BEST CELLARS : Taking a peak at a solid South African.

(From Irish Independent)

A couple of weeks ago the wine arm of Irish Distillers introduced us to Bernice Harington,the new winemaker for Long Mountain, which is the number one South African wine brand in Ireland. Talk about flying winemakers! Bernice only got her degree inwinemaking from the University of Stellenbosch three years ago but has somehowmanaged to pack eight vintages in since then.

She was involved in the South African 2000/1 vintage in Delheim and then zipped acrossto Chile for the vintage at Santa Rita in the Colchuga Valley. The lees had hardly settledwhen she headed for the Northern Hemisphere and Californian boutique winery Perry Creek Vineyards.

The 2001/2 vintage saw her at De Villiers in South Africa, Giesen in New Zealand, theBarossa in Australia and, finally, a half-year in the Languedoc in France at Les Collines du Bourdic to hone up on classic, old world winemaking. From now on she's in charge ofLong Mountain.

Long Mountain Chenin Blanc 2002 ([euro]6.95):Chenin Blanc, which is mostlyassociated with the Loire Valley, was for many years grown extensively in South Africa forthe production of brandy. Better viticulture and winemaking techniques in the last decade have brought about a change in focus and now South Africa is producing some nicesingle varietal Chenin Blancs. This one has a distinct nose, citrusy lime with a touch of honey, and in the mouth delivers zesty ripe fruit. With a 13pc alcohol content it packs a bit of punch and is easy, no-nonsense drinking.

Long Mountain Semillon Chardonnay 2002 ([euro]6.95):By itself Semillonproduces a rather flat and uninteresting wine (unless, of course, it has contracted botrytiswhen it makes spectacular sweet wines) but combine it with Sauvignon Blanc or, in thiscase, Chardonnay, and you get something quite different. This has a lovely aroma of lemons and ...