The beloved country

Surprise surprise, but South Africa’s famous native grapes — Steen (Chenin Blanc) and Pinotage (South Africa’s own chameleon-like hybrid of Pinot Noir and Cinsault) were completely missing from a brace of bottles I sampled recently.

There's a pair from the cellars of Klein Simonsvlei which is imported by Newgate Wines and is widely available in Centra and SuperValu stores nationwide. Niel Joubert 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon is a WO Paarl and clocks in at 12.5% abv. There's substantial presence on the nose lots of dark fruit and berries which is delivered in the shape of a juicy, fruity easy-going medium bodied red.

Enjoy the good firm golden colour, and then sniff the Niel Joubert 2002 Chardonnay (right) and it suggests a good sting of the grape in question. On the palate it's a creamy, well-balanced new world Chardonnay with a fair bit of oak the only wobble being what tastes like an over-abundance of residual sugar. Those two wines will ultimately be coming in at two bucks dearer, but are available on special offer now at 9.99.