I finally managed to taste South African Stormhoek‘s wines last night, at the TechCrunch 5 party. These wines have been primarily marketed through blogs, with the help of uber-blogger (and master cartoonist) Hugh McLeod, and are just about to enter the US market.
I am a big fan of South African wines since I visited the country ten years ago, and always found them under-represented in France or in the US, besides their quality and very competitive pricing.
About the wines: I had a quick sip of the 2005 Pinot Grigio (or Pinot Gris), the 2005 Sauvignon Blanc and the 2004 Shiraz.
Both whites were fresh and pleasant, the Pinot Grigio being off dry and the Sauvignon Blanc having the dry and floral typical characteristics of that varietal. The Shiraz had a nice palate taste, but was served so cold (it remained in the cold outside for hours) that I could not really appreciate it (and it went so fast that I could not save a bottle for later).
It these wines retail for about $10-12, they are going to be a great value indeed.
Tags: stormhoek