Porcupine Ridge Syrah 2006

Coastal Region, South Africa, $69, cork seal

I don't try enough South African wine so I thought I'd give this a go as I enjoyed its sibling awhile ago. It's made in the Boekenhoutskloof Winery at Franschhoek in the Western Cape.

Yep this is dark; very dark in colour. Initially it smelled really meaty; kind of like someone had chucked a couple of gazelles on the barbie or something. As it opened up black fruits came to the front with heaps of mulberry and boysenberry, alongside obvious eucalyptus aromas. There's good fruit here and on the palate the flavours lean more towards sweet red fruit, especially raspberry. I also taste mint and a bit of cough medicine. It's soft and smooth with decent weight and fine tannins. The wine benefited from a bit of air time in the decanter. Porcupine Ridge Syrah 2006 offers surprising complexity for its price, though too be honest it's a little too sweet for my tastes.

Visit winery website.