Published by Jeremy.
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In our never-ending quest to try new grape varietals, we come to Cederberg's Bukettraube from South Africa.
This white grape was created in Germany as a cross between Silvaner and Schiava and grew in popularity in select regions, including South Africa.
While this grape reminded us of an aromatic Muscat in many respects, the balance of acidity, sugar, and flavor kept us coming back.
Bukettraube is an Interesting Aromatic White
This Bukettraube from South Africa was medium lemon in color with medium aromas of lemon, lime, peach, grapefruit, white blossom, wet stone, and pineapple. It had an overt “grapey” note as well- something we often associate with a Muscat (hence our closer association).
On the palate, it was medium dry with high acidity, medium alcohol, medium(+) body and flavor intensity, and a long finish. We had notes of lemon, lime, pear, grapefruit, pineapple, that same grapey note, white blossom, saline, and a bit less mineral notes than the aroma.
This is an interesting wine if only because of the prominent sugar notes that were matched with the high acidity. Were the sugars a bit higher than we generally prefer? Yes, but this one was balanced all the same. As such, while we quite enjoyed this wine, being strategic with a food pairing is a must.
Bukettraube Food Pairing – Thai Butternut Squash Soup
We paired this sweeter white wine with a Thai-flavored butternut squash soup that was immensely flavorful and slightly spicy. The Thai flavor brought out more expressive lime, pineapple, and tropical citrus fruits and was a pairing that really sings!
As such, we would almost treat this wine with similar pairing recommendations we would make for a Gewurztraminer- go Thai curry, go spicy, and pair with a matching intensity on the aromatics.
Score: 3.5 / 5
We'd buy a glass of this one and could be persuaded on a bottle in the right circumstance.
Overall, this was a really interesting bottle with some sweetness that we didn't quite expect. Thankfully, it was balanced with a strong acidity and worked quite well with spicy food, like our Thai-inspired soup. As such, we would likely be happy with just a glass or a bottle in a specific circumstance like this one- the pairing was just that good.
Cederberg is located at Dwarsrivier Farm, Clanwilliam, 8135 in South Africa. We purchased this bottle on Wine.com and enjoyed it in 2023.
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