I can’t really find anything about this wine online (and the label is no help either), so I won’t be doing a full post on this one. It’s a very young cab from South Africa — that’s all I know.

Nose is all over the place: chocolate milk one minute, wild berries the next, ashy, “thorny” according to my wife (I read that as sort of green and underbrushy), “grapey” according to my 3-year old. In the mouth it’s pretty rustic, with more funky overripe berries, meaty/gamey flavors and some drying tannins. Overall it’s pretty awkward and it tastes cheap (it was: $9), like if you ordered the house red at an Indian restaurant and they looked at you like “Really?”

Grade: C-/D+

Update: I looked back at the label and found a couple of things I missed before. First, it’s 14.0% a.b.v. Second, it’s from the Western Cape region within South Africa’s “Wine of Origin” system, which apparently is kind of a catch-all appellation that covers the majority of SA vineyards.

Also, I added the photo above.  Why do these South African producers  (see Sebeka) use such obvious “Africa” imagery in their label designs? You don’t see French producers putting white flags on their bottles. (Sorry – couldn’t resist the joke!)