Too few restaurants in Jozi have decent wine lists. Sure, many have encyclopaedic lists if you discount the new wave of producers making wines with natural techniques.
I’ll return to this subject once I’ve ploughed through that magnum of Beyerskloof pinotage. Lol! It could be some time.
One of the few chefs that cares about wine in this city is James Diack, the owner and chef of Coobs in Parkhust, the National, Il Contandino and La Stalla (the reincarnation of The Federal as a pizza joint).
It’s pinot noir
You can tell from his list, most of which I’d drink. Go there and he’ll recommend wines to match his food.
He introduced me to the Copper Pot a terrific value pinot noir from the wine makers at Thorne & Daughters, made with grapes from Elandskloof, near Villiersdorp in the Western Cape.
Copper Pot pinot noir
Wine: Copper Pot pinot noir
Year: 2016
Region: Elandskloof
Grapes: Pinot noir
Naturally fermented and matured in old French oak barrels for 9 months.
ABV: 13.5%
Price: About R140. Available online.
It’s one of those soft yet light reds that is very easy to drink. You just want to sink into your favourite comfortable chair and quaff it. It’s a very nice pinot. In fact it is better than that – absolutely lovely with juicy berry fruits and smoky hints of oak.
I’m going to misquote Lionel Richie here: It’s easy like Saturday evening. Or Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday… I’ve no idea why I said that.
But this wine is a classic pinot noir.
New to South Africa, I’m exploring the diversity of wine in the country at one bottle a week. English by birth, I’ve spent the last 20 years in Australia writing about food and drink for daily newspapers, glossy magazines and my blog, founded in 2005.
I now live in Johannesburg and am educating myself on all the amazing, new, interesting and avant-garde wines available in this country.
Note: I endeavour to pay for all wines myself and I practice ethical blogging.
Also published on Medium.