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NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, 2011/05/10 - The Idiom Cape Blend 2006 has successfully added another award to its list of achievements to date. This Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pintoage blend has garnered a Double Gold at the 2009 Michelangelo Awards - Idiom.co.za.
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The Idiom Cape Blend 2006 was been awarded a Double Gold at the 2009 Michelangelo Awards held at the Lord Charles in Somerset West.
This is the third Double Gold that the Idiom Collection has garnered since its first vintage, which means that each of the 3 blends that form part of the collection have received this crowning accolade that celebrates wines of truly superlative quality in this highly respected competition.
The Bordeaux-style blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc) and the Rhone-style blend (Shiraz, Mourvedre, Viognier) were both awarded a Double Gold in their first year of production in 2005. This year, the 2006 vintage of Idiom Cape Blend, has received its meritous place on the podium for mastering the art of blending Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with a small amount of Petit Verdot.
Alberto Bottega, proprietor of Da Capo Vineyards and the producer of The Idiom Collection, notes,“This accolade further endorses our desire for each wine in the Idiom Collection to be as good as the next with equally strong pedigree. Alongside the Cape Blend award, this year the two Bordeaux style blends that were entered each also won a gold medal each. We have invested an enormous amount of time to establish the correct balance of different individual varietals brought together as a combination to make blends worthy of appreciation by wine lovers and connoisseurs.”
Cape Blends tend to be quite divisive wines due to the Pinotage component in the blend: a varietal that is at times loved and at times disliked. Yet this Cape Blend seems to be bringing people together in a wine that is worthy of recognition and consideration, even by those who traditionally have not previously enjoyed the varietal. Beyond the Michelangelo Double Gold, the wine was also recently awarded 4 stars by Wine Magazine.
Bottega says,“We are incredibly proud that we have created a blend with a Pinotage base that is elegant and refined. We wished to create a wine in the Cape idiom and in this wine, we have crafted something exceptional of South African provenance. The wine, like the local terroir, is reminiscent of the natural fauna and flora, even displaying fynbos notes on the nose.”
Roberto Bottega, who handles sales for the Bottega Family Wine Portfolio notes,“We are seeing a desire in the market for something exceptionally South African from both our local and our overseas clientele base. The passion of investment buyers results not in a single case being sold, but rather as they start to covet the wine and explore the unique character of each of the Idiom wines, they are purchasing many cases at a time. The Cape Blend is rising in profile and the quality of this years vintage, has lifted the demand for this varietal. Beyond which, there is a clear trend in the industry with the quality and price points of top-end South African wines going up due to the demand for exceptional South African icons in their own right from international visitors. The IDIOM Cape Blend (idiom.co.za) is a wine of South African lineage and deserves to sit up with our two other noble blends: Idiom Bordeaux-style Blend and the Idiom Rhone-style Blend.”
Kent Scheermeyer, the Executive Assistant Manager of Food & Beverage and sommelier from the One&Only Cape Town, recently tasted the Idiom Cape Blend that was used for the launch of the Southern Africa Luxury Association held at the landmark hotel. Scheermeyer detailed the character of the wine: “Gamey and earthy hints with dark/black cherries, some ripe yellow fruits, smoked meats, baked bacon, flinty hints with some sweet-sour hints on the palate. It is a complex wine, almost a bit nervous, with good structure, acidity and a lively finish with some good Pinotage expressions. The tannins are soft and the wood is well integrated. It is a very serious wine and needs food, perhaps South African game dishes. Very long finish with primary fruit.”
Jorg Pfutzner, sommelier at Aubergine and a member of the panel from the Platters tasting guide, equally felt that the Idiom Cape Blend 2006 was an exceptional vintage, at a recent private tasting held at the exclusive boutique hotel Les Cascades in Bantry Bay. He noted: “This wine is a knock out! The nose displays complex black fruit aromas which are refined with salmiak candy, fennel and tar. Tightly packed with roasted wild herbs, pepper and creamy blackberries; this sweet full-bodied wine attacks and distributes a mouth-filling flavour array. The persistent and homogenous savoury finish impresses and supports a classy structure. This wine lives off its tension and balance rather than of brutal force.”
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