Working Girl Wine: Dinner- Palisades: South Africa

This Thursday, I went to dinner at the Palisades restaurant with a few other students in the class.The theme for this week's dinner was South Africa.This was a really fun experience! The Palisades restaurant was a really cute little place that kind of looked like an old fashioned bookstore and it was nice and quiet. The drive there was definitely an adventure. We thought we were lost on back roads for like 25 minutes and almost hit a few deer, but we got there safe and sound. and luckily got home safe too!!
We tried three different wines from South Africa: the Mulderbosch~ Chenin Blanc 2010, Ken Forrester Petit Pinotage 2010, and Graham Beck~ Game Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2009. Along with these wines, we tried some South African style food. They served us pumpkin fritters, biryani with beef skewers, and apricot chutney.

The first wine we were served was the Mulderbosch~ Chenin Blanc, of the chenin blanc variety, made with grapes picked in 2010. This white wine is from the Stellenbosch region of South Africa. The Palisades described this wine as tasting of "apricot, pineapple and lychee...peach pit and almond... floral and ginger spice." You can buy this bottle of wine for about $12 depending on where you buy it. This wine smelled fruity and I noticed that it smelled like apricot. Without food, it tasted a little earthy, but still fruity, though not as sweet as it smelled. It was also tart and a little tannic. With food, it had a dry aftertaste. With the pumpkin fritter, the wine tasted smooth, woody, and a little oakey. With the apricot chutney, the wine was spicier and I tasted ginger and pepper. This was probably very affected by the chutney because the chutney itself was very spicy and peppery. When I drank the wine while eating the meat and rice, it tasted like anise and I could feel a little more heat in the wine.

The Ken Forrester~ Petit Pinotage 2010. This is made from Pinotage grapes picked in 2010. The Palisades noted that this grape was "bred at the University of Stellenbosch in 1925 as a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsaut." They described the smell as "mulberry, plum pudding and cherries, supported by smokey bacon nuances." The Palisades described the tastes as "Juicy and accessible with soft palate and delicious fruit concentration." This wine smelled smokey and peppery to me and tasted earthy, woody and tannic. It definitely dried my mouth out kind of like black tea, and I could taste a little bacon. With the pumpkin fritters, the wine tasted smokey, oakey, and sharp. With the chutney, it was more peppery, and tasted of cloves and fruit.With the meat and rice, the wine was spicy,oakey, peppery and lost all of the tannic qualities.

The final wine we tried was the Graham Beck~ Game Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is made from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes picked in 2009. The Palisades review described this as "black berry fruit, dark chocolate and cassis on the nose, well supported by spicy mineral and cigar box flavors." I definitely smelled the chocolate aromas, and also noticed that it smelled kind of spicy and peppery, and reminded me of barbecue and tobacco. This wine was pretty tannic, and I kind of felt like I was getting a headache when I drank it. It was really bold, fullbodied, and oakey. When I drank this wine with the pumpkin fritters, it was still tannic and spicy. It was rich and mouth coating, and I could taste a little chocolate. With the chutney, the wine was a little hot, spicy, and fruity. With the rice and meat I tasted a lot of black pepper and spice.