Stormhoek, The Siren, Shiraz Grenache 2013 - Wine Review

We've had some decent wines from the Co-Op recently, but I'm not sure that this was one of them.
Stormhoek, The Siren, Shiraz Grenache 2013.
This South African wine cost £5.75, is made using 85% Shiraz, 15% Grenache grapes. 13% Vol.

Initially we thought this wine was soft, with lovely red fruit flavours.
But after the first sip, both Mr.R and me thought it tasted quite sweet, and it smelt like acetone, and tasted like petrol - or at least how I imagine petrol would taste because I can't fully remember.

I don't spend much time drinking petrol, but having said that I do know how it tastes; sucking on a piece of hose to syphon petrol from the petrol tank on a car, many many moons ago.
No, I wasn't stealing the petrol, it was necessary to transfer the petrol from one car to another, both owned by my family.
Ha! I'm rambling about petrol, when I'm supposedly writing a wine review - well, this wine did remind me of drinking petrol so I guess it's relevant.

From the label -

Be Passionate. Love. Dream Big. Be Spontaneous. Celebrate. 
The Siren. Shiraz - Grenache. 
A well balanced wine with the spicy richness of the Shiraz working with the raspberry flavours of the Grenache. This exciting blend has layers of youthful, spicy plum and cherry aromas with blueberry and savoury red fruits on the finish. Hope you enjoy. Seriously.

Anyway, this wine definitely isn't one we'll be buying again, unless we forget and it gets put into our shopping basket.
Have you tried Stormhoek The Siren, Shiraz Grenache 2013?
Did you smell acetone, and taste petrol?
Or, did you like it?
I'm interested to know what you thought of this wine.

Vanderburg Shiraz Pinotage 2013 - Wine Review

Another blog post, another red wine review.
What can I say? We like red wine. :)

Mr.R bought a bottle of Vanderburg Shiraz Pinotage 2013 from our local Co-Op.
Or to be totally accurate, Mr.R bought two bottles of Vanderburg Shiraz Pinotage 2013 from our local Co-Op.
Well, he couldn't not buy it. Why? The Co-Op had reduced it from £6.75 to £4.49 - Excellent!

From the bottle label -
Layers of sweet spice, berry and subtle plum aromas follow through to a rounded palate. Its soft tannins and full fruit work perfectly well with medium-rare chops and it will not be overpowered by strong flavours of garlic, rosemary or caramelised onions. Enjoy now, or within two years from vintage. 

Barley likes to help me when I'm taking photos. Good dog. 

Vanderburg Shiraz Pinotage 2013 is a lovely wine from the Western Cape, South Africa. It's 14.5%vol.
We thought it went really well with our food, which is pretty much always something seriously spicy, and we could definitely taste plums, damsons, and a touch of nutmeg. Very nice, and a bargain too.
It reminded us of our travels to South Africa, where we enjoyed lots of lovely trips to vineyards and of course tasting their wines.
Are you a fan of South African wine? 
Have you tasted Vanderburg Shiraz Pinotage, 2013?