PRESS| ODDBINS TURNS PALATES DUE SOUTH -
TO THE FAIREST CAPE

South Africa is poised to make a significant impact on the US wine drinking public, believes New York based wine marketing specialist and agent for Wines of South Africa (WOSA) Rory Callahan.

Oddbins, UKs leading wine store chain, are building on their in-store Africa promotion by targeting their email list with some web-only offers (see ‘Oddbins' Oracle finds Ostriches and a New World in Africa’ on www.wine.co.za - Industry News - 20/03/03). It begins ‘we turn our palates due South to the fairest Cape, from whence a tremendous line-up of exciting and juicy wines has just 'got off the boat'. Thrill with us, dear reader, to Syrahs, Cabernets, Chardonnays and more. We have everything from basement bargains to deeply rare one-off wines.’These include Fairview Goat Roti 2001 (£9.99) ‘sensational wine at a very seductive price’ and their exclusive Distell sourced ‘affordable yet beguiling’ Oracle range. The Shiraz ‘better than just about any Australian Shiraz at this level’, Sauvignon Blanc ‘gooseberries and guava’ and a Chardonnay that's ‘not half bad’ are available at £4.99 when you buy two.(To non-Brits ‘not half bad’ in fact means very good)

Bruce Jack of Flagstone is ‘one of South Africa's most exciting, innovative and self-confident winemakers’ who ‘reckons he's cracked the Pinot conundrum’ with ‘Heartbreak Grape Pinot Noir’ (£8.99), another Oddbins exclusive.But teasingly they finish ‘we've got some minuscule quantities of several of South Africa's finest, finest wines. Wines from people who care more about winemaking than life itself. Sadly, too little of them to shout about in this missive’ and they give a link to a page where ‘you just might find something to your advantage.’These web offer wines are:

Strata Rockwood Cabernet 2000 (£7.99) - ripe red fruit, spicy oak, fennel and mint.

Raats Chenin Blanc 2002 (£9.99) - delicate bouquet of turkish delight, citrus and vanilla.Raats Cabernet Franc 2001 (£13.99) - spicy flavours that loop with silky tannins and notes of fresh coffee.

The Observatory Syrah 2000 (£19.99) - fine tannins favourably mesh with savoury acidity

Columella Syrah 2000 (£25.99) - South Africa's greatest red wine; a collector's item of the future.

Website:
http://oddbins.ecircle-ag.com/re/oddbins?msd=40103044&usd=41437927&lsd=9
Issued by: Peter May
Email: peter@pinotage.org