Winecast » Pinotage

Winecast 68 - Pinotage

Tim — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 19:59:34 +0000

TodayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s show is a return to podcasting after seven weeks off this time focusing on Pinotage, the red varetial from South Africa. I also play a podsafe song about wine and make a couple of announcements.

Show Notes:

00:22 - Welcome and show theme
01:06 - Pinotage background
04:00 - Tasting Notes
04:50 - Zonnebloem, Pinotage, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2003 ($12) *+
05:14 - Robertson Winery, Pinotage, Robertson, South Africa 2003 ($9)
05:39 - Fleur du Cap, Pinotage, Coastal Region, South Africa 2004 ($12)
06:19 - Best of tasting (*) and best value (+)
06:51 - Show announcements
07:58 - Clip from Evil Genius Chronicles podcast
11:21 - Podsafe song from Mark Mallman
12:10 - Pandora’s Bottle from “Between the Devil and Middle C” (buy on Amazon or eMusic)
15:18 - markmallman.com and tour dates
15:56 - Contact Details/Sign my listener map!
16:28 - Next show theme

Direct mp3 Download

Direct aac Download (enhanced for iPod)

Winecast 67 - Stormhoek

Tim — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 03:10:50 +0000

Today’s podcast is a return to my vintner profile format with an interview with Jason Korman and Hugh Macleod of the Stormhoek Winery.

Show Notes:
00:22 - Welcome
01:07 - Introduction of Stormhoek Winery
02:32 - Interview with Hugh Macleod and Jason Korman
29:16 - Tasting Notes
29:28 - Stormhoek, Pinot Grigio 2005 ($10)
29:46 - Stormhoek, Semillon, “The Sixteen Barrel” 2004 ($20) *
30:26 - Stormhoek, Pinotage 2005 ($10) +
30:51 - Best of Tasting *
30:56 - Best Value +
31:06 - Contact Details
31:45 - Next show theme

Direct mp3 Download
Direct aac Download (enhanced for iPod) - to be posted soon

Stormhoek Twin Cities Geek Dinner

Tim — Wed, 24 May 2006 14:00:51 +0000

Last evening, sixteen Twin Cities bloggers, podcasters and wine lovers were introduced to the wines of Stormhoek at Zander Cafe in St. Paul. Luckily, thirteen bottles were ready to be consumed, so I thought we had more than enough. By evenings end almost 3 hours later, only two bottles of Pinot Grigio were still sealed.

The wine of the night was the stunning “The Sixteen Barrel” Semillon 2004; pear, fig, herbs, smoke and caramel in a very round, creamy package. We only had one bottle of this and my pours were too generous so we ran out before everyone had a chance to taste (including me; thanks to Garrick for allowing me to try some of his). The most popular wine of the evening was the 2005 Pinotage. As I said when I presented this wine, most Pinotage is very earthy and somewhat green in character (”weedy” is a term that comes to mind) and sometimes produces wines that are quite unpleasant to drink. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s also a binary wine with people either loving or hating it. This was the first Pinotage I have tried with a large group where everyone enjoyed the wine. I think this is because Stormhoek has made this in a bold, jammy style featuring forward boysenberry and blackberry fruit with the earthy character of this varietal in the background. This tasted almost like a Shiraz, making me wonder how they do with that grape. We started the evening with the 2005 Pinot Grigio that was a quaffable citrus and green apple with a touch of minerality; good, but not close to the Pinotage or the delicious Semillon.

All in all, we were impressed with all three wines but wish we had some of the other varietals to try. Sixteen new Stormhoek customers here in Minnesota are now ready to pay for our further exploration

Thanks to Jason and Samantha from Stormhoek for sending two parcels from the winery and Hugh for the great prints and brochure. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll be collecting my notes and audio from the evening and combining it with an interview with Jason and Hugh recorded at the beginning of the month for a podcast later in the week.

I expect to see some other impressions of the evening to be posted shortly and will collect them here:

- Garrick Van Burren has already posted his (nice Treo pic, Garrick!)
- Dan and Lynn Hook’s podcast (he recorded part of the evening)