Taste: Dead ringer for Lot 18. Powerful aromas of anise, violets, smoky oak and graphite/tarry earth/leather. Fleshy midpalate of cherries, loganberry, and raspberry emerges from dusty tannins after a good hour of air so decanting at this stage is highly recommended. Balanced finish has good length with extremely well-integrated tannins offering toasty mocha notes and tarry earth. Another “Wow! Never had anything like that before” wine (unless of course you have had Lot 18).
Cameron Confidential: Same sourcing as Lot 18 and same appellation breakdown: two high-end producers in Stellenbosch and one in Paarl (the “Sonoma” of South Africa) put together by a consulting winemaker with access to lots of great juice. The reason we did not breakdown the appellations on the label as we did with Lot 18 is because the last time we tried to get the wine into the country the TTB (Tax and Trade Bureau – they regulate wine in the US) had tremendous difficulty figuring out how to treat the split appellation. It took two months to get it through US Customs so we decided not to do that again.
South Africa is once again on the rise. In the 1980’s, South Africa far-outpaced Australia, Chile, Argentina, but due to Apartheid sanctions, quickly disappeared from the US market. New government and tremendous reinvestment in South Africa (70% of their vines are less than 16 years old!) has put them back on the map as they are now the 7th largest wine-producing country in the world. Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson, in their World Atlas of Wine noted “surely the most beautiful wine country on the face of the Earth is South Africa’s Stellenbosch”. Located on the Southern Cape of South Africa, hundred year-old soils and maritime-influenced climate make for amazing wines.
