Blind tasting of 14 New World Cabernets from CA, WA, Chile, Argentina, South Africa

[Blake_Brown]

Ok. Opened a bottle of the 2016 Spier Seaward. I tried it in Grassl 1855 and Riedel Sommelier Bdx – I preferred this one in the latter, but still love the former glasses!

Quick response – this is a great qpr, and should benefit from 3-5 years more of age in my book.

More extended. It is interesting to try a wine after someone like Blake, whose opinion I respect, speaks so highly, particularly after having it blind. I did not drink it blind, and am a bit predisposed to liking SA wines as well. Having said that, I am not sure I was as blown away as Blake, though I really do like it and think it is an amazing value at the price. It is tight and together as one expects from a young well made wine. Definitely elements of more new world fruit but with some nice old world structure and savoriness. Nicely integrated fine tannins, that really permeate the relatively narrow but delicious fruit center. To me this is a really good 40-50 dollar Bordeaux, or even 60-70 Napa. In other words, incredibly good. I had bought these thinking I would use them as daily drinkers when less serious wine drinkers or over – that will not be the fate of the remaining five. I suspect this will improve tremendously with age, so curious to see if I am right about that.

Thanks Blake for bringing this to our attention. As I have no interest in buying more, I am comfortable singing the praise of this wine here to let others grab it!

I should also say that I have always liked the wines from Spier. They were ahead of the curve early on in terms of racial and environmental policies among wineries in South Africa. They are a bit of a large production place – a bit like Mondavi in Napa and Mission Hill in Okanagan. But like both of those, they produce some really great wines from time to time. This is clearly one of them.

Very nice review and much appreciated Ron. It appears the wine could benefit from being decanted if consumed early on and I believe our bottle may have been. With bottle variations, personal palate preferences and so on, it’s still only a 2 bottle comparison, but one may reasonably conclude it’s a decent wine and good QPR.
And to the point my friend John Tilson of the Underground Newsletter uses at the end of his reviews, “Drink what you like and like what you drink”.
Cheers

[Ron_Slye]

Yes on that note, it did seem to open up quite nicely after 3 plus hours open – so definitely decanting is warranted! Thanks again for introducing me to it!

[Ed_Steinway]

Blake, we found a few bottles of the Spier Seaward at our local Total Wine. Less than $20 before any discounts. Opened one, gave it a lot of air, and it was a really enjoyable bottle, especially for the price point. Started off with blue fruit and oak flavors dominating the profile, and then that gave way to more earthy, herbal notes. Thanks for the recommendation!

Ed

[Blake_Brown]

Blake, we found a few bottles of the Spier Seaward at our local Total Wine. Less than $20 before any discounts. Opened one, gave it a lot of air, and it was a really enjoyable bottle, especially for the price point. Started off with blue fruit and oak flavors dominating the profile, and then that gave way to more earthy, herbal notes. Thanks for the recommendation!

Ed

Appreciate the feedback Ed. Looks like this is a winner for most palates and certainly a statement being made for Cabs from SA.