South Africa, 14% alcohol) compared to a 2007 Primarius Pinot Noir from Oregon (13.5% alcohol). The score on the whites was pretty much a draw, but the South African pinotage was a clear winner.
Our first wine was honey colored with a green tint and lots of legs. Its smell was fairly complex -- grassy and mineral on one end and baked apples with honey and cinnamon on the other. The smell was bolder than the taste, which took a bit of time to develop, although the cinnamon definitely came through in the beginning. This wine did not seem to have much of a finish, making it a good candidate for stoop sipping.
Our second white paled in looks to the first, being clearer, greener and less viscous. But, this wine was much bolder in the nose with strong scents of apple and petrol. One could clearly make out a more tart and acidic aroma. That tartness and acidity showed up in the taste as well. We found much more going on here in the taste arena compared to the first white. It was both creamy and prickly on the tongue. In fact, there was quite a bit of chewiness to it and a bit more minerality compared to the first wine. It was this complexity in the taste that led most of us to believe this was the French chenin blanc, but we were wrong. This was the South African wine. We ultimately decided that the key to the first wine being French was the time it took to develop after pouring. We were evenly divided on which we liked better.
When we moved on to the reds, our task was much easier. Our first red was clearly more powerful. Its color was deeper, more opaque and more purple. One even described it as bloody, dark and mysterious. Its legs were more lasting. When brought to the nose, we were first hit with a strong scent of blackberries, although some minerality began to take over which when mixed with the berries reminded one of a rubber welcome mat. That is, until the chocolate started to come through. Definitely a lot of stuff in there. The flavor pretty much echoed the smell. We finally decided to describe it as being like a char-grilled black and blue steak followed by a dessert of berries and chocolate. Wow!
The second red had a quite different color, being browner and more transparent. In its own way, it was more welcoming. As we smelled it, some fruit began to develop, but it was a fairly simple smell of grapes. The grape jelly was discernible in the taste as well, although this wine "died on the soft palate". This was certainly not a jammy wine, suggesting perhaps that it was from a colder climate. As a result, it was pretty easy for most of us to pick this out as the pinot noir from Oregon, and the first red was definitely the South African pinotage. When it came to a vote for the favorite, we raised a unanimous cheer for the South African red.