Jan de Weerd

9.4

Bottle #363 Grande Syrah from Boschendal, Stellenbosch South Africa. Producing wine from this estate since 1685… let that sink in for a second or two. Amazing. Great Syrah, depth, concentrated, but focused. Dark fruit flavors of plum and black cherry all in fully harmony with spice and fine grained tannins. — 8 days ago

with Tammy

Jan de Weerd

9.2

We are staying in South Africa. Can you believe some of the oldest operating wineries are right there. Like Klein Constantia, founded in 1685. Yep, they made wine requested by Napoleon, praised by Dickens and Jane Austin so it says on the label. Unique, beautiful little spot right next to Cape Town where they grow the grapes and produce the wines. Want to experience a few more captivating wineries that produce exceptional wines in South Africa? Go to our website or YouTube channel for Spoken Wines. One of the outstanding wineries produces mesmerizing Bordeaux blends in ancient soils in the land called Paarl. Their roots go back to Napa and Opus One. Enjoy! Please support us by subscribing 🙏🙏 — 17 days ago

with Tammy

Jan de Weerd

9.5

Opulent. Super expressive, yet structured. Rich and vibrantly tickling your cheeks. And yes, might be the power of suggestion as it comes from the Apricot Block vineyard, but it does have stone fruit/nectarine/apricot note. Amazing wine. — 4 months ago

Jan de Weerd

7.0

😳 okay. Wine some slide some. Oxidated. Off balance. — 4 months ago

with RoAnne and Tammy

Jan de Weerd

8.2

This wine was an interesting journey. It came out of the bottle fresh and expressive fruits. It had an acidic edge that kept it off balance some. It didn’t really progress much from there over the next hour, it kept that acidic, tart edge. And then suddenly about 90 minutes in the bottom fell out. All the fruit had disintegrated and all what was left was a tart, woody flavored wine. We couldn’t even finish it. Rarely experienced before. Was this perhaps a wine that was fortified with tartaric acid? — 9 days ago

with Tammy

Jan de Weerd

9.3

Well, this confirmed it! Mexican wine is the new tequila! Nice wine upon opening it. A bit off balance, but.. wow after corn chips and tacos, this wine was singing!!! Amazing pairing. As you might know, my wife and I and our daughters created Spoken Wines, where we travel the world to discover the stories behind exceptional wine. A few years back we explored Baja California and were introduce to their quality wines. Check out our YouTube channel to experience it yourself. Cheers! Oh, and please subscribe to support wine story telling 🙏🙏 — 17 days ago

with Tammy

Jan de Weerd

9.3

Enjoyed it immensely with our grilled ribeye steak! Perfect pairing. The steak elevates the wine significantly. Dark fruit with fully integrated smooth tannins in this 10 year old wine. It has this green pea, olive note to it that I presume comes from the Carmenere that I personally don’t care for too much. Very balanced, very present, smooth finish, decent complexity. — a month ago

with Tammy

Jan de Weerd

8.6

Okay, one of these wines I had super high expectations. And when it doesn’t deliver perhaps the rating isn’t quite fair…. Anyway, the wine was not in balance. Strong alcoholic and sharp aged oak notes had a strong voice in this wine and the fruit underneath didn’t have the capacity to integrate it. Surprising because 2016 was a great year for Brunello. — 11 days ago

with Tammy

Jan de Weerd

9.6

And now to South Africa! Where they produce some awesome en es for decent prices. The Pinotage was created there. A crossing between Pinot Noir and Cinsault (which was called Hermitage in its olden days). It tastes like a Pinot Noir on steroids. But, when Kanonkop gets its hands on it they lift it up to a sensational experience. Vibrant, intense and layered with flavors. Their black label is their cream of the crop sourced from old vines. — 17 days ago

with Tammy

Jan de Weerd

9.0

We are into the 10 year old wines this weekend. And as we are heading to Walla Walla, we thought to give this wine a try after it was been in my cellar for more than 10 years. And…. hmm, a bit disappointed. Had expected much more complexity, layers of flavored and endless finish. Nope. Nice wine though, smooth, balanced, great vibrancy but, yeah, still single note and I don’t think there is more to discover with aging. — a month ago

with Tammy