the Gunnar present and future
Ben on Friday 14 May
Daniel Hart is down in South Africa and sends this news of Iona, owner Andrew Gunn and his red blend, The Gunnar:
“Andrew Gunn has been growing Cab and Merlot for about 10yrs and has always made a fresh, vibrant and structured style. Syrah has been grown on the warmer, lower slopes and made seperately. The last few years they have gradualy extended the harvest time to increase hang time, in this cooler climate it has increased phenolic ripeness without pushing up sugars and alcohols and the result is a plusher, more velvety textured wine and they have been keen to increase bottle age to ultimately release a 5yr old wine. We have just had dinner at Andrew and Rosies charming country house on the estate and Rosie served up a deliciously juicy, rich lamb stew – ideal as it is blowing a gale and pelting with rain here… To accompany we drank the current 2006 Gunnar (fragrant and spicy with earthy red fruits and a well defined structure), the more riper and accessible 2007 Gunnar which shows cherry and blackcurrant and plummy, supple structure which is a big improvement on the ‘06 and won’t be released until 2011. Then the 2008, which is a real showstopper. This will be a blend of Syrah, Cab, Merlot, Mourvedre, Petit Verdot and Viognier, and I believe it ranks among the best of the blended reds in this country, a category for which I believe South Africa is deservedly growing in stature internationaly. Opulent, ripe black cherry and forrest fruit compote aromas with hints of savoury roasting meat and saddle leather. The palate is rich and luxurious with a seamless, velvety texture, fig, plum and curranty fruit and integrated, polished tannins. This wine combines power and fruit concentration with elegance and poise. The only bad thing is we’ll have to wait until 2012 until it is released, but my god this wine is going to develop into a mature stallion of a thoroughbred over the next few years and it will be well worth putting in your order now because it will be in demand!”