Kanu Kia-Ora Noble Late Harvest (375ML half-bottle) 2005
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Wood ageing: 19 months in 82% new and 18% in 2nd fill French oak barriques.
Although drinking superbly now, it will continue to develop further in the bottle over the next 5 to 10 years.
95% Chenin Blanc 5% Sauvignon Blanc
Deep yellow-gold color. A bouquet of apricots, pineapple, pear, honey and almonds. The sunshine flavours unfold delightfully on the palate with a full, rich mouth-feel.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Rich and showy, with lots of orange marmalade, dried apricot and peach, spice and maple notes. Juicy and unctuous through the sweet but fresh finish. Very tasty. Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc.
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Recognized globally as a producer of world class Chenin Blanc, Kanu was one of only three estates to be awarded inaugural "Super Chenin" status by the South African Chenin Blanc Association, an honor granted to producers who have demonstrated a track record of consistently outstanding bottlings. Kanu’s Chenins are crafted from the fruit of bush vines with an average age of 30 years, planted predominantly on decomposed Malmesbury shale soils.
Today the Kanu tradition of excellence continues under Cellarmaster Richard Kershaw. A proponent of minimal intervention winemaking, Kershaw employs natural "wild" fermentations. He seeks to craft balanced and approachable wines with moderate alcohol levels and minimal oak influence, allowing the true flavors of the wine to shine through. This winning formula has resulted in consistent critical praise and "Best Buy"/"Best Value" accolades.
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
With an important wine renaissance in full swing, impressive red and white bargains abound in South Africa. The country has a particularly long and rich history with winemaking, especially considering its status as part of the “New World.” In the mid-17th century, the lusciously sweet dessert wines of Constantia were highly prized by the European aristocracy. Since then, the South African wine industry has experienced some setbacks due to the phylloxera infestation of the late 1800s and political difficulties throughout the following century.
Today, however, South Africa is increasingly responsible for high-demand, high-quality wines—a blessing to put the country back on the international wine map. Wine production is mainly situated around Cape Town, where the climate is generally warm to hot. But the Benguela Current from Antarctica provides brisk ocean breezes necessary for steady ripening of grapes. Similarly, cooler, high-elevation vineyard sites throughout South Africa offer similar, favorable growing conditions.
South Africa’s wine zones are divided into region, then smaller districts and finally wards, but the country’s wine styles are differentiated more by grape variety than by region. Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, is the country’s “signature” grape, responsible for red-fruit-driven, spicy, earthy reds. When Pinotage is blended with other red varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah or Pinot Noir (all commonly vinified alone as well), it is often labeled as a “Cape Blend.” Chenin Blanc (locally known as “Steen”) dominates white wine production, with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc following close behind.