Escape to the Cape

Indaba Sauvignon Blanc 2008 - South Africa

For a refreshing white wine from the southern hemisphere with a full range of character, Indaba sets the bar pretty high with their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc.  It's hard to imagine how they crammed so many contrasting and complimentary flavors into one bottle of wine. 

Since my co-blogger is so keen on anthropromorphizing his wine as a metaphor for women, let's go ahead and say that this Sauv Blanc is so reminiscent of Andrew Marvell's Coy Mistress that it gives me nightmares of my third year lit course - you know, those nightmares where it's the day of the final and you realize you haven't been to a single class all semester.  She's tempestuous and serene.  She's inviting and forbidding.  She'll grab you by the beltloop and then banish you to the living room.

Her moods are many and varied.  She has a complete garden full of flavors; minerals of rich black soil, the velvety mouthfeel of lavender and rosemary, the floral sweetness of young genevese basil and baby spinach, a mild pungence of asparagus and artichoke, and a nose of bergemot and lemon. 

She pushes and pulls against the palette, begging for some chicken picatta, a plate of green Spanish olives, some thinly sliced roasted fennel, and scallops wrapped in bacon. 

Her finish leaves a note of sea air on the tip of the tongue, and the mind wanders off to some fertile green place where the grapes grow plump and golden and the bottle is never empty.