“White pepper, linoleum, nail polish and wait for it...sweat!!! Just a few of the bizarre aromas of some of South Africa’s increasing famous white blend wines, this according to the 30 guests (including me), who attended the latest tasting evening from Cape Town based wine company Under the Influence.”

White pepper, linoleum, nail polish and wait for it…sweat!!! Just a few of the bizarre aromas of some of South Africa’s increasing famous white blend wines, this according to the 30 guests (including me), who attended the latest tasting evening from Cape Town based wine company Under the Influence.

Based at the Roundhouse Restaurant, an old converted Youth hostel high on the slopes overlooking Camps Bay and the ocean, the monthly Under the Influence tastings are becoming legendary for the quality of the wines and knowledge on offer but also the company and the fun. So as an enthusiastic amateur I decided to join the wine professionals for the night and see what was in store.

On a balmy Cape Town evening we sat on trestle tables on the lawns outside, a perfect setting but the evening started quite bizarrely when the first wines for tasting appeared wrapped in brown paper bags!! More akin to sharing a bottle of meths with London tramps under Charing Cross Bridge, I was taken aback until Fasie Malherbe, owner and raconteur for the night, explained that this was because we were doing a blind tasting.

Indeed with nine top white blends from wineries in Stellenbosch, the Swartland, Constantia Valley, Elgin and Walker Bay regions, our job was over three rounds of three glasses each, to pick our top three wines of the evening.

Amazingly I did spot the aroma of white pepper in round one, but completely missed the smells of linoleum and nail polish in round two. By this time we had watched the sun set over Camps Bay and in the growing darkness, the volume of laughter was now directly proportionate to the amount of wine consumed. What started off as a serious evening by round three was now becoming a bit of a blur and I nearly choked on my Lammershoek Roulette Blanc when someone likened the bouquet (that’s wine speak apparently) of one of the wines, to sweat!!

A really interesting and fun evening, with some stunning and innovative wines, I would highly recommend it and I can’t wait to do it again. However I don’t think that this will please a rather grumpy Mrs. Holt, who in the role of taxi driver had to come and fetch (rescue) a rather inebriated husband on the night.

Oh and for those who are interested:

From the rather wet and crumpled tasting notes that Mrs. Holt salvaged from my grass stained jeans, apparently my favourite three wines on the night  were the Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon 2008, Sequillo white 2008 and Miles Mossop’s Sakia 2008.