I always love the spread, the service, the coffee and the wines at the Standard Bank Library Lounge. It really adds a whole new dimension of enjoyment and luxury to local travel.
Today I tried some of their wines along with a truly delicious plate of Karoo Lamb chops and mash. Their food is always top class restaurant worthy, and they change their wines often so that I always get some variety every time I visit.
There were two whites from Ken Forrester on offer – the Petit Chenin Blanc, which I temper as being okay, and this one:
Ken Forrester Wines Reserve Sauv Blanc 2022.
Fruity, grassy, with that typical sauv blanc flavour profile. It’s a good solid safe one to choose if ever it’s on the menu, very typical of a good SA Sauv Blanc.
Next was the La Motte Wine Estate Millennium 2019 – a blend of Merlot and Cab Franc.
I gotta be honest, if I’m in Woolies and I have to choose a wine, it’s not going to be La Motte because the ones I’ve had before are very tart and not wonderful. This one, however, changed my mind. The cab franc aromas come through strong on the nose – uniquely with a hint of musk and a bit of smoked sausage. The smooth velvety mouthfeel of the merlot takes over when you take a sip. It’s a delicious red bled, I’m becoming a fan.
Lastly, I tried the Simonsig Labyrinth cab sav 2018
It’s got a hint of diesel, strong berries, dried leaves when it greets your nose. Then it wraps itself around your tongue with a silky and syrupy mouthfeel. It’s bold in character with notes of dark stone fruits and a pleasant aftertaste that lingers. Definitely a keeper. It sports a Michaelangelo Double Gold from the 2021 show.
One thing about Library Lounge – they’re helluva generous with portions and on the upside/downside, they often run short of wine glasses with the result that you get wine in a gin glass. It’s all well and good until it comes to how much wine they pour into those large glasses, considering the capacity of one of those is about 750ml. I asked for a half a glass of the white, which came out perfectly, just the right amount to accompany starters from the buffet, but then I asked a different hostess for a half a glass of the La Motte, and I got a gin glass half filled with wine. That’s about two wine glasses at least! It was then that I realized the linguistic distinction between “half a glass” and “half of the glass”. I considered developing an adjustable wine dipstick that one can give to a waitress in such circumstances and say, “fill to here, please” to avoid confusion of this delicate distinction. Anyway, at least they err on the side of abundant generosity. I slept well on the plane.
