Platter's ratings of The Goose Cabernet 2007 (4 stars)and the Uitvlucht Cabernet 2007 (1/2 star) in the 2009 guide from two samples taken from the same tank at the same time confirm that mind tasting is a serious local problem too.

The suggestion that the ratings for The Goose Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 and Uitvlucht Bo-Langkloof Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 in the current (2009) edition of Platter's Guide are the result of "mind tasting" is devoid of all truth, as I explained previously (refer to http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/pendock/2008/11/29/jp-wades-in/#more-492).

The salient facts are as follows:
1. The wine identified as The Goose Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 in Platter's was never released as a commercial product. This was confirmed telephonically by brand co-owner Morn? Jonker on December 8th. He told us that after submitting the wine as a barrel preview for the previous edition, i.e. 2008 (and earning a provisional 4-star rating), the decision was made not to market it as a standalone variety but instead to blend it with the 2007 Shiraz (also submitted to 2008 Platter but considered too unformed for even a tentative rating) to create the 2007 version of the wine known as The Goose Expression. In short, there never was an "official" The Goose Cabernet Sauvignon 2007.

2. The Uitvlucht Bo-Langkloof Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, also vinified from Morn? Jonker's Schoonberg farm fruit BUT SELECTED FROM DIFFERENT BARRELS according to Jonker, was submitted to Platter 2008 separately under the Uitvlucht Wines banner. Worth noting is that no mention was made in the accompanying technical documentation of the wine's "family tie" with The Goose. Extremely youthful, and still showing signs of malolatic fermentation, the Uitvlucht Cabernet 2007 preview was considered unfair to rate, even provisionally. But the enthusiastic tasting note ("? enticing herbal red berry fruit & sophisticated structure? building blocks in place for fine debut?") clearly signalled an expectation for a 4-star (or better) rating for the final, market-ready wine.

3. According to Platter protocol, a wine submitted pre-bottling one year may be resubmitted as a bottled product the next. The bottled Uitvlucht Cabernet 2007 arrived for tasting for the current (2009) guide accompanied by technical data which differed significantly from last time: the wine was now said to have been picked at 24.5 Balling, with an alcohol of 13% and utilizing 30% new wood, compared with 26 Balling, 14.5% alcohol and 60% new wood previously. Though our technical specification document had since been modified to give producers the opportunity to state whether their wines appear under another party's labels, again there was no mention of a connection with The Goose.

4. Irina von Holdt CWM, tasting sighted in the presence of wine coordinator Ina Smith, herself an experienced taster and wine educator, was surprised to find in her glass a much less attractive Uitvlucht Cabernet 2007 than expected. Therefore, in line with policy, the backup bottle went into a second round of tasting, conducted double-blind (i.e. without reference to the producer, variety or region), the result of which corroborated the initial sighted review. The same procedure was followed, incidentally, for two other Uitvlucht wines submitted for the 2009 guide, namely the Bon Accord Shiraz 2007 and the Uitvlucht Wines Vintage Port Revolution 2007, both reviewed for Guide 2008 as pre-final samples and resubmitted for the new book.

5. Given the blind corroboration-tasting described above, which eliminated any possible bias on the part of the taster, we I am absolutely certain that "mind tasting" played no part in the ratings for the wines in question.

6. Last August, when our logistics team contacted The Goose Wines to determine why final/bottled versions of their Cabernet and Shiraz 2007 hadn't been sent for review for Guide 2009, we understood that the wines were still in stock and thus should be included in the new guide. However, the above telecon with Morn? Jonker showed this to be a miscommunication. Had the facts been correctly conveyed to us at the time of the original enquiry, we obviously would not have relisted the wines in the 2009 book.