Could be a house wine...

I confess. I am a sucker for a bottle. Judge a book by it's cover? Absolutely. So when Andy brought home this bottle of wine from The Wine Premier, I really hoped it was a good one. The blue bottle itself is quite stunning, but the clean look of the label and the simple graphic just captured me. I would have picked this bottle up on appearance alone.

I am not familiar with the vintner- Lost Horizons, but the idea of a blend really intrigued me. 60% Cabernet Sauvignin and 40% Merlot sounded pretty darn good to me. What surprised me though was the back of the bottle. Product of South Africa. South Africa has vineyards? Here is what the bottle has to say. "Over 300 years ago early pioneers arrived at the Cape of Good Hope. They believed they had reached the land of the Lost Horizons where the view never ends and civilization passes away. Here the soil conditions, the sunny climate and the soft winds are ideal for the growth of noble grapes." Also on the back of the bottle is a seal on the neck of the bottle that labels it Certified, along with some numbers- I hesitate to guess what they may mean.

The wine itself is quite pleasant. For lack of a better word, it is soft. I would have expected a blend of cabernet and merlot to be heavy and "solid", but this is a very gentle wine. It rolls on the tongue and has a nice clean finish. I confess that I can't really analyze it properly, but it is very easy to drink, and I think that this wine would appeal to red wine lovers as well as white wine lovers. I do detect hints of blackberry, followed by a hint of oakiness. A very simple wine, and an unexpected delight from South Africa.

And if you are in the mood for a little cheese with your wine- check out Cheese, Glorious Cheese for another new cheese review.