Martin Bird Wine

A spiced floral nose with delicate restrained fruit on the plate. Just off dry. Brilliant value, great with Chinese and Thai food.

This is a Riesling, but has to be called Weisser Riesling due to labelling disagreements. I won't bore you with the details, but they will be able to call it a Riesling as of the next vintage (they hope).

Hartenberg is one of the oldest established of all of the estates in South Africa, going all of the way back to 1692 and since their first release in 1984, their Rieslings have achieved something of a local cult status in Stellenbosch. This vintage should be no different, as it seeks to highlight the purity and complexity that makes Rieslings so individual. Hand-picked at daybreak to ensure the most heavenly flavours, the grapes were gently crushed, de-stemmed and underwent overnight skin contact at 12 degrees Celcius. After pressing, the juices were fermented using a yeast personally selected by their winemaker in the German Rheingau region, then stabilized, filtered and bottled. Something that tastes this good cannot be bad - even if it does leave you feeling a little guilty.

Rated 4 Stars in the John Platter Guide to South African Wines (2007) and selected for SAA Premium Class.

Here's the boring bit about why it's called Weisser Riesling. There's nothing else after it, so feel free to ignore.

• Vintage2007
• Food ChoiceVery versatile. Particularly good with Thai and Oriental dishes, Malay curries, spicy foods, and ethnic dishes.
• Grape Mix100% Riesling
• CountrySouth Africa
• RegionStellenbosch
• Percentage Alcohol13%