An elevated taste

I grew up in South Africa, and have lived in Cape Town from ten years. The one thing I've learnt, is that there's too much wine in the world, to know everything about them all, never mind having enough time to taste them all.

South Africa has its well known grapes, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc for the whites, and then Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage for the reds. There's a lot more, but these are the ones you find on most shop shelves, and the ones I know a little about. At least what they taste like. South Africans for instance only drink South African wine. There's so much of it, that there's not a lot of space for importing wine. So we're not really exposed to wine from other parts of the world. Since moving to Sweden however, I have been exposed to wine from every country that produces it.

I've had wine from Chile, Argentina, Hungary, China, Australia, Germany, USA, France, Spain Italy and countless others. The thing that I struggle with now, is to remember the names of all the grapes. There's so many, and so many blends. So a lot more has been added to the equation, than what I've been used to back home. So I am busy studying up a bit on all the new grapes, wine estates and names, and read all the wine reports I can find my hands on.

Here's one that I have in my Men's Journal magazine this month. The first wine is a Cabernet Sauvignon from Smith-Madrone in the Napa Valley, the second is a Malbec from Calomé Estate and the third is a blend of Shiraz and Viognier from Philip Shaw. We have some Viognier in South Africa, but it's mostly used to add to a blend, but I have not seen any Malbec. It is popular, and I've tasted it here in Sweden a couple of times, but it's not one of my favourites I need to add.

What I have learnt about it so far, is that it is originally from Argentina, and is now grown around the world. It was named after the peasant who introduced it to France and is one of the six grapes allowed into a blend of Bordeaux.