Obikwa Winery - 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon [South Africa]

Tonight's wine is the first South African wine to be featured on the blog. It's a 2014 cabernet sauvignon from Obikwa Winery based in Stellenbosch, Western Cape province, South Africa. Research shows that Obikwa releases a full line of budget reds and whites, available around the world. This particular bottle cost me $8.99. Also of note - apparently Obikwa has been bitten by the sustainability bug; the bottle itself is a lightweight "eco-friendly" bottle weighing 350 grams.

South Africa has long been a winemaking region. It has a variety of climates which are suitable for grape growing, and vineyards have been planted in South Africa for hundreds of years. Only in the last forty years or so has South African wine seen intense international recognition for their wines. Obikwa Winery itself was founded in 2002, mainly for an export market and they started selling wines both wholesale and retail in South Africa in 2009.

I chose this wine today for a few reasons - one, I'd never reviewed a South African wine before; two, we were serving homemade meatloaf that night and Cabernets are very likely to pair well with most meat dishes; and three, it was $8.99. One need not spend a fortune to get great wine, and this seemed like a good price point for a red to pair with a casual dinner.

The wine is a cranberry juice color in the glass and throws a dark, ripe fruit aroma. Not a lot of bricking at all in the meniscus. Likewise, it's not particularly aromatic - I've had some wines that you can smell from a few feet away - but still present. The flavor is rather tasty: it's light for a Cabernet, not at all aggressive, with some pronounced fruit skin notes and some flavors of earth / soil. It's got a soft finish, and a lingering (yet soft) aftertaste.

I was surprised at how soft this was - I was expecting something bold and brassy, or at least more tannic that what we got. The wine was flavorful, very drinkable, and pleasantly soft. We served this dinner with some homemade meatloaf (containing fire-roasted tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, oatmeal, and ground beef), fresh Connecticut corn on the cob from a farm stand, and some garlic mashed potatoes. It paired nicely - the meat wasn't spicy and the softness of the wine worked well with the garlic in the potatoes. In the end, a good table wine that one could bring to a dinner party and not be worried that it wouldn't pair with food.