Shilowa shows off wine skills

There's a new love in the life of Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa - top-class wine. Shilowa and three of his equally passionate friends have put their money where their tastebuds are and backed a wine label that released its second vintage this week.

Shilowa, with Moss Ngoasheng, chairman of Safika Investments and former economic adviser to President Thabo Mbeki, Mutle Mogase of Vantage Capital, and American Ron Gault, formerly of J P Morgan, all raised their glasses to their prized red wine, which is aptly named Epicurean.

Wine industry heavyweight Carrie Adams, of Norman Goodfellows, said: "The part I love most about the wine is the sincerity. Here we have four serious heavyweights who have not only put their money where their mouths are, but got stuck in, down to the very last blending of the wine. This is no BEE thing or designer label in search of social status. It is a product born out of the love of wine."

It was last year that the four men released their maiden 2003 vintage into the South African wine market, the realisation of a dream that had started five years before. It soon sold out.

However, one imagines that the men behind Epicurean might have been more nervous this time around. It was no longer the novelty value that counted, but the quality of the wine itself.

Good news is that the 2004 (a cabernet sauvignon-merlot blend) is even better than its older sibling.

Says Fiona McDonald, editor of Wine magazine: "There's no mistaking the serious intent of the partners behind this wine. Epicurean may in some way almost be hindered by the personalities behind it because many people will assume - wrongly - that their involvement is not serious or 'hands on'. It's anything but.

"This is a very serious wine and the men behind it take the entire process equally seriously. It's a wine that comfortably bats in the big league, alongside Meerlust Rubicon, Ernie Els, Rustenberg John X Merriman and others."

Shilowa and friends have gone about it in the same way they do in the wine country they all revere - France.

Grapes for Epicurean were sourced from former Springbok prop Hempies du Toit's farm at the Helderberg in Stellenbosch as well as from producers in Remhoogte and Durbanville.

Johann Rupert allowed them the use of both Rupert & Rothschild's cellar facilities and winemaker Schalk-Willem Joubert, but the four were involved throughout the process, from harvesting to blending, when they all sat down together and thrashed out the perfect Epicurean blend.

Says a clearly delighted Shilowa: "We are very happy with the way the wine has gone. We selected both blocks and barrels. When it came to blending, all four of us were present.

"We wanted a particular style with good fruit but classic in style and not a showy wine."

Epicurean will be available only in limited quantities and will be served at restaurants like Auberge Michel, Ristorante Ritrovo, The Butcher Shop & Grill and Cape Town's Balthazar. It is also already available in some specialist wine shops.

The retail price is R250 but it's a first-class wine, and the 420 six-bottle cases are likely to be sold out with no chance that the four friends will have to drink it themselves.