It is all too easy to fall back upon generalities of past experiences
when making assessments .
Some years ago, I sampled a couple of wines from the dark continent
whose names have faded into oblivion. Why is that mass of land so
designated? Does the sun never shine there as it does elsewhere?
I didn't care for either of them, and have avoided South African
bottles since. Yet, some invisible force must have guided my hand
into placing a bottle of Jardin 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon into my
shopping cart last week.

The label states that the wine is grown and vinified in Stellenbosch,
which is close to Cape Town.
The owners are €œCalifornia €“ trained€� Gary and Kathy Jordan.

At 13.7% alcohol, it falls into a comfortable range of table wines,
being that I avoid the currently fashionable €œalcohol bombs€� as if
they were the Bubonic Plague. I want wine to compliment my food, and
not just a quick road to becoming smashed. If the later were my goal,
there is always Gallo Thunderbird.

The sprightly Cabernet nose sprang out at me as soon as the cork was
drawn, and did not diminish throughout the meal. The color was deep,
but not inky. While there was a goodly amount of glycerides sliding
down the perimeter of my glass, I would term the body as being of
medium density.
A faint herbal quality kept creeping through the bone dry fluid. As I
have stated in the past, red wines with noticeable residual sugar
are €œdown the drain€� material for me. Did it resemble any California
Cabernet that I have had? No. Neither did it resemble any examples of
the various regions of Bordeaux.
It had an ethereal presence of its own, which grew more compelling
throughout my consumption of the pan-broiled rib steak and continued
with the good French Brie.

Without hesitation, I would award it 17 on the Davis 20 scale. Now,
what can I hock at the pawn shop this time that will enable me to
purchase more, if still available? ;-)

Godzilla

Godzilla wrote:

> Without hesitation, I would award it 17 on the Davis 20 scale. Now,
> what can I hock at the pawn shop this time that will enable me to
> purchase more, if still available? ;-)

How much was it? I'll bet that your fiddle would give you enough for a
few bottles :P

p.s. It does sound like a very nice wine. If I can find it, I'll give
it a whirl, too.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Mark Lipton wrote:

> Godzilla wrote:
>
>> Without hesitation, I would award it 17 on the Davis 20 scale.
>> Now, what can I hock at the pawn shop this time that will enable me
>> to purchase more, if still available? ;-)
>
> How much was it? I'll bet that your fiddle would give you enough
> for a few bottles :P
>
> p.s. It does sound like a very nice wine. If I can find it, I'll
> give it a whirl, too.
>
> Mark Lipton

It was $13.99 at Costco, Mark. I can only wish that the prescriptions
that I picked up for my spouse the same day cost the same, but they
did not. That is the reason that I must shy away from purchasing more
cases of Petrus and such. :-(

Godzilla