Christina of the Vineyard Connection sings the praises of some ‘conservative’ wines | The Month July 2012

A friend of mine explained that you can save your leftover wine by freezing it in ice trays for use in sauces and stews. I’ll admit that her advice left me somewhat confused… after all, what is ‘leftover wine’?

You might not want to save leftover wine, but you can save the highly endangered African Painted Wolf and the Western Leopard Toad by drinking more.

Husband-and-wife team, Jeremy and Emma Borg who head the Painted Wolf Wines label, lived in Chobe National Park for a number of years and have a particular love for the African wild dog as a result. In fact, they tend to run their business as though it was a dog pack, and the upshot of the pack’s hard work is that their mantra: Remarkably Persistent, Persistently Remarkable, rings consistently true.  A percentage of each
bottle of wine they sell worldwide goes towards saving the highly endangered African wild dog.

1. The Painted Wolf Shiraz 2009, R100
This wine was the ‘top dog’ at the 2012 Old Mutual Trophy Show, with a score of 95 points and also won the British Airways Comair Trophy for Shiraz. Buy this if you care about wild dogs and love juicy red fruit, crushed black pepper and a long finish.

2. The Painted Wolf (wild dog) “Lekanyane” 2010, R80
Lekanyane is the Tswana name for Painted Wolves and this Chenin Blanc/Viognier/Verdelho blend has pineapple, lime and vanilla notes running together in harmony and is simply delicious.

Anyone visiting Noordhoek may have seen the traffic signs warning motorists to be on the lookout for Leopard Toads.  Cape Point Vineyards is working closely with the local toad NUTS (Noordhoek Unpaid Toad Savers) to save the Western Leopard Toad. For every bottle of Splattered Toad wine sold, R1 is donated to the project. The plan is to build a ‘toad underpass’ which will allow the toads to migrate safely from their breeding spot at the foot of the Cape Point Vineyards, under Silvermine Road to the dams and gardens in the area.

3. Splattered Toad Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, R62
Just like the rather large (up to 14cm) Leopard Toad, this wine is big in flavour, with great berry fruit and spice and a decent long finish.

4. Splattered Toad Sauvignon Blanc 2012, R54
You do not have to kiss a toad to release the beauty of this wine - it is vibrant and bursting with flavours of tropical fruit, limes, freshly cut grass and green peppers.

So drink up, and save the world!