Darling Cellars "Onyx" "Kroon" Groenekloof (West Coast, South Africa) 1999

Deep red.

Vinturi - smoke/bacon/brown sugar/raspberry sauce nose. Add pancakes and you've got breakfast. Some grilled herb action floating around too.

Round, plush, filled-in. But not heavy at all, despite fairly thick smoky bacon flavor (heavy toast American). There's a saline/grainy quality. Intensely flavored middle-weight. Unusual. Huge oak influence, but it works.

Tanzer shot a big biscuit over the '99 Shiraz from this producer (years ago) and gave high marks to this wine as well. I think it is a Pinotage/Shiraz blend ... Crazy, convoluted labeling.

$30