Lammershoek Roulette 2007, Swartland, South Africa

One of the great wine surprises last year for me was the Lammershoek Roulette 2006. A product which I had never tried before and it blew me away, how beautiful this Rhône blend was. The 2007 vintage of Lammershoek Roulette is just as enjoyable, although the blend is very different, less Syrah and more Carignan and Grenache. The 2007 vintage is a blend of 48% Syrah, 25% Carignan, 20% Grenache, 5% Mourvèdre and 2% Viognier, with grapes that are all organically grown.  On the nose this wine opens up with ripe red fruit, plums, spices, cedar and floral notes. On the palate, medium bodied (14.5% alc,), youthful with bright flavours, spicy, fresh acidity and silky well integrated tannins. This wine has excellent balance, with great aromatics, very tasty and a savoury style red blend. Great winemaking at play here, strongly recommended. Score 90 points.

This wine was purchased December 10, 2011 LCBO In-store Discoveries at $23.95

Lammershoek Roulette 2006, Swartland, South Africa

Roulette is a Rhone style blend of 62% Shiraz, 20% Carignan, 13% Grenache, 4% Mourvedre, 1% Viognier. This blend has wonderful aromatics with bright red fruit, plums, sweet spices, cassis, licorice and a hint of floral tone. This medium to full bodied wine has it all  together with lively acidity quality tannins which are now well integrated and layers upon layers of flavours. This finish is long, spicy, toasty with  crushed berry fruit. A great deal of skill and effort went into making this wine and it shows. What I like about this wine is its easy drinking and aromatic, which has great complexity and flavour. A fantastic value. It should have wide appeal, strongly recommended.

This wine was purchased September 3, 2011 LCBO New Release at $ 23.95.