Saturday Night – Just the four of us – Part 2

The second course of the evening was Grilled Calms with Serrano ham. These were paired with a 2009 Leopard’s Leap Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa. If you have been reading this Blog for a bit then you know my feelings about South African Sauvignon Blanc, as I feel it is best in the world so I was excited to try another one.

The nose was very aromatic for a Sauvignon Blanc, no glass swirling needed to find the nose here! It was a nice mix of gooseberry, cat’s pee, green apple and a little bit of lychee in the background. The main flavours to the wine were grapefruit, lime and mango. The flavours really popped with the Clams and made a great pairing. I loved the big fruit on the wine but my one complaint with it was it needed a touch more acidity to it. Normally South African Sauvignon Blanc are a nice balance between the steely, crisp French ones and the fruit driven New Zealand styled ones, I found this one leaned too much to the New Zealand style. That said it was a great pairing with the food.

Here is the group rating for the wine -Mick – 88, Mark - 88, Kathy – 90, Amy – 88, Overall – 88.5

Here is the LCBO information on the wine –

LEOPARD'S LEAP SAUVIGNON BLANC 2009


VINTAGES 203356
750 mL bottle
Price: $ 12.95
Wine, White Wine
13.5% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : D
Made in: Region Not Specified, South Africa
By: Leopards Leap Wines
Release Date: Jan 22, 2011


Description - This fresh and zippy South African Savvy is a great palate refresher, or enjoy it with grilled prawns with a moderately spicy sauce.


Tasting Note - Crunchy summer fruits & lemongrass nuance in '09; elegant & crisply dry. Score - 3 Stars (out of 5). (Christine Rudman, Platter's South African Wine Guide, 2010)

For $13 a bottle this wine is a heck of a value and I would recommend it as a must buy. It had a lot going on for this price point and with its big fruit flavour it should be a good pairing for a number of dishes.

The calms were good. I’d never had Serrano ham before and it looks exactly like Prosciutto. It was nowhere near as salty as Prosciutto is and had more sweetness to it. Mick talk about doing the recipe again and using Prosciutto instead and Kathy told him not to as she liked the sweetness of the ham and its contrast to the saltiness of the clams. I’d say my lovely wife nailed it right on the head with that assessment.

Click here for Part 3