In the reverse order from which we tasted them because of the order in which I input my notes on Cellartracker:
2012 Mullineux Chenin Blanc Straw Wine Swartland
My bottle. Bright copper color, walnut, apricot, strawberry fruit leather, spicey, golden raisin, great acidity, exciting palate presence. Color has darkened considerably from yellow to orange in just 18 months, will probably be tawny in another year and a half.
2012 Rupert & Rothschild Red Bordeaux Blend
Another international Rothschild project. Interesting little guy, just $16 (probably wholesale, close-out). Lightbodied, taut, a food wine, herbal, 55% CS with merlot, CF, shiraz, petit verdot and pinotage. Nice value.
2010 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Pinot Noir Hemel-en-Aarde Valley
Big sulfur nose, salted caramel, tad cloudy, spice, plums, lots of acidity (probably needed decanting), very Burgundian. Might be a flawed bottle. First HR PN I've had with some age on it, and I'm not sure this is where it should be.
2003 Conde Cabernet Sauvignon Stellenbosch
My bottle. Violets like a Caymus SS, blueberries, warm cherry compote, spice and tobacco, nasturtium, iron/red dirt, maturing beautifully, best red of the night for all.
2012 Crystallum Pinot Noir Bone Fide Walker Bay
Lighter bodied, a bit thin, silky, floral, barnyard nose, good spice, salty mid-palate, lacks tension.
2013 Painted Wolf Wines 'The Den' Pinotage
Red fruit, blueberry, carignane-ish, spicy, bigger bodied, balanced and flavorful. We're all shocked when it turns out to be a $10 pinotage, both for price and substance. Everyone's second favorite red of the night--fantastic QPR.
2011 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu Chenin Blanc
Phaedra's bottle--she didn't have time to round up a South African wine. Fennel seed, a little oily, gr apple, naval orange, very dry and delicious. Did not mistake it or a new release; in fact we thought it might have been 2-3 years older.
2014 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay Hemel-en-Aarde Valley
Good acidity, demure fruit, obviously French in ambitions. Good but probably a little tight--a CellarTracker reviewer said their bottle was best on day two.
2012 Radford Dale Chenin Blanc 'The Renaissance' Stellenbosch
Salt, sea spray, stone fruit, firm minerality, masculine structure, woolly; seriously elegant with great aging potential. I've heard about South Africa's serious chenin blancs but rarely run into them. For new world chenin, this is a game-changer, unlike any other Chenin Blanc I've ever had.
2012 Mullineux White Swartland White Blend
Also my wine. Butterscotch, lanolin, mealy apple skin, overripe, verging on flabby, dominated by the aroma of viognier's old lady perfume. Yuckypoopoo. But I loved it when I purchased it in early 2014--it was an entirely different wine then.