Under the Influence of De Toren Fusion V

Last night we had the unique, and I mean UNIQUE, experience of doing a component tasting of the De Toren Fusion V. Every year De Toren bottles 12 single varietal bottles, to use in blend tastings and to track the aging potential of their different blend components. They do two tastings a year where Guests try and guess the different blend components tasted blind. Guests usually include international trade and press. This is exactly what we did last night in Joburg, which was a fantastic experience!

It is quite a challenge to pick out the five different Bordeaux varietals blind; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec all have certain characteristics, but many of them have similar parentage, so there are a lot of common traits! The first wine people taste leaves them confident that they know the varietal, then the uncertainty sets in when another wine tastes MORE like a Cabernet Sauvignon than the other! At the end of the night the best result was 3 out of 5 correct, a good feat since only one person has got it correct in all the years of the component tasting, and that was an international sommelier.

Thanks to De Toren for letting us host this special tasting. The attention to detail that goes into the wine is incredible and evident in the final product. From taking overhead infrared photos of the vineyard to gauge pockets of ripeness, to exclusive use of gravity to move wine around in the cellar, means that the wine is treated softly, softly, gently, gently, leading to the beautiful soft tannins and opulent fruit that characterises these wines. The diverse blending partners adds to the complexity. Keep up the great work!

Keep a look out on our tastings page for our next events at Campbell House.