Tried last night w/ my leftover cheese strata:
1. Drew Albarino AndersonVlly (12.4%; www.DrewWines.com) 2008: Pale yellow color; attractive floral/stoney/minerally slight pear/mango classic Albarino nose; tart rich/lush/glycerined stoney/floral/Albarino slight minerally/tangy/citric lively flavor; med. pear/mango/mineral/stoney/Albarino rather rich/lush bit tangy/metallic finish; speaks of Albarino but fairly rich/lush; very attractive Albarino at a good price. $20.00
_____________________
2. TMV TulbaghMtnVnyds Syrah Swartland/SouthAfrica (U/U; 14%; www.TMV.co.ZA) 2006: Very dark color; quite earthy/dusty/gout de terroir/Kansas root cellar slight roasted/pungent/Rhonish/coffee somewhat herbal interesting/strange nose; rather sour/rough/rustic/coarse very earthy/gout de terroir some roasted/coffee/pungent charred/burnt/oak slight Rhonish slight blackberry/Syrah slight herbal/peppery strange/interesting flavor; med.long quite earthy/gout de terroir somewhat tannic/rough/coarse/rustic bit charred/oak/coffee/roasted slight blackberry/Syrah finish; not a lot of Syrah varietal character; lots of earthy/rustic character; sorta like a Syrah rendition of Pinotage for its coarse character; rather interesting Syrah. $19.00
__________________________________________
And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. TMV: This wine was one strange duck. Dominated by the gout de terroir character...which I use in the old-school/British sense..not in the modern/trendy sense; I didn't get a lot of Syrah character from it. It had a sour/coarse character that reminded me of SA Pinotage. A bit outside my realm of experience. Is this what Swartland Syrah is "supposed" to taste like?? Haven't a clue...never had one before. so don't know if it displays typicity or not. Did I like the wine?? Well...sorta. It appealed to me on a sorta intellectual level, but not so much on a sensual level. Strange beast.
Tom