Wine – 2003 Firefinch Ripe Red
I wandered into the little treasure trove that is the Liberty Wines shop on Granville Island today. It’s a great little store that has a fantastic selection of hard-to-find wines packed into their small space.
While browsing, I came across an interesting selection of South African wines and realized it has been years since I’ve drunk a wine from there… so, I picked up a couple of bottles that caught my attention.
First up is the 2003 Firefinch Ripe Red. Now anyone who knows me, knows I like the slutty reds, so having “Ripe Red” in the name of the wine was all that was needed for this wine to make its way into my shopping bag.
This wine is from the Robertson wine region east of Cape Town. It’s an interesting blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Ruby Cabernet (a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan). What was also very interesting to me was the nose of the wine – it had a definite edge of chili pepper. I half expected it to be spicy.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Instead, it’s a mouthful of ripe cherry mixed with raspberry-laced green tea with a good dose of tannins. Very interesting… and I think, very good. This tastes unlike any other wine I’ve had in recent memory, and that’s not a bad thing at all.
Welcome to the site, South Africa.
$26.99 in private wine shops (Liberty) here in BC.
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David & Nancy
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Graham
