Posts Tagged chalk hill
Wines – Chalk Hill The Procrastinator
Now, this wine is not even one of my favourites. I wrote about the Cabernet Sauvignon from Chalk Hill a while back and it was more to my liking.
The Procrastinator – Wikipedia defines it as: a behavior which is characterized by the deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Does that mean you drink this wine and get the big bang after you had the bottle 
Oddbins sells it for around £8 and the bottle reads “We made The Procrastinator to celebrate the art of putting off to another day what could have been achieved today” – don’t do today what you can do tomorrow. Now I understand. The wine can be cellared until 2011, with good cellaring even 2015, so there was no need for me to hurry and finish it 
It is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Red Berry fruits, e.g. strawberries and raspberries, finishing with soft silky tannis. Whilst I tasted a lot of tannis, the berries did not come out as strong as suggested.
I cannot say it was the worst wine I ever had, but it wasn’t as interesting as the label suggested it might be. I was hoping for a strong, and rich red wine that leaves no doubt of its heritage from two strong grapes. Instead I would almost described it as a mild wine with strong tannis, nice berry tastes but nothing special. I would almost prefer an Isla Negra Cabernet Sauvignon, which is almost half the price.
However, Chalk Hill does well on grape variety and good blends. But, their Cabernet Sauvignon is still my favourite of the two.
Wines for under £10 – Chalk Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
I know, the prices are getting higher, as I bought the wine for £20 at Oddbins but realised they ripped me off as you can get this wine for under £10. For my “normal” wine consumption, I usually buy around £7-£10 at Waitrose and Tesco. However, for more special occasions, I buy wines for around £20, sometimes more. But this time Oddbins really managed to charge me double the amount other shops do.
The Chalk Hill, McLaren Vale, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003 was just about £18 at Oddbins. Our Oddbins in Beckenham has a selection that is getting worse every time I go but still manage to pick up a few nice bottles like this one. If you are looking closer you can pick this wine up for less than £10 at Playford Ross. It just shows how expensive Oddbins has become.
As you would expect from a Cabernet Sauvignon this wine is very fruity: blackcurrant, cassis and mulberry. It matured for 14 months in French oak but does not taste strong of oak. However, its complexity and tight tannin structure makes it a good wine to drink. Hints of spice, anise and cedar can be found. It is very good to have on its own after a hard day’s work.
With 14.5% alcohol this wine is rather on the high side of alcohol but does not come across too strong. You can see the wine “sticking to the glass”, almost oil like.
The McLaren Vale, just on the South West Coast of Australia, is part of the Fleurieu Zone. It is one of the few regions where you can find wine over 100 years old in Australia. Around Blewitt Springs, deep sandy soils over clay can yield particularly good Grenache – my wine atlas says. There is a long warm growing seasons, good air drainage to prevents frosts, and one fifths of the vineyards survive without the irrigation of water.
Enjoy this fantastic wine, but make sure not to buy it from Oddbins!
Volker Ballueder
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