The Society’s ‘The Beautiful South’ Tasting
Vibrant, innovative and exciting, South Africa is a country for wine lovers to watch, and the Cape’s output of high-quality, uniquely South African wines just keeps getting better.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, the South American winelands of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are home to some of the world's most dynamic producers, and unsurprisingly their popularity with our members continues to soar.
This joint tasting offers the chance to explore these southern giants’ wines in the company of many of the vineyard’s representatives who will be on hand to talk to us about their wines.
The wines are grouped alphabetically by country and producer.
The Society’s sweetness code:
White wines from bone dry [1] to lusciously sweet [9]
♦ = sparkling wine
○ = white wine
♡ = rosé wine
● = red wine
S = screwcap closure
ARGENTINA
Catena
Michelle Shepherd and Charlotte Poole
The imposing Bodega Catena Zapata winery, modelled on an ancient truncated Mayan pyramid, is set against a stunning backdrop of vast, open skies and the awe-inspiring Andes. It is in these remarkable high-altitude surroundings in Mendoza that the Catena family has helped to bring Argentine wines critical recognition around the world.
Nicolás Catena, who in 2009 became the first person from South America to receive the prestigious Decanter Man of the Year award, always believed that Argentina could produce world-class wines. He realised, after closely studying the effects of altitude on growing conditions, that it was possible to plant vines at high elevation, and use cooler temperatures along with greater sun exposure to ripen grapes while preserving natural acidity.
- ○ [2] Catena Alta Historic Rows Chardonnay 2014
Long-flavoured, fresh and delicious Argentine chardonnay. A blend of fruit from two high-altitude vineyards in the coolest year since 2001, this is a fine-textured and understated wine with an appley freshness tinged with an oatmealy lees flavour and a hint of oak.
Drink now to 2027. 13.5%
refAR3451£18.00 bottle£216 dozen
2. ● Catena Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection for The Wine Society 2014
We are delighted to have worked with Catena’s gifted winemaker Alejandro Vigil to make this blend exclusively for The Wine Society. The wine was aged in French oak barrels for 18 months after blending, resulting in a lovely, ripe and balanced cabernet with rich blackcurrant, cedar and spice aromas and a full yet fresh palate. Drink now to 2022. 14%
refAR3481£10.95 bottle£131 dozen
Mendel
Anabelle Sielecki
Mendel is an old bodega situated at Drummond, Mendoza. Built in 1928, the winery was bought by the Sielecki family in 2002, who then formed a partnership with the highly respected Roberto de la Mota who makes the wines. Here a more European style is preferred with a focus on structure as opposed to the softer, fruitier styles often seen throughout Argentina, and they produce wines which are designed to develop in bottle.
3.○ [2] Mendel Mendoza Semillon 2016
2016 was a very cool year and the whites from Argentina are unusually fresh and vibrant. This comes from a 70-year-old vineyard in Paraje Altamira, and has a greengage and light oak aroma. 15% of the wine was barrel fermented and aged for about four months.
Drink now to 2020. 13%
refAR3531£12.95 bottle£155 dozen
4.● Mendel Mendoza Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
A fine cedar-and-violet scented cabernet from a 15-year-old vineyard in Perdriel at about 1,100m altitude. Fresh, firm, fine linear cabernet of great class, aged for a year in oak barriques.Drink now to 2023. 14.5%
refAR3281£13.50 bottle£162 dozen
Mendoza is by far the largest and most important wine-growing province in Argentina. Situated in the west of the country, its continental climate accounts for around 70% of total production with the alluvial and clay subsoils, ample water supply and altitudes in excess of 1,000m being ideally suited to grape production.
Susana Balbo
Cecile Terrien
Susana Balbo graduated with a degree in oenology in 1981 – the first woman in Argentina to do so. Drawing on experience gained as a winemaker not only in Argentina, but also Spain, Chile, Italy, Australia and California, she fulfilled her dream of running her own winery by founding Dominiodel Plata in 1999. She is seen by many as the queen of malbec but is always looking to experiment with blends, techniques and many other grape varieties, such as torrontés.
5.○ [2]FaldeosNevadosTorrontés 2016
Fresh, peach-and-grape scented torrontés with a seam of lemony freshness. Torrontés is Argentina’s signature white grape, here blended from two regions, Cafayate and Altamira. Drink this year and next. 13% S
refAR3471£8.50 bottle£102 dozen
6.● Susana Balbo Private Edition Blend for The Wine Society 2016
A lovely Argentine exclusive from one of the country’s finest winemakers. The blend is 30% cabernet sauvignon, 35% cabernet franc and 35% petit verdot and is aged in barrel for about 10 months. A ripe yet fresh-tasting wine from a cool year combining a firm palate from the petit verdot, attractive blackcurrant fruit from the cabernet sauvignon and a cedary top note from the cabernet franc.Drink now to 2022. 13.5%
refAR3631£14.95 bottle£179 dozen
7.● Susana Balbo Chacayes Single-Vineyard Malbec Mendoza 2016
Buyer Toby Morrhall tasted six 2016 malbecs from different sub-regions of the Uco Valley and this Chacayes wine was the best, so he asked for it to be bottled separately for us. 2016 was a cool year producing intensely aromatic, floral malbecs which combine intensity and persistence of flavour. Drink now to 2022. 13.5%
refAR3641£12.95 bottle£155 dozen
Malbec is a black grape variety once popular in Bordeaux, still the backbone of the ‘black’ wines of Cahors, and given a new lease of life by its obvious success in Argentina where it is the country’s most important high-quality wine grape. Wines made from malbec, or cot as it is sometimes known in France, tend to be deeply coloured, intensely flavoured with black fruits, and sometimes exhibit a hint of violet or game aromas. The wines can range in style from soft and fruity to more structured, sophisticated examples capable of long ageing.
55 Malbec
55 malbec is a company founded by Alejandro Sejanovich and Jeff Mausbach in 2009. Both had worked together at Bodegas Catena, Alejandro in viticulture and winemaking, and Jeff in marketing. They make small quantities of two wines called Teho and Zaha, aiming to express the unique terroirs of their estate vineyards.
8.○ [2] ZahaTunuyan Mendoza Chardonnay 2015
This is a superb chardonnay made in an unusually firm and taut style, with a steely backbone. Made from a late-ripening selection of chardonnay planted at 1,200m at Los Arboles in the 1970s, the wine was fermented and aged on its lees in tank with no oak.Drink now to 2020. 14%
refAR3581£20.00 bottle£240 dozen
9.●ZahaTokoVineyardParaje Altamira Malbec 2014
Ripe yet fresh Argentine malbec, with a caressing silky palate. The soils in the cool Altamira region, predominantly sandy and silty with some limestone, give an exquisite, fine-grained texture to the wine, especially after about 14 months in barrel. The malbec is co-fermented with about 8% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot for extra complexity. Drink now to 2024. 13.5%
refAR3591£25.00 bottle£300 dozen
CHILE
Gandolini
Stefano Gandolini
Stefano Gandolini is one Chile’s most gifted winemakers. He founded the Gandolini winery in 2011 with the desire to combine the best attributes of the old world with the most exciting characteristics of the new. Gandolini focuses exclusively on cabernet sauvignon, and the vineyards are located in the Maipo Andes. Stefano believes this area to be one of the only locations in South America where world-class cabernet can be produced.
10.● Gandolini Las Tres Marias VineyardsMaipo Andes Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
Top-quality Chilean cabernet from Alto Maipo. The 2013 vintage, a little richer than the maiden 2011, is soft and plummy with a wonderfully caressing, velvety texture. Aged 21 months in barrels, beneath the puppy fat is a firm structure which will allow this wine to mature beautifully. Drink now to 2022. 14.5%
refCE8971£25.00 bottle£300 dozen
Viña Koyle
Cristobal Undurraga
Koyle (pronounced ‘koy-lay’) is a new project from the Undurraga family, who have sold the company that bears their name and bought an estate near Los Lingues, in Alto Colchagua, called Viña Koyle, to make, principally, fine red wines. They now have a total of 80 hectares which includes thirteen different varieties planted on red clay over friable granite soils. The entire vineyard is currently going through biodynamic transformation, a process that takes at least three years.
11.○ [2] Koyle Costa CuarzoRapelCoastal Sauvignon Blanc 2016
Excellent Chilean sauvignon from the lovely fresh 2016 vintage.Intense, nettle-scented and crystalline wine from a cool granite and quartz vineyard 9km from the sea near Paredones, in the Rapel Valley. Drink within the next 12 months. 13% S
refCE9301£7.95 bottle£95 dozen
12.● Koyle Cerro BasaltoCuartel G2 Carmènere 2015
This sweet, cedary scented and fine-flavoured carmenère is one of the best we have tasted from Chile. The hillside vineyard is planted on the top terraces of Cerro Basalto, where the roots plunge deep into the friable, low-fertility schist rock. The altitude, restrained vigour and small yield explain the outstanding quality.Drink now to 2025. 14%
refCE9271£15.50 bottle£186 dozen
Originally from the Médoc region of Bordeaux, carmenère has truly found its home in Chile after it disappeared from Europe in the late 19th century only to be found field planted amongst the merlot grapes in Chile, where they were originally thought to be one and the same. A notoriously late ripener, carmenère often produces deep purple wines with touches of spice and ripe bramble fruit.
13.● Koyle Cerro Basalto Alto Colchagua 2014
This, the second vintage of this wine, is even better than the superb debut. Cerro Basalto is a hillside vineyard of decomposed schist. The blend comprises 38% monastrell (mourvèdre), 25% garnacha, 19% cariñena and 18% syrah. It is aged for two years in oak barrels, resulting in a rich, savoury and structured wine scented with black olives, leather and herbs.
Drink now to 2025. 14.5%
refCE9261£17.00 bottle£204 dozen
Matetic Vineyards
Julio Basitas
The Matetic family are of Croatian origin and arrived in Chile over 100 years ago. In 1998 the family launched a new venture in the form of Matetic Wines in the Rosario Valley, an offshoot of the San Antonio Valley. Here they planted in a cool-climate area of well-drained, low-vigour soils some 18km from the cooling sea.
The Matetic methodology is focused on the natural environment, even down to the native alpacas used to graze between the vines to keep down competing vegetation. All the grapes are picked by hand and sorted again at the winery to ensure that only excellent, healthy fruit is vinified and they have established an enviable reputation for both their ecological credentials and the quality of the wine; in particular through their premium wines under the EQ label. The EQ stands for ‘equilibrium’ and represents the harmony that can be achieved between soil, climate and vine and this is an ethos that the company has adhered to in all its endeavours.
14.○ [2]MateticCorralillo San Antonio Riesling 2016
With a well-balanced, round and yet fresh palate, this is a delicious, ripe and peachy Chilean riesling. Drink now to 2019. 14% S
refCE9401£8.95 bottle£107 dozen
Riesling (pronounced reece-ling) could claim to be the finest white grape variety in the world on the basis of the longevity of its wines. After suffering a drop in popularity during the late 20th century, due to often high levels of residual sugar, dry riesling is hugely fashionable once again. Alsace producers would claim to be the masters of this style but many cool-climate Australian and South American producers are giving them a run for their money.
15.○ [3] MateticCorralillo Gewürztraminer 2016
An intense, cool-climate Chilean gewürztraminer from the 2016 vintage. With an intense rose perfume and a full yet fresh palate, this is a delicious buy. Drink now to 2019. 13% S
refCE9391£8.95 bottle£107 dozen
“Gewürz” is the German word for spice, and it aptly describes the wine with its pungent aromatic, spicy nose reminiscent of lychees. The grape’s skin has a slightly pink hue which imparts colour to the wine, and wines made from gewurztraminer tend to be low in acidity and high in alcohol. Gewurztraminer makes an excellent match with strong French cheeses and is often served with the pungent “Munster” cheese. Sweeter styles of gewurztraminer can even work well with white chocolate.
16.● Matetic EQ San Antonio Syrah 2013
Classic tarry, cool-climate syrah nose backed with a rich and velvety palate which conceals the deep structure of this concentrated wine made from small yields. Drink now to 2022. 14%
refCE8201£16.50 bottle£198 dozen
Undurraga
Jorge Smith
Undurraga has two winemaking cellars, with a total capacity of an incredible 23 million litres. One is located at Quinta de Tilcoco and the other on the Santa Ana Estate in Talagante. They are both modern facilities and are where the fermentation, processing, and bottling take place. However, despite their ultra-modern winery, they still use their cool, underground cellars, dating back to the 19th century, which provide the perfect environment for ageing their reserva wines.
17.○ [2] Undurraga CandelabroLeyda Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2016
Leyda produces some of Chile’s best sauvignons thanks to its cool climate. This is a lovely and fruity example with an attractive nettly aroma and flavour. Drink now to 2019. 13.5% S
refCE9221£7.50 bottle£90 dozen
18.○ [2] Undurraga Cauquenes Estate Maule Viognier-Roussanne-Marsanne 2016
The second vintage of this remarkable-value wine is as stunning as the first. The blend of 60% viognier for peachy perfume, with 30% roussanne and 10% marsanne for structure produces a really satisfying wine. Fleshy yet structured. Drink now to 2019. 14% S
refCE9161£7.50 bottle£90 dozen
19.● Undurraga TH Alto Maipo Cabernet Franc 2013
Lovely cedary, raspberry-fruited cabernet franc with a little merlot and cabernet sauvignon to contribute further complexity, aged for 16 months in Allier barriques, 30% of which were new. From a high-density vineyard in Chile’s Maipo region with alluvial soils with 60% gravel subsoil.Drink now to 2020. 14%
refCE9181£14.95 bottle£179 dozen
20.● Undurraga TH Las Gaviotas San Antonio Pinot Noir 2013
This Chilean pinot noir comes from an unusual alluvial stony vineyard with some limestone 8km from the sea and 10km south of the Maipo River. The cool climate and relatively high density of vines give a fine and more structured expression of pinot noir than is typical in Chile, with less overt fruit and more minerality from an attractive cooler vintage.
Drink now to 2020. 13.5%
refCE8521£12.95 bottle£155 dozen
The ‘TH’ stands for ‘Terroir Hunter’– a range which seeks out
wines that combine the best match of climate, soil and grape
variety. This range was brought in after the purchase of Undurraga by millionaire José Yuraszeck in 2006 and they have been a huge success here at The Wine Society for a number of years.
SOUTH AFRICA
BOEKENHOUTSKLOOF
Gottfried Mocke
Boekenhoutskloof lies at the edge of the valley in Franschhoek.
Although the estate was established in 1776, it was properly restored and its vineyards planted in 1993, with vines now consisting of syrah, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, grenache, semillon and viognier.
Marc Kent has long been a pioneering figure in the South African wine industry; he was the first to put the Cape syrah on the map with his now legendary 1997 vintage at Boekenhoutskloof. Under his leadership, the winery has since become one of the leading lights in South Africa, regularly winning awards for its wines.
- ○ [2] Boekenhoutskloof Semillon, Franschhoek 2014
Rightly lauded as one of the great Cape whites, this wine represents part of Franschhoek’s – and South Africa’s – history. From vines of at least 80 years of age, imbuing an intense richness and concentration reminiscent of Bordeaux, this opulent wine’s waxy lanolin and yellow-peach aromas unfurl and delight. A dinner-table showstopper.Drink now to 2020. 13%
refSA12511£20.00 bottle£240 dozen
The Franschhoek valley lies to the south-east of Paarl and enjoys a warm climate tempered by its relative proximity to the ocean, and the sheltering influence of the coastal mountains. Known as the ‘wine and food capital of the cape’, Franschhoek was first settled by the French Huguenots and wine has been produced here for over 300 years. In fact, South Africa owes much of its contemporary winemaking techniques and skills to these original immigrants.
22. ● Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch 2014
Offered here for the first time this is one of the Cape’s finest examples of cabernet sauvignon. Elegant, balanced and fresh, with black fruits and a touch of oak. 14%
refSA12451£32.00 bottle£384 dozen
23.● Magnum of Boekenhoutskloof ‘The Chocolate Block’, Western Cape 2014