on spitting and south africa

Went to a South African wine tasting Thursday night.

I love South African wines. I know they can be inconsistent and dirty and not always very friendly. But when you find a really good one, you never forget it. So there was no way I was going to miss this tasting. And I wanted to make sure I made it all the way around the room, trying everything I possibly could.

Which meant I had to spit. I know this sounds wasteful. But let me tell you, there is no way you can get through some 60 wines, adequately evaluate all of them and then make the 40-minute drive home afterwards unless you spit. (This is the industry secret. It's how we taste so many wines without getting drunk.)

So there I was, in the beautiful, historic Officer's Club at Fort Mason, surrounded by the after-work crew (lots of young and youngish people, all dressed to the nines, all likely from the Marina or hoping to one day live there). And I spat and spat and spat. Every single wine. You wouldn't believe the disgusted looks I got from those Marina girls with their Louis Vuitton purses and perfectly groomed eyebrows. I think I was the only person spitting at the entire tasting. (All the folks who were pouring the wines understood, but everyone else thought I was on crack.)

Anyway, I did achieve my goal and made it around the entire room. I didn't try all 60 wines, but I did taste all of the Sauvignon Blancs, Chenin Blancs, Pinotages and rosé wines that were being poured.

My absolute favorite wine of the evening was the Golden Kaan 2006 Rosé, which is made from Pinotage and costs just $9.29. It was super-dry and more on the lean side, had good acidity and nice crisp berry flavors -- I loved it and will probably be calling the winery (they have an office in Sonoma) to order some.

I also liked the Kanu 2005 Chenin Blanc and the Glen Carlou 2003 Grand Classique, a blend of Cab, Merlot, Malbec, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot that was fairly elegant and not extremely complex, but wasn't a huge oak/tannin bomb, which so many wines are.

As for Pinotage, I found that a lot of people (at least at this tasting) seem to be trying to make this wine more appealing to consumers, so they are blending it with Merlot and other varieties to soften it up and round it out a bit. The resulting wines are voluptuous and easy-to-drink, but they all taste the same.

Of the Pinotages I tasted Thursday night, my two favorites were the Warwick 2005 Pinotage Old Bush Vines and the Bellevue Tumara 2005 Pinotage. The Warwick to me tasted most like Pinotage -- there was lots of chocolate and roasted coffee, and not a whole lot of fruit. The Bellevue Tumara was friendlier -- definitely more black fruit, but still had a hint of earthiness.