With father’s day coming up you might want to do something special for the old man, like a full on lunch with nicely matched wines to go with the dishes you prepare. Or if you dad’s a guy who likes a glass of wine or two while relaxing in front of the telly, you might just want to drop a few bottles off with your card and leave him to it. The hell with it, you just might want to have the odd glass yourself. Let’s face it, most of us give presents to people that we ourselves like – though when I buy gifts for my mother-in-law that analogy doesn’t always apply! Anyway, that caveat aside, in your interests (naturally) we scoured the shelves and sampled, to find something that you might think is right for your special father’s day lunch or, well, just to drink yourself really. Conscious that not all of us are rolling in money, we looked for wines that can be found widely, might do the job yet still come in under the £7 mark. And yes, we did succeed in finding some very nice quaffers that don’t challenge the coffers, so here goes.
Kumala Sauvignon Blanc 2010 has a greenish hue in the glass and has fresh acidic green apple, gooseberry and citrus fruits on the nose. This is a tangy fruity wine that has a great freshness to it. Green apple comes through on the palate as does some gooseberry and there is a good acidic citrus edge. It’s a crisp dry wine that makes your tongue tingle at the sides as you let it wash around your mouth. And after you swallow it leaves you with a good acidic fruity flavour in its length. This is a wine that would work well with light summer salads, white meats and fish, it would be a great pairing with those kind of starter dishes. Let’s face it, it would be a great wine to drink well chilled under the shade in the garden on a hot summer’s day.
Kumala Sauvignon Blanc 2010 has a RRP of £6.79
Kumala Cabernet Shiraz 2010 has a beautiful ruby colour in the glass, and a bouquet of dark forest fruits, with big blackcurrant overtones. As you taste it and let it wash over your palate, those forest fruits come through as does tangy blackcurrant. This is a medium bodied red with medium tannins It has a good feel in the mouth and nice length, after you swallow, in which the flavours linger and you get some hints of nuts and chocolate. This would pair well with red meats, perhaps steak and even lamb; we were eating roast chicken when we opened the bottle and when drunk with the food, the tannins in the wine softened considerably, enabling its fruitiness to grow and develop.
Kumala Cabernet Shiraz 2010 has a RRP of £6.79
Fish Hoek Sauvignon Blanc is very pale in the glass with aromas of green fruits and apple and some citrus acidity. On the palate there is tangy citrus up front, but it has a great depth of flavour in which sharp green apple and some gooseberry come through. Although a still wine it has an effervescent quality giving the edge of the tongue a very nice tingly feeling. It’s a white with good clean sharpness and a nice tangy length after you swallow. This is another wine that would make great outdoor summer drinking, perhaps as an aperitif, but would also pair well with lighter meat of fish starters or mains.
Fish Hoek Sauvignon Blanc 2010 has a RRP of £6.99
Fish Hoek Shiraz 2010 has a lovely bright ruby colour in the glass, and on the nose you get acidic berry fruits and a hint of vanilla. In the mouth there are forest fruits, blackberry stands out and plum notes come through, as well as a hint of spice. This is a juicy, jammy, slightly acidic medium bodied soft red with medium tannins. It has a good length on the palate in which some slight pepperiness develops. It’s a wine that would pair well with red meat dishes, steak in particular, but it would also work well with duck and some game meats.
Fish Hoek Shiraz 2010 has a RRP of £6.99
Hardy’s Nottage Hill Cabernet Shiraz is a deep dark ruby red in the glass and bringing it to your nose you get rich forest fruits, blackberry, some acidity and vanilla. Those fruits come through on the palate in abundance; it’s a very fruity red with deep dark red berry flavours, blackberry dominates and there’s vanilla there, then some plum and acidic blackcurrant develops. This is a medium to fuller bodied red that has light to medium tannins. It has a lovely velvety texture on the tongue, a rich wine that has great length to it. It would pair well with steak, it would also be a great accompaniment to the richness of a slow roast lamb shoulder, or other similar dishes and game meats. We tasted it with chicken in a rich creamy sauce and it went well, the tannins softening with the food, letting the fruity sweetness grow and develop in the mouth.
Hardy’s Nottage Hill Cabernet Shiraz has a RRP of £6.73
Hardy’s Nottage Hill Pinot Noir is bright clear light ruby in the glass and it has aromas of fresh clean red fruits including redcurrant and cherry but there’s also a hint of spice there. As you drink it feels soft on the palate, tangy redcurrant and cherry come through as does a hint of strawberry. This is a light to medium bodied red that has light tannins. It has a good length in which you get a little spicy peppery heat. It would pair very well with lamb and duck in particular, but would also work well with some chicken dishes.
Hardy’s Nottage Hill Pinot Noir has a RRP of £6.73
For more information about Kumala, Fish Hoek and Hardy’s wines follow the embedded links to this article.