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About Me

Hi, I'm Jim. I'm not a wine professional or critic. But I am a geek who loves wine. For me, half the fun of wine is learning about the grapes, the vineyards, the winemaking, the history behind the bottle. I'm drawn to old vines, indigenous grapes, single vineyard bottlings, field blends and anything else that makes a wine distinctive. On this blog I share my thoughts and tasting notes on the wines I drink and what I learn about them along the way.

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If you want to connect with me beyond leaving comments, email me at jim [at] vinegeek [dot] com

Ken Forrester ‘Petit’ Pinotage 2008 Stellenboch

Producer: Ken Forrester
Grapes: 100% Pinotage. A cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsault, resembling neither, it was created in the 1920s in South Africa by Stellenbosch University professor A. I. Perold. Here’s a good overview of the grape and it’s history.
Appellation: Stellenbosch (W.O. or Wine of Origin, South Africa)
Vineyards: Southeast-facing slopes.
Winemaking: Pressed off the skins early [...]

Shades of Africa 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon South Africa

I can’t really find anything about this wine online (and the label is no help either), so I won’t be doing a full post on this one. It’s a very young cab from South Africa — that’s all I know.
Nose is all over the place: chocolate milk one minute, wild berries the next, ashy, “thorny” [...]