south africa Archives : Me, Annie Bee.

Weekly Winedown #35 – Kooliburra Shiraz Cabernet

Anna — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 18:33:55 +0000

Welcome to the Weekly Winedown. Each week I selflessly drink wine for you and offer a review. Please don’t expect anything professional, I consume a lot of wine but I’m no pro. The only real ‘rule’ I’m putting in place is that the wine is to be under £8 a bottle. #keepitclassy I know I’ve mentioned a few times but I’ve been so slack. My first excuse was Christmas, then post Christmas, then planning a Secret Wedding (did I tell you I got married?). Then came the honeymoon period, which I still seem to be in. So that’s a quarter of the year done and dusted. How time flies! I fully intend to get motivated and get back on it…On Monday. In the meantime, this weeks Winedown has been guest written by a guest. Let’s all say hello to David who enjoyed Kooliburra Shiraz Cabernet from South Africa (and Aldi). The Label From the outside, the bottle looks clean and elegant. No fancy pictures or over dramatic font on the label. The black label does however have the Kooliburra trade mark lizard in purple, hence my son’s name of “Purple Lizard” for this wine. The Blurb “This deeply coloured wine mixes flavours of ripe dark berry fruits with subtle spice and mint. Full bodied and richly textured, it displays an intensity of red berry, blackcurrant and plum flavours, leading to notes of black olives, cloves and spice. The finish lingers with soft ripe tannins making it a perfect match to full flavoured meat dishes”. The tasting notes on the reverse promise “dark berry fruits with subtle spice and mint”, and comment on a finish lingering with “soft ripe tannins”. I’m not expecting anything particularly subtle, or hugely outstanding, bearing in mind the price range of this wine. It has a big nose, loads of spice and oak. Definitely no trace of subtlety there. Its setting its stall out and saying, “Here I am, big, bold and brassy, take me as you find me.” There is a lot of luscious ripe fruit flavours on first sipping, note, this isnt a wine for quaffing…its too big for that, but they don’t linger long, quickly giving way to a heavy oak which does linger, leaving tannins on your tongue. Theres almost a saltiness to the spiciness too. This is feeling like a wine to eat with, whether its a few cheese and biscuits type nibble, or a full blown roast dinner. Defintiely not a wine to just savour on its own, the big flavours need something to balance them. I’ve been pairing it with some cold roast gammon and a vintage cheddar, and it definitely suits the gammon, the saltiness of the meat softening the in your face flavours. The cheese was pleasant, but tended to bring out too much of the underlying acidity of the fruitiness. In conclusion, its a very pleasant wine, that with the right nibbles is proving very easy to drink. It would suit a relaxing movie evening, or a the type of dinner where you dont have to show off, and the conversation is more important than the food and drink. For £3.99 this is a steal, get some. Name – Kooliburra Shiraz Cabernet Price – £3.99 Colour – Red. Smell – Big – spicey and oaky. Taste – Full, fruity with a spiced finish. Goes well with – Gammon. Overall score – 4/5 Well, this is awkward. He’s better at this than me! I was hoping to get a bottle of this for myself to see what I thought but there was none in stock. Darn you Aldi!

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Weekly Winedown #33 The Whale Caller

Anna — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 20:13:15 +0000

Welcome to the Weekly Winedown. Each week I selflessly drink wine for you and offer a review. Please don’t expect anything professional, I consume a lot of wine but I’m no pro. The only real ‘rule’ I’m putting in place is that the wine is to be under £8 a bottle. #keepitclassy Hello Friday you sexy thing you! We have been waiting, what took you so long? I always look forward to the weekend. Someone once asked me why when I don’t work and every day is like a weekend. OH HOW I LAUGHED. Take my children and come tell me how weekend like it is! I like the weekend because there are more grown ups around to talk to and I get to share the daytime parenting. However, I don’t recall the last time I had weekend plans though, unlike Rory who is off at some fancy ball as we speak. I know right?! He’s off larging it at some event in his tux leaving poor old me here, all alone to fend for myself. Meh, I’ll get over it. I’ve been a bit poorly this week which must be the ONLY explanation for my wine selection. Let us say Goeienaand to The Whale Caller, a shiraz cabernet sauvignon from South African. Interesting fact, the guy who delivered my shiraz today was called Shiraz! This particular wine comes in at £4.99 a bottle. Not on sale, just always £4.99… I’m no wine snob, OK just a bit, but I tend to rule out a bottle of wine if it doesn’t have a punt (indentation) in the bottom of the bottle. It doesn’t REALLY make a difference, it’s pretty much pomp but this bottle doesn’t have one and I found myself coming out in a cold sweat when I realised. I’m such a punt. The Label All the right colours – red, white and black. The font is unoffensive which is always a bonus. There is a picture of a whale and a man with a horn, who I assume is the Whale Caller. I don’t know why the Whale Caller is important enough to have wine named after him. Maybe he’s a pretty big deal in South Africa? The Blurb “As you savour this rich red wine, with dark berry fruits and hints of chocolate and spice, you may just catch the strains of the Whale Caller’s horn, blowing on the southern wind.” Well, if this wine makes me start hearing horns I’m going to question whether it is wine. I like a drink, I’m not adverse to getting a little tipsy on occassion. Heck I’m all for getting mortalled if the situation requires BUT I don’t want to start hearing things, nevermins whale horns on the breeze. That aside, I’m quite liking the ‘hints of chocolate and spice’. This wine could be amazing. It could also not. It’s not. The aroma is a bit plasticine like. It smells synthetic and not the most pleasant. The blurb offers promise but promises can be broken. There is a distinct lack of spice. It’s a very flat taste, almost watered down. As a wine lover, I’m not a fan. As a Yorkshire woman, I’ll drink it as not to waste the money. Name – The Whale Caller Price – £4.99 Colour – A nice dark red Smell – A little plastic/synthetic Taste – NOT spicey. Kind of flat and watered down. Goes well with – Nothing, absolutely nothing. Overall score – 1/5

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Weekly Winedown #26 KWV Big Bill Red

Anna — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 18:30:24 +0000

Welcome to the Weekly Winedown. Each week I selflessly drink wine for you and offer a review. Please don’t expect anything professional, I consume a lot of wine but I’m no pro. The only real ‘rule’ I’m putting in place is that the wine is to be under £8 a bottle. #keepitclassy. It’s been a funny old fortnight. Winedown was cast aside last week as we took a family trip to the theatre for my Dad’s birthday. He is a big fan of ‘Goodnight Mister Tom’ so off we trotted to watch that. BLOODY HELL. The acting was good, and the story was intense but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. It was harrowing. I CRIED. On a Friday night, rather sober, I cried! It was not the feel good tale I had been led to believe it would be but it was nice to spend time with my family. Sitting in a theatre. Sobbing. This last week I have been trying to wade through the backlog created by Seth’s being ill and the internet being down for almost a week. It’s been particularly arduous given that Y, U, H, J, N and M have decided to only work sporadically. Hey ho, let’s go. The wine this week hails from South Africa, KWV Big Bill Red, on offer at £6.49 a bottle. The Label Red, black and white. My colour scheme of choice. The label is busy, part hand drawn and lots of text. The text tells the tale of the legend of Big Bill. Wrestler, war hero, rugby player and GM of KWV, wine producers. It doesn’t really say WHY he is a legend, aside from being a great multi-tasker and all rounder. That’s OK though, I’m sucked in. The Blurb “A bold red blend with upfront strawberry, cherry and mulberry aromas with hints of peppery spice and dark chocolate. The silky tannin structure is complemented by sweet fruit that contributes to the long, lingering finish.” I’m going to confess, I don’t know what a mulberry smells like. I just know that in the olden days they used to go round one. On cold and frosty morning. Peppery spice and chocolate is something to look forward to. The Verdict Well, if that’s what a mulberry smells like I am a fan. The scent is sweet but not sickeningly so. It is a really lovely, soft smell. I would buy a candle that smelt like that. The taste, the very first taste has a bitter edge, this is no bad thing. The sweet fruit and deep spice blend beautifully. The wine is so smooth, absolutely perfect for snuggling under a blanket on a cold winter night. I really need to get me a log cabin with an open fire somewhere it snows. Only the fresh stuff though. No slush. This is certainly on a par with the 19 Crimes wine. Name – KWV Big Bill Red Price – £6.49 Colour – Dark, deep like velvet. Smell – Sweet with a hint of spice. Taste – Bitter start but smooth, fruity and warm. Goes well with – Winter and open fires. Overall score – 4.5/5 near as damnit perfect.

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Weekly Winedown #20 Kumala Zenith Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz

Anna — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 19:08:45 +0000

Welcome to the Weekly Winedown. Each week I selflessly drink wine for you and offer a review. Please don’t expect anything professional, I consume a lot of wine but I’m no pro. The only real ‘rule’ I’m putting in place is that the wine is to be under £8 a bottle. #keepitclassy.Last week I failed to present. I was at BlogOn, a bloggers conference in Manchester, and I fully intended to do a ‘live’ winedown from there. Unfortunately I met up with some pretty fabulous people at the Paladone party and we were having too much fun actually drinking wine to talk about it. It’s not unfortunate that I met up with the wonders that are Erica, Fran, Kayleigh, Faith and James. That was an actual joy and delight, they’re a lovely bunch. Some are even almost as funny as me. Almost. The party also wasn’t unfortunate, free bar thank you Paladone. The unfortunate bit was the lack of winedown. It was unfortunate for you. I let the team down. I’m overthinking this aren’t I? On with the show. Hallo to South Africa, more specifically Kumala Zenith Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, easy for you to say! Half price at £4.99 this week so under budget. Did we ever establish if that was actually cheating or not? Meh. The Label Black, grey and white with a splash of gold. This label thinks it’s all that. Trying to be minimal and cool all at once. It’s a bit like one of those super trendy shops that are almost entirely black except for a spotlight here or there. Shops I avoid for I am too old and too, ahem, ‘curvy’. I’m hoping that I’m neither too old nor ‘curvy’ for what lies within this bottle. The blurb “A juicy, smooth full-bodied red wine, with red berry fruit, ripe plums and a hint of spice on the rich lingering finish” To the point! I like that it clarifies it’s a red wine, just in case the bottle and the name hadn’t made it clear enough. Or that fact that you picked it up in the ‘red wine’ section of the supermarket…. Full bodied, red berries and spice. All my favourites in one place. Now we’re into autumn a good red really comes into itself. There’s nothing nicer than closing the curtains, lighting a candle and snuggling under a blanket on the couch with a nice bottle of red. The colour is perfect, a rich ruby red – usually a sign of wonderful things to come. The aroma is subtle but warming, red currants and plum. It’s a rich palate, like Christmas in a bottle. The spicy undertones are warm like cinnamon and nutmeg, the fruit taste is rich and plummy. It has a soft but enduring finish. I am sure that this wine used to average about £5 a bottle, at that price I would certainly buy it more often. In a week that started on the biggest high in Manchester (metaphorical) and ended in relief thanks to an amazing friend (you can read about THAT incident here). I was hoping this wine would hit the mark and it absolutely did. Name – Kumala Zenith Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Price – £4.99 Colour – Rich, ruby red. Smell – Subtle red currants. Taste – Warm spice and rich fruit, like Christmas. Goes well with – Long Autumn evenings in front of the fire radiator. Overall score – 3.75/5

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