WTN: Cathedral Cellar Chardonnay 2005

WO Coastal Region
KWV

Dark golden yellow in the glass.

Lots of toasty oak on the nose.

Very rich, very toasty, caramel, sweet, thick, intense, tangy, overripe pear and lemon, a light bitter streak.

Toasty, tart finish.

Too much oak and not enough of anything else. This is not a style I care for at all: overdone and overblown and a real mess, IMHO.

Purchased at $14.95 (Canadian).

[James Roscoe]

What is WO? Good review and not a wine I will drink. thank you for the warning?

What is WO? Good review and not a wine I will drink. thank you for the warning?

I believe WO stands for Wine of Origin.

[James Roscoe]

Thanks. What is KWV then?

Thanks. What is KWV then?

The name of the winery, established in 1918. Despite my thumbs down on the Chardonnay, they do make a very good Syrah.

Bruce,

It's interesting to see that we concur on this wine.

I bought it in the summer and was expecting replays of something akin to the marvelous 1996 Zonnebloem Chardonnay that I tried in 1999 - a wine that was all peaty, smoky-oak complexity atop pear drops and apple fruit. An amazing wine - yet the KWV was nothing like that wine, and instead, every bit as you describe it here.

I'd say that KWV has gotten worse in recent years: as little as 10 years ago, their wines were more balanced. I agree about the Chardonnay, though: it's a modernized mess.

If I'm not mistaken, KWV is the huge government run coop. They used to have almost a monopoly on wine production there but in the past 20 years or so the rules have been relaxed and they are not nearly as dominant as in the past. That said, they are often a source of good value wines as well as some noteworthy upper end bottles.

If I'm not mistaken, KWV is the huge government run coop.

KWV is a private company and has been for 6 years.

Koöperatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika Bpkt -- meaning the Co-operative Winemakers Society of South Africa -- was given regulatory powers over the wine industry by the government in 1924 but those powers were ended in 1992 and on 2 December 2002 KWV converted to become a private company.

KWV is now the full name of the company, not now initials of anything.

on 2 December 2002 KWV converted to become a private company.

Oh dear ... I think it is telling that my favourite KWV wines were by far the ones I used to get pre-2002. I still have such indredibly fond memories of their 1999 Pinotage with its leathery/black-table-grape astringency.

In recent years, the Cab and Merlot, and lately, the Shiraz have been available ... as has the Chard that Bruce posted on above - but no Pinotage in sight ... at least not yet.

In recent years, the Cab and Merlot, and lately, the Shiraz have been available ... as has the Chard that Bruce posted on above - but no Pinotage in sight ... at least not yet.

That may be because you don't have a free market in wine in Ontario.

But LCBO do list one KWV Pinotage, the very popular Cafe Culture