Steven Spurrier, the UK
author of many wine books and a doyen among critics and judges, is a wine
educator and consultant who has been extensively awarded for his writing and
services to wine. He is perhaps best known for organising the famous Judgement
of Paris wine tasting in 1976 that saw California trump the French at their own
game. In South Africa recently, he tasted three vintage Zonnebloem Cabernet
Sauvignons and was astonished by their quality, highlighting to local wine
writer, Christian Eedes, the "extraordinary confidence and warmth about
these wines".
They included the 1965
Zonnebloem Cabernet Sauvignon that will feature on this year's Nederburg
Auction, when a six-bottle case wine will go under the hammer.
Spurrier, in the country
to judge the wines entered in the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, sampled the trio
of Zonnebloem classics in a line-up of 21 vintage Cape reds presented
before the judging began. Eedes, describing the tasting for WINEmag.co.za,
wrote that the "three vintages of Zonnebloem Cabernet Sauvignon, namely
1965, 1969 and 1970, were probably the stand-out wines".
Recalling Spurrier's
reaction to the other two Zonnebloem wines, he wrote: "Regarding the 1970,
he (Spurrier) said there would not be 'too many Haut-Medocs to match it' while
the 'vigour and lift' of the 1969 impressed him."
The wine Eedes liked
best was the 1965 vintage. "The 1965 was my best wine of the tasting.
First of all, most impressive in colour being a clear, bright red. On the nose,
red berries, spice and some meat stock. The palate meanwhile still had lovely
fruit expression, bright acidity and fine tannins – a fantastic clarity about
it. As ever, I was left wondering what precisely did the winemakers back then
do to make wines that could mature for 50 years so effortlessly?"
At last year's
Nederburg Auction, a six-bottle case of Zonnebloem's 1964 Cabernet
Sauvignon went for R30 000.
This year's auction
takes place on September 11 and 12.
Click here to read the
original article by Christian Eedes:
http://www.winemag.co.za/zonnebloem-cabernet-1965/
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