Wine Review - 2012 Two Oceans Shiraz: Pinotage By Another Name

A while back we started drinking and liking Pinotage from South Africa.  It is an earthy wine that tends to have coffee and chocolate tendencies in the nose and the palate.  Of the many, many types of wines out there Pinotage tends to have a tell-tale flavour profile that we can usually pick out of a crowd.  Then comes along this wine....Shannon smelled it to confirm my thoughts on this wine.

We were provided this wine from Two Oceans which is a Shiraz but has all the makings of a Pinotage.  At slightly over $12 this is a true value wine.

This is a medium bodied wine which is slightly on the thinner side of the spectrum in the glass.  Fairly dark red, but definitely not a thick wine.  If you said it was Aussie Shiraz we wouldn't be surprised.

The nose is where the Pinotage notes start coming to the forefront.  The coffee notes hit you right away and make us feel like this is not a Shiraz at all.  There is some fruit for sure but that takes a backseat to the Pinotage components.  This wine is from the Stellenbosch in South Africa which is where some of the best Pinotages we have had hail from so we feel like there is a very strong terrior component to this wine.

The fruit forwardness of the Shiraz has some of the elements of the Aussie version but there remains a strong connection again to Pinotage.  Sour cherry coupled with coffee notes and solid tannins.  It has a good mouthfeel and fairly smooth finish.  There are no abrupt bitter flavours and the residual sugars from typical Shiraz is in fairly good balance.  Surprisingly solid for a wine at this price point.  The Quality-Price-Ratio (QPR) is pretty strong at less than $13.  

	Tasting Notes:	Score:
Sight (0-5)	Medium bodied wine, slightly thin which is fairly dark red.	3.75
Smell (0-5)	Pinotage notes including coffee and dark fruit.	4.0
Taste (0-10)	The fruit forwardness of the Shiraz with a strong connection to Pinotage.  Sour cherry coupled with coffee notes and solid tannins. Good mouthfeel and fairly smooth finish and balance.	7.25
	Total:	15.0 / 20 (75%)

We would call this a party wine.  If your having a house party or a pot-luck and want a solid red to serve that doesn't break the bank this would be worth consideration.

Keep on tasting!

Chris & Shannon