Notes from my monthly wine lunch:

2002 Dom. de la Meuliere Chablis Prem. Cru Fourchaume - great way to start the
lunch - mineral nose, good acidity, not too complex but pleasant.

1996 De Wetshof Chardonnay Estate - lemon and toast nose, more colour than the
previous wine, good length and lots of acidity made it work well with food.
This winery in Robertson specialises in white wines and they always seem to
represent interesting wine and decent value. Too bad we don't see them very
often.

1994 Henry Estate Winemaker's Reserve Pinot Noir - obtained from the winery in
the Umpqua Valley, this one had a slightly corky nose, but showed good cherry
fruit under that. Medium weight, medium length, and some sweet fruit on palate.
When a bottle shows even slightly corky, one can't draw definitive conclusions
about the wine - this showed pretty well, and might show even better without
the corkiness, even though it was of minor magnitude.

1990 Delheim Grand Reserve - this South African wine is all but unknown here,
but I tasted it in the late 90s and immediately bought a case. This was my last
bottle. The colour showed some age, and the nose was really nice, mature fruit
layered with berries and spice. A bit of mint showed up as it aired in the
glass. Soft and sweet with good length. A very good wine - I should have bought
2 cases! Not as clarety as the 1989 Stellenryck I opened last year.

1988 Ch. Grand Puy Ducasse - firm wine with slightly high acidity, balanced but
slightly low on fruit, which would indicate marking it for early consumption.
Nice minerality in the nose.

2002 Torbreck Woodcutter's Red - this Shiraz was predictably purple with a warm
sweet nose and had a big sweet, slightly alcoholic presence on palate. I think
it drinks as well now as it ever will. Not for laying down (unless you drink
too much of it)

1983 Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet - brown edges, minty nose, this wine is
now starting to lose some fruit, but was pleasant nonetheless. Intriguing
molasses note in the finish.

1995 Mondavi Cabernet - this regular bottling showed well. Dark with pure fruit
in the nose, not much tannin, and excellent balance with lots of acidity. I
commented that this wine will not last as long as the 1985 regular, which is
still kicking (if not as strongly as it used to).

1980 Grahams - this one fooled me - I guessed the vintage, but then said 'Its
not Grahams, is it?", trying to eliminate my way to the truth. I was quite
surprised to find out that it was indeed Grahams, as it displayed none of the
typically high sugar one almost always sees from them. Spirity Port nose, only
medium sweet, elegant, not a first rank showing but pretty good and perfect for
finishing our lunch.