Have You Heard of Nederburg or OBiKWA Wines?

Unless you are a fan of South African wines, you probably have not heard of the Nederburg or OBiKWA wineries.  You may though have noticed or recognized the label for OBiKWA, which shows a drawing of an ostrich; with its long neck and bulbous body being seen as symbols of a resilient life force enabling the bird to survive under harsh conditions.

The OBiKWA brand started in 2002 and covers the low price point for wines.  Nederburg earned the highest number of five-star ratings in the Platter’s South African Wine Guide, along with two other wineries.  I was recently given a bottle of OBiKWA Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 and a bottle of Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2013 to review.

Nederburg

Nederburg has 7 ranges for their wines, with their Winemaster’s Reserve tier being the most popular.  It accommodates some of Nederburg’s best-known and best-loved blended and varietal wines, renowned for their classical styling and concentration of fruit.

This wine was a medium lemon green in colour.  Upon first opening and nosing this wine I picked up on yeasty lees, but this aroma quite quickly dissapated, leaving herbal, gooseberry and melon aromas.  I did retry the wine a day later and I picked up a bit of jalapeno pepper on the nose as well. Dry but with medium plus acidity.  This acidity though was balanced with medium roundness in your mouth.  It has quite a pleasant mouth feel.  Flavours were of stone fruit, some lemon and lemon rind, a hint of lime (on day 2 of the re-taste), and some almond pit.  There was some melon on the mid palate and steeliness.  A bit of hotness or pepperiness on the sides of your tongue along with mouth watering acidity on the finish.  It has a medium length and I wish it lasted a wee bit longer.

This wine would be quite acceptable to enjoy with a salad with vinagrette dressing or maybe some pan-fried halibut with a side plate of steamed asparagus.  Overall an easy to drink wine, showing off the Sauvignon Blanc grape’s characteristic, but not going over the top.

OBiKWA

OBiKWA is the first South African wine to switch to new environmentally friendly 350g ultra lightweight green bottles which are 25% lighter. The entire OBiKWA range features a Sustainability Seal, issued by the South African Wine & Spirit Board.

This wine was medium ruby in colour and was uniform translucent from rim to core.  It has a youthful aroma, with primary aromas of capscum, chocolate, jalapeno and some smokiness.  Secondarily I picked up purple fruit and raspberries. On the palate it was off-dry, light body and tannins.  Flavours of ripe plums, raspberries, black currant, vanilla to start, followed by some candied cherries mid palate and black currant leaf toward the end.  The tannins were very soft and combined with the residual sugar, would probably make this wine more of interest to people that prefer softer, off-dry fruity red wines.