About the Author

Kim Drake

Wine Curator

“When a winemaker gets the wine right, it is pure joy, like sipping a wonderfully painted artwork from the Louvre.” These are the words of Kim Drake, Londolozi’s Procurement Manager turned part-time Sommelier. Kim’s love of wine first started developing in 2010, shortly ...

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15 Comments

on Red Wine – Five Of The Best

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Lovely choice of red wines. Reminds me of the fabulous evenings we had around the boma fire in winter at Londolozi.

They all sound fantastic. I’m looking forward to a wine tasting with you when you get back!

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Looking forward to sampling some of these wonderful reds in two months time when we are back at Londolozi 🙂

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Kanonkop Estate Pinotage. Always pinotage because we drank it when we lived in South Africa and find it difficult to locate here in Hawai’i….we do have it shipped in from southern California….and it becomes very pricey indeed when shipping costs are added.

I’d like to try The Stork. In Hawai’i the saying is: okole hou (or hau….not sure of the Hawai’ian spelling)….”bottoms up”

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All five sound very good. Would you please put aside a bottle of Kanonkop Pinotage for our dinner on Saturday night, 17 May 2014. That will be our last night at Londolozi and my last night to be 75 years old. We are excited to be returning to Londolozi and your wonderful hospitality.

Of course we will keep one aside for your special celebration Ed! We look so forward to welcoming you back to Londolozi again!

Travel safely.

Kindest regards,
Kate

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I love celebrating special events at Londolozi. Spent my 75th there….have been back twice since then and plan on celebrating my 80th in 2015. A special place in the world. Missing it every day.
We drink some pinotage in Hawai’i when I can find it and/or order it from a mainland (California) distributor

Member
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Great selection of wines Kim. The Spice Route Malabar is without a doubt one of the best wines Ive ever drunk and certainly my favourite of this list.

Member
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I really enjoyed the Vilafonte – thanks for sharing that with us Kim! I would add the Shannon Mount Bullet, which I tried recently. Shannon Winery is a member of the Biodiversity Wine Initiative and places a strong emphasis on conservation, with a focus on protecting the Cape’s natural fynbos. They even have a “Big 5” and a “Little 5” 🙂

Member
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Kim,

Thank you for this great post! Perhaps you recall the lovely dinner we had in your wine cellar last August? What a lovely evening I am forever grateful for — great memories of Londolozi!

I have made it my mission to learn more about South African wines, although they are hard to come by in the U.S. Just back from the Winelands this March, and I would throw out Meerlust Rubicon 2008 to warm you from head to toe, and trying to get my hands on Kanonkop’s pinotage range in Massachusetts — I agree with your selection there and look forward to trying the others. Since it is Spring in the U.S. I am going to shout out for Forrester’s Chenins — yum! They are readily available and quite a value in the U.S.!

Member
Guest

Kim, beautiful article – I cannot wait to try them all when I visit in June! Would love to arrange dinner and a tasting after STAR. I’m staying until the 15th.

Thank you!

Member
Guest

My absolute favorite is the Pinot Noir from Hamilton Russell. We visited the vineyard last August after our visit to Londolozi. I think their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are best of class in South Africa for sure. We also love the red wines from Boekenhoutskloof and Ruste en Vrede. There are so many great South African wine farms now that it is hard to choose. We love the selections at Londolozi – you have all the best!

Member
Guest

I purchased Stork from Winesaver. But Never heard about Vilafonte or Spice Route. Seems to be great pieces though. Definitely will give a try at my next party. Cheers Mate..!

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