Another at Ashton Kelder

Going through the list again, I realised I accidentily left out Ashton Cellars, which was the first farm we visited on the Friday. The tasting room is well-kept and very inviting with some warm artwork along the walls, this is a farm that is quite stylish without becoming snobbish.

Starting with the Pascali Brut (R25), this wine was quite crisp and refreshing this early in the morning with a smell of fresh yeast and a green apple taste in the mouth. This is a sparkling well-suited for use in cocktails and mixers. The Winemakers Choice Sauv Blanc (R25) was good value-for-money. With flavours like asparagus, grass, granny smith apples and green pepper, this wine is well-suited as an easy-drinking summer time wine for sunset evenings by the beach. We tasted the Colombar (R13) hoping to become more familiar with this varietal, and, while shy, we picked up fresh peach, a floral smell (maybe rose petal), guava and granadilla. The Chardonnay Reserve (R19) had the smell of musk, yeast, marzipan and processed lemon (like the sweets). It did leave a pleasing nutty butterscotch aftertaste that lingered in the mouth. I'd say it's worth more than it's price tag, but not by all too much.

The Pinot Noir Limited Release (R35) was really not my style in red wines at all, with prunes and stewed fruits being the most pronounced smells, but also with some dark berries, rotting leaves and fresh leather adding a bit of complexity to it. The Cab Sauv/Merlot (R27,50), however, was a big winner. For its price tag, it completely outdid itself with cedar, dried pinecone and cigar box smells dominating, with black currant, black berries, mulberries giving it an enjoyable fruitiness and a delightful dark chocolate and mocha finish. I'd generally expect to pay at least R50 a bottle for wine like this. The Reserve Shiraz (R50) was quite typical for this area, as it was quite fruity with big bold blueberry jamminess, vanilla, candied apple and white pepper. The final surprise at this farm was the Port (R30) which was a keeper as it had hints of fruitcake, prune, treacle and walnut, making it perfect for warm dessert fruit-cakes served with a helping of custard.

All-in-all, these wines are generally underpriced and so they make good value for money and all of them are ready to drink now - don't expect any miracles though.

Bye,
Val

Longing for Langverwacht

Hi,

The next farm on the list is Langverwacht. On a side note, I learnt in my wine tasting trip yesterday that there is a farm in Paarl - Ridgeback - whose farm name is also Langverwacht. Unfortunately it was a rather rushed visit for us (we didn't even take any photos).

We tasted 5 wines while we were there. The first was the Colombar (R16), which had some tropical summer fruits, especially a good whiff of guava and a crisp lemon finish - overall quite shy though. The chardonnay (R18) which was very lightly wooded, had a very fruity palate - with mango, paw-paw, peach, pear and custard apple sensations coming to the front - definitely a grape with some potential in it.

The Ruby Cabernet (R18) was our first red at the farm, and it had mulberry and raspberry jam bringing forward the fruits, as well as a light touch of cedar, cigar box and mocha to show some wood character. It also had a bit of pepperiness on the palate which made it a good wine to match with pizza. The Shiraz (R23) also had raspberry jam and stewed fruit smells, with filter coffee, black pepper and cloves on the tastebuds. Not my style of Shiraz, but decent value-for-money. The final wine wine we tasted was the Cab Sauv (R24) which also had that stewed fruits smell along with warm over-ripe black currants, cedar, mocha and a very plummy finish. Drink now, because it's not really worth keeping for long, but it might work as a quaffer with friends.

All-in-all, this farm appears to be primarily interested in keeping costs low while still keeping a good quality of lifestyle wine, and I certainly expect to find this wine drunk in student's digs around the Western Cape.

Cheers!
Val

Beautiful Bonnievale

Howdy y'all,

Today's topic: Bonnievale Wine Cellar! And since they only have 3 Premium Wines, this should be a very short email (for a change). The premium range is the Vertex range and consists of a Chardonnay, a Cab Sauv and a Shiraz. Before going on to the wines, I'd just like to remark at how beautiful the landscape is in Bonnievale, not only do the gentle hills and outstretching winelands give the land a sense of wealth and nobility, but there are numerous areas where the sides of the streets are lined by row-after-row of beautiful flower hedges. If you've never been out to this part of the world, I highly recommend going out here during the warm seasons for a truly inspirational landscape that will make you proud to be a South African.

As for the wines in this cellar, the Vertex Chardonnay (R45) had a lot more of that barrel coming through with those rich tones of butterscotch, marzipan and vanilla coming through, but not so much as to overwhelm the soft and juicy peach smells and tastes. The Vertex Cab Sauv (R60) was also a very well-balanced wine, with overtones of black currant, but lovely nuances of raspberries and mulberries, with mocha and cedar giving it a bit of strength and weight to the taste. The final wine was the Vertex Shiraz (R60) which was more my style of shiraz, with fresh meat smells mixed with vanilla and hints of candy floss - and to finish off, it had a bite of black pepper and cloves on the taste, and left with a final taste of instant coffee along with ripe berries. Great value for money and a perfect wine to take along to a braai.

Well, that's the end for today. I'm hoping to have a bit of time next week to do some serious blogging, especially since I'm at least 30 farms behind now (I've been solidly tasting this week). Although once I'm done with that, I'll be pretty silent.

Until later,
Val

The Jokes on Jonkheer

Hey,

Well, the next farm had us completely lost at least 3 times, and we were about to give up our search when I managed to spot a sign at the corner of my eye (and in the far off distance) for Jonkheer. As the range of wines was rather pitiful, and the wines long past any chance of being drinkable by anyone trying to achieve anything more than getting drunk, we moved onto the single port they had available for tasting which was simply labeled Old Port. As I didn't even manage to get a tasting list for the place I can't even give you an exact price on the port, other than to say it was cheap. Still, it did manage to surprise both me and Andre in it's quality, which was well above it's price tag, and a great port to buy to go alongside a heavy cheese - as it had that familiar nuttiness to it, with a bit of banana and vanilla to it as well. Well worth purchasing.

From there we went to the easier-to-find Bonnievale Wine Cellar. We decided not to waste any time here and stick with their reserve Vertex range, which consisted of 3 wines. The first was the Chardonnay (R45) which had a good balance of fruit and wood, with that pleasing taste of butterscotch, vanilla and peach, this is a textbook dream for any chardonnay lover. The Cab Sauv (R60) was equally well balanced, with black currant and juicy red berries coming through on the nose, along with some cedar, cigar box and mocha. It was a slightly softer style of Cab Sauv that would be more well suited to your everyday hunk o' meat than a finely roasted steak. The final wine here was the Shiraz (R60) which, in my opinion, was quite a find, as it was quite a complex package, and I would expect to pay at least R20 more for this wine. It was everything I look for in a Shiraz and more, with fresh meat smells as well as black pepper and cloves to give it that great braai wine quality. Along with this was mocha, vanilla and a slight candy floss (maybe turkish delight?) to really give it that little something extra, and to make it a well-rounded wine.

Well, it's a bit of a short one today, it being Easter weekend and all, but I do wish everyone a super holiday, and I hope you enjoy all that chocolate that this season brings round.

Enjoy!

Val

Weird Weltevrede Wines

Hi,

Weltevrede had one of the strangest tasting lists I've seen in a while. The wines were not all in the right order, causing us to go the wrong way in some of our tastings at times. Not only that, but some of the descriptions seemed more like trips of fancy than real descriptions (though, thankfully, this was only a few times). We were also fortunate enough to find another funny wine here, which my gut immediately told me was wrong - a moment later a fresh bottle was opened, and the tasting attendant immediately picked up the difference.


We started off by tasting the ultra-crisp Philip Jonker Brut (R70), which tasted of lemons and smelt of very fresh yeast - this is a bubbly that will wake you up in an instant and make you want to go out and party. Of the Sauv Blancs, I personally prefered the Travelling Stone (R44) with it's grassy, fig leaf, asparagus and a herbaceous tones. The Chardonnays ranged from the unwooded Rivers edge (Guava, granadilla, paw-paw and pineapple) to the balanced, complex Place of Rocks, which was the one I spotted was funny, (Lemon, lanolin, nartjie peel, honey and pineapple) and Rusted Soil (buttered toast, pineapple, butterscotch, butterscotch finish). While the unwooded will cost you R32 a bottle, and will work great in a white sauce pasta, the price quickly leapt up to R60-R70 for the wooded Chardonnays. The off-dry/semi-sweet Gewurz (R44) is quite a popular item and quite typical for its varietal with strong lime, litchi and rose petal smells. The Rhine Riesling sweet wine (R36) had an almost fortified quality to it, with dried fruits, prunes and saltanas leaping out of the glass.


The red blend was called Tricolore and was quite a surprise (Merlot/Syrah/Cab Sauv) as it had such a strong green smell to it with menthal, eucalyptus and lavender notes, but it kept a very fruity palate of dark berries and plums, making it the perfect food wine to go with that horribly stinky meats you carnivores so love, particularly lamb. The River's Edge Shiraz (R39) was also a step into the interesting with worn leather and roasted meat combined with heavy aniseed smells, and dark berries, black pepper and cloves on the palate. The Bedrock Black Syrah (R70) was an intensely fruity, dark, brooding red with just enough white pepper characteristics to remind you that you are drinking a shiraz (well worth the two cows they traded to get the basket-press to make the wine).


Finally, the two Dessert wines belonged to Ouma and Oupa. Ouma wanted some glazed/tinned apples and dried fruit smells and tastes in her wine to go with her sweet apple crumble pie, or as a summer drink (with a block of ice) to go with her big gardening hat. Oupa, on the other hand, prefered his wine to be blood red, and wanted something to go with his stinky blue cheeses he so loved, and so he got a red muscadel filled with raisons, saltanas, strawberries and glazed cherries.


Chat soon!
Val.

Good times at Goedverwacht

Well, Goedverwacht proved to be a fun-filled place to visit. With a rather spectacular entrance where you pass between red flowers on your right and white flowers on your left (as shown in the picture below), we made our way down this dirt road to find Goedverwacht. In a small tasting room that reeks of character (could be that musty, dusty smell of old vintage bottles they have on display, or it could be the bowl of freshly picked limes on the table), we decided to try out their variety of whites and reds.

Despite two mishaps, we had a great time there. The first mishap being the failure at multi-tasking when the attendent hit the attendee (that's me for legal purposes) on the nose with the spittoon. Needless to say, I spat out a nice neat line along the counter. Moral of the story: make sure when you take the spittoon to empty it that there isn't someone busy spitting in it at the time. I'm still waiting on my million dollar lawsuit - I'm claiming emotional damage as people kept on mistaking me for Michael Jackson afterwards (I was holding on to my nose and I had my usual funky fedora hat on my head).

Well, onto the whites (you'll get the second story when I talk about the reds - be patient). The sparkling Suiderkruis Vonkel (R35) is made from an equal helping of Sauv Blanc and Colombar. It had a smell of freshly-cut apples, green pepper, sweet melon and mango - quite refreshing and certainly an everyday summer sparkling. The Sauv Blanc (R35) was quite unique here, with an herbaceous smell, asparagus and some tropical notes to it (could be guava). It certainly stood out for the region. The Great Expectations Chardonnay (R35) was a well-balanced, and well-priced, delicious Chardonnay with buttered toast, lime, lemon, peach and a delightful splash of butterscotch on the palate - truly an everyday wine that will make everyday special. Moving up a weight class, the Maxim Chardonnay (R100) offers interesting complexity and a unique style, with dried toast smells, a variety of citrus including nartjie, pear and guava. This is a kind of wine that will cover your tongue in velvet blankets, whereupon your tongue will just want to curl up and sleep in that flavour forever. Good thing it has a long-lasting finish that will remind you of what you drank hours later.

From the whites to the pinks, the Shiraz Rose (R25) was a simple-style of rose, with glazed cherries, strawberries, candy floss and a sweet herbaceous smell (my memory is a bit foggy on this point - maybe it was aniseed or something more like caraway seeds). We started at the reds, and if it wasn't for the sharp eyes of Andre, our merlot would've had a distinctive miggie (is that how you spell it?), fruit fly flavour - especially since we had about 20 of them in our glasses (which was poured straight from the bottle). The exchange went a little something like this:

Andre: There is something funny with your wine.
Attendent: What? Like corked?
Andre: No, there's stuff floating in it.
Attendent: I'm sure it's fine, it's probably just sediment.
Andre: I don't think sediment normally has wings. Unless you've been adding Red Bull to your wines, I think that's not supposed to be there.

A few short seconds later, and a fresh bottle was opened up for us - obviously someone had taken the old bottle outside and left it unsealed for a little too long. Like many of the wines here, the Merlot (R30) was also quite unique and interesting, with red spices coming out, along with the more standard mulberry and mocha, and a smell of fresh leather - I imagine having this at our regular sunday family meal, alongside the rice, potatoes and chicken (of which I eat none, of course). The Shiraz (R50) was getting closer to the style of shiraz I enjoy, with roasted meat on the nose, dark berries, plum and white pepper all coming through in the taste. While it still had that Robertson fruitiness, it did have a bit more backbone to it without relying to heavily on the oak to give it some complexity. Next up was the Triangle blend of Cab Franc, Cab Sauv and Merlot (R50) which has good structure with delectable dark chocolate and mocha, elegant black
currant and dark berries, serious cedar, cigar box and pencil shavings, all giving it a richness well over it's value. The final wine was the flagship Maxim Cab Sauv (R100). Again, another well-balanced wine with excellent potential - it is everything a cab sauv should be - black currant, mulberry, chocolates, cedar and cigar box.

Needless to say, from my descriptions you should be able to tell that I thoroughly enjoyed the wines here, despite the mishaps. Which, in my opinion, just add extra character to the farm, especially since they were handled reasonably professionally. I hope you enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed the wines.

Val.

First on Friday

Hello,

Friday had us starting our wine journey at De Wetshof - a farm made famous for it's Chardonnay. The tasting room is in this grand, ornate building that makes you feel like you've gone back to the days of merchant princes, barons and governers. This farm was on my list of must-visit farms (especially since I'm a fan of chardonnay). We started off by tasting the Sauv Blanc (R53), which had that Robertson minerality along with gooseberry, green apples and green pepper on the finish.

From there, we moved on to 5 different chardonnays, 2 unwooded and 3 wooded. The Bon Vallon (R51) was unwooded, matured on the lees to give it a slight buttered toast and almond nuttiness alongside a heavy citrus nose of lime, lemon and a slight gooseberry. The Danie De Wet Limestone Hill (R52) has strong citrus nose (lemon zest, pineapple and granadilla) with a hint of almond. The Finesse (R62) was lightly wooded with honey and lanolin smells mixed with citrus rind smells - a wine that might need a year or two to become an elegant, vastly enjoyable wine. The D'Honneur (R105) was a more complex and intense wine that deserves to be taken seriously. It was very well balanced with buttered toast, processed lemon and granadilla on the nose and a firm long-lasting butterscotch finish. The final Bateleur Chardonnay (R192) is hand picked from the start, from the land to the grapes to the barrels. This degree of careful selection is what accounts for it's high cost, and you certainly get a sense of the winemakers love for this grape in this wine. Complex and well balanced with buttered toast and processed lemon (and level after level of citrus) this is a Chardonnay that I felt terrible about drinking now, as it would age perfectly for a year or three. This is a bottle I'd buy and keep for the 2010 World Cup - you won't be disappointed.

The red wines consisted of a Cab Sauv (as all others were sold out or not for tasting). At R75 a bottle, the Danie De Wet Naissance is quite a well-rounded little package with cedar, cloves and a slight herbaceous note adding another dimension to a whole range of berry flavours including black currant, mulberry, blueberry and plum. We finished off with delicious Muscadel (R47 for 750ml) with saltanas, dried fruit and processed orange on the nose, it glided down easily and was on the border of sweetness without getting cloying - a wine to be enjoyed with a spongy, fruity sweet cake.

Unfortunately I've been suffering quite terribly with bouts of colds, allergies and headaches recently which has caused me to slow down on wine-tasting and on writing about wine-tasting. Hopefully I'll be able to write about my next farm before the end of today.

Until then,
Val.

Bon Courage

Now that I've got this blog thing going, it's time to test out if it works. I'm hoping it will automatically update like it's supposed to.

I realised I accidently left out a farm I visited on Thursday. Initially we had skipped the farm because it was packed to the brim with tourists (the same tourists who followed us through to Viljoensdrift). On our return, we stopped in, and although we were there a short while before they closed up, we did manage to taste a fair amount of wines here. We started off with some bubbly, the Brut Reserve (R80). Although it was mostly Pinot Noir, it still had a good helping of Chardonnay in the traditional Burgundy fashion. The MCC smelt like freshly made bread dough and the Chardonnay really dominated in the taste, with butterscotch and a bit of lemon zest. The Chardonnay Prestige Cuvee (R45) was well-balanced between fruit and wood, with buttered toast, brazil nuts and a bit of zesty lemon.

From the whites to the reds, we started with the Inkara Shiraz (R85), which was one of the few shiraz's in this region made in the style I enjoy. It was filled with mocha, black pepper and roasted meat smells. The Inkara Cab Sauv (R80) was ready to drink, but could do well with a few years of aging as well. With light red berries, black currant, cedar and cigar box smells it was an affordable and delightful red wine. I finished off with the Port, which was very fruity with prunes, raisons and saltanas. At R28 a bottle, it was great value for money if you are looking for a port to go with some fruit cake during an evening social meeting.

Well, that's all for today. I'm still busy with that Friday's wine tasting notes, and I still have the farms near Rawsonville, as well as my recent trip back to Stellies to write about. Hopefully I'll get something out tomorrow.

Signing off,

Val.

Wine in Wellington

Hey,

Well, here's a run-down of my wine tasting yesterday, when I decided to go to Wellington. It was one of the hottest days I've ever gone wine-tasting, I'm sure it reached 33/34 degrees. My car certainly didn't enjoy sitting outside in the sun.

After accidentily driving past Veenwouden which was supposed to be my first stop, I went to Wamakersvallei. While they had a tasting room here, the wine was poured for me and I was left to my own devices. Because I had gotten there so early on a Monday morning, all the bottles were freshly opened for me, and the whites were still a bit warm (which they apologized for). I started with a very fruity Brut Sparkling, which was interesting and easy-drinking. After the Sauv and Chenin, I tried their Viognier (unwooded) which had a fresh bacon strips kind of nose to it (interesting in a white), and I picked up light berries on the palate, a good wine for picnics, finger foods, or a light meal. I tasted their 33 degrees South Rose, a cheap Four Cousins type wine, very easy drinking and great for people who aren't into wine. Their La Cave Merlot was probably the most serious of their wines, it was full-bodied, earthy, had a bit of a mintiness and other green smells, but coffee/mocha on the palate. Finally, the Port and Jeripigo they have were both very cheap and easily accessible for most people. Both you could easily drink every day as a night-cap.

The next stop was Diemerfontein, where their marketing genius has made their pinotage a household name for all wine drinkers. They also had an extensive list like the last farm (over 10 wines), so I'll remark only on a handful of them. I enjoyed the wooded Chenin they have there, even though at tasting, it was one of the least impressive wooded Chenins I've tasted. The wood and varietal characteristics weren't integrated at all, and it definitely needs some bottle age to become a yummy, tasty wine. They have a second range here, called the Carpe Diem, which is their more everyday wines - usually the second/third fill barrels etc. Their Carpe Diem Shiraz was very nice, with dark berry overtones and a kind of smoked ham (maybe venison) smell - I couldn't quite place it. Their Carpe Diem Pinotage is the one everyone loves, but the coffee smells and tastes were so overpowering that I found it to be a novelty wine, but not much else. Then again, with all the hype about it, I was expecting it to be the wine that Jesus made from water. I actually prefered their normal Diemersfontein Pinotage, which came across as a more serious complex wine. Finally the last one I'll comment on is the Summer's Lease, which is a Shiraz-driven blend, and I enjoyed it because it was such a balanced wine, with a really excellent integrated nose that made me struggle to place the smells. I was very grateful for the tasting notes, which helped me pick up the caramel and cinnamon smells that I was struggling to place, but were prominently there.

After Diemersfontein, I got quite hopelessly lost a few times in Wellington, and when I finally found the farm I was looking for, they were closed, and only opened up for appointments.

Another half-an-hour of getting lost, I finally found my way to the next farm along a long dirt-road - Nabygelegen, which I thought should be named Nabyniks because it really was in the middle of nowhere (although not as bad as the next farm.) Their Sauv Blanc had a very green Granny-smith peels nose and taste to it, without having the usual-accompanying grassy tones, which actually made it enjoyable. They had a lightly-wooded Chenin (which was already sold out and the next one will be out in 2 weeks) and a white blend, which was nothing special. They had two red blends. The Scaramanga, which initially had a bit of a rustiness to it, but it is a complex wine that needs to be laid down for a while, and the price was very reasonable. The 1712 is their flagship wine, and was very complex and layered - could lie down for a good few years, and become a very regal, powerful, smooth, and integrated wine - one to keep for the cellars. The final wine I had here was their natural sweet, which was still unlabelled. Made from 100% Harslevelu it certainly made an interesting sweet wine that had characteristics that go beyond your normal sweet (although the fresh apricot tone was still strongly present). It had a fruitiness to it that I struggled to pin down. I really should not have had that bit of chocolate mousse cake the day before, as it really hurt my taste and nose-buds.

The final farm of the day was Doolhof - A farm that was off-my-list and recommended to me. My car was really becoming unhappy with all the dirt roads (especially since the oil dried up - a problem I sorted out at the first petrol station). I went to the tasting room and buzzed the main house, where I was greeted by a very sleepy and bored voice. I took the few moments to take a few pictures of the area outside. Their wines were all very fruity, and where they were treated with some wood, they all had very little wood. They had a wooded and unwooded Chardonnay - which would've been great to show someone, who knew little about wines, the big difference that the barrel makes on a wine. I enjoyed their wooded Chardonnay - again, a good example of a textbook Chardonnay with butterscotchy, toasty goodness that doesn't overpower the citrus fruity characters of the wine. Their merlot was also fantastically fruity and was filled with all kinds of berries, light and dark, ranging from raspberries and cherries to a dark, juicy plum and black-currant nose. Not my style of merlot, but excellent if you enjoy a fruitier red wine. The last single varietal wine I'll comment on here is the Cab Sauv which I also found to be a great, chewy, full-mouth wine that glided down so easily. The one thing that really impressed me with the red wines at this farm was their colour and intensity. Almost all of them were pitch-black at their core, and with lovely auras of purples, magentas, rusty bronze or a rich ruby colour. I loved the colour of every single one of these wines. They had 3 blends, the Cape Roan, the Cape Boar, and the Renaissance, which were all great value-for-money red blends, that I would buy and enjoy if I was a bit strapped for cash and wanted a red wine blend that I could enjoy now.

Well, that was my trip.

Val.

Sipping Shirazs in Swartland is Sweeeeet

Welcome back to another round of.... Wine Tasting Notes. And here's your host... [drum roll]... Val!

Yesterday I went out to the Swartland, and I fell even more in love with their Shiraz wines. It's 100% amazing. I managed to visit 5 farms around Malmesbury and another 2 around Darling - 7 farms in 1 day. Really impressive since I wasn't travelling on my own, but with your mom as well. So, here's the route we took.

We started off at the Swartland Wine Cellar, after getting lost a few times. The Platter map is completely useless for that area. While I didn't taste their whole range (since we've visited the farm before) I did taste the whole Indalo range, 2 of their reserve range and a few others. This is a place with a huge wine list and free tastings, which is perfect with students on a tight budget, or for taking people with different tastes (there's bound to be something for everyone to enjoy). Their wines are also very affordable, making it good value-for-money wines that are a good few steps above plonk. Of the whites, as you know I'm not a big fan of strapping, fresh whites, of which there were plenty, and many of them were young wines making matters worse. They did, however, have a wooded Chenin, which, like most wooded chenins, I enjoyed, and I'd put it up with the Eikendal wooded chenin for an affordable everyday drinking white. Of the Indalo range the Pinotage stood out for me, and had a whiff of banana, which I'm quickly learning to pick up, but the Shiraz and Cab Sauv also were delicious. Their reserve Shiraz/Cabernet also stood out, and was a lovely blend and quite a complex nose and palate for such a low cost wine (only R35 a bottle). While you might not find the most superb wines you've ever tasted here, you'd easily be able to buy 2 bottles of these wines for the price of 1 bottle of good wine somewhere else, and the difference of quality would be very small. They also have 2 ports and 3 sweet wines available, and the ports were very tasty, again, great value for money.

After getting lost again, missing a few turn-offs, and generally wondering around like headless chickens, we managed to find our way to Lammershoek. And to make things so much better, along the dirt road inside the farm there is a fork in the road with a sign pointing to the tasting room on the right, and just behind it another sign saying Private Road (which translates to "If we catch you here we will shoot your ass full of holes" in my mind). Strike one. Then as we were going along the dirt road there was a big, fat-ass truck in the way, and it took a couple of minutes to move out of the way. Strike two. When we finally did get to the tasting room, it was empty, and the office next door was empty to. I went back to the car to grab the platter and a handy travel companion, both of which said they should be open, I took the phone number listed there and went back to the office door to give it a ring, and, as I predicted, the phone inside the office rang. After taking a quick look through the open cellar door on the left, and another look at the house on the right, we decided to leave... strike three, you're out...

Fortunately, as we were on our way out we were spotted and stopped, and called back in to the tasting room. Here we were hosted by the owner's daughter and we were very happy that we didn't rush off at the first sign of a closed tasting room. Their motto is "ergo bibamus vinum", which I think loosely translates to "Sorry we were late, therefore let us drink wine so we can forget about it." Their wines were excellent for such a young farm (although their vines had been growing for much longer). Of their whites they had a chenin blanc, which was oh-so-lightly wooded, which was great to just get that edge off of the fruitiness. They had their Roulette Blanc white blend (too many grapes to mention) which had a lovely toastiness which I really enjoyed (and I'm sure you would too). I was particularly impressed with their Aprilskloof (second label) Tinta Barocco, which was very affordable and a great wine to cook with, or to have with pasta, or any tomato-based food. The final note-worthy wine to taste was the Syrah. I could taste the potential greatness as it was a stunning Shiraz with some racy spiciness on the palate. Surprisingly, this farm also had a Zinfindel Sweet in its history (although it was a fortified, not a natural sweet), and I would've loved to taste it.

From there we went to the greatest place to find olives and olive products (well, at least for a wine farm) - Kloovenburg. They had a new olive product - olives that are barrel-fermented in Shiraz, which were absolutely amazing olives. As for their wines, their wooded Chardonnay was sold out, so no tasting of that (although I'm really glad to have a bottle of it in my collection). Their merlot was still as fruity as I remember it. Their Cab Sauv had a nose that reminded me of freshly-polished dark thick wooden furniture, and it is really excellent wine, despite what Platter may say about it. Their Shiraz 2006 has aged very well in the bottle, with fresh meaty smells, cloves and even a bit of light berrys. Their older 2004 Shiraz made me think of soft ostrich biltong (the actual meat not the spices, although there was hints of the spices). I took a bottle of the Cab Sauv without blinking, as I really enjoyed opening up the last bottle I had bought from them. This one I think I'll lie down for longer though.

Next up was Allesverloren and some of the best port in the country. The Touriga Nacional was filled with Raisons and Blackcurrant on the nose and on the palate - a very serious heavy wine, which was excellent offset with the next wine we tasted, the Tinta Barocca, which was a much smoother, elegant wine and very feminine. Allesverloren has another excellent example of a Swartland Shiraz, with dried mushrooms on the nose, and cloves and black peppers on the palate. Remarkable. I was astounded by their port, and after having tasted a lot more port I really could appreciate their port a lot more this time round as the balance between fruitiness and nuttiness was near-perfect. The history, beauty and uniqueness of the farm makes this cellar truly unique - a true must-visit place.

We were recommended to go a little futher into Riebeek-Kasteel and visit Pulpit Rock, which was off our plan, but, as you know I do like adventure, so we gave it a visit. The beauty of the architecture of the building was breath-taking, and I took some fantastic pictures of the building and surrounding area. The location is perfect for taking a few friends, and having a nice relaxing time in the shade on a hot summers day sipping on a glass of wine, and their wines reflect well for that purpose, with most of them being easy-drinking wines that are ready to drink now. The reds haven't seen that much barrel, so these are not wines to be laid down, except for their Premium wine range which had a few interesting wines. Their merlot had a nose of Eucalyptus, and (what I was told) bluegum trees. The attendee there said it was because the farm grew bluegum trees there for many years before the vines were planted and this had an effect on the wines. I don't buy it for a second, but I smiled and nodded at the time. Regardless, I would definitely think that it did made some difference to the wines as they definitely had a twang to them that I could only pin on the soil (as that dried green, almost minty/fynbos scent was in a few of their reds). The premium shiraz was good, but nothing fantastic as was the cab sauv. Not a place to go to for great wines, but a lovely place to chill out with friends in.

After a significantly long drive we made our way to Darling Cellars. The host here was very bubbly and friendly, with a good insight and feel for wines. They use bush vines on their farm, and I must admit that it gives their whites a bit of an enjoyable spiciness (white pepper), and some intriguing smells and tastes. At this point I was rushing a bit through the wines as I really wanted to get to the next farm before it got too late, which was a pity, as the wines here were very different, and I know I could spend hours trying to pick up the smells and tastes in the wine. This was another farm with very affordable prices for good wines. Their Sauv Blanc was a very typical green apple, fresh-cut grass strapping sauv that I love to hate, with a delightful streak of minerality that changed my opinion to "oh no, another crisp sauv" to "that's an interesting angle on a typical sauv". They had a very unique cinsaut/cab sauv blend, where I picked up caramel and turkish delight on the nose and palate. They had a good merlot, and a great Shiraz with those typical attractive fresh meat (on the side of pork) and black pepper sensations. The Cab Sauv here was also a very delicate, feminine red wine, with lots of fresh forest smells and dark berry, rooibos tea tastes.

Once we were finished we rushed off to Cloof, as we were already past their closing time at 4. We were very warmly greated by Suretha, who was such a vibrant and enthusiatic attendee, who knew alot about the ins and outs of the industry as well. They had a huge range, and we left well after 6 - which shows how much fun and enjoyment we had there. This place screams New World in their outlook and they really try to push the limits with wine, with some interesting blends, like the Cabernet/Pinotage/Shiraz blend, which was actually quite amazing for such a strange combination - not really my taste, but to get something palatable was superb in it's own right. But, I jump ahead of myself, in the whites I tasted an interesting unwooded Chardonnay which I liked, and that's pretty unusual in my books. Although I thought it was the first unwooded Chardonnay for me to enjoy, after looking through my cellar wines, I notice that I do have another one there. They had two unwooded Chardonnay's here, and I did prefer the younger of the two, but the bottle age seems to have imparted some very pleasing characteristics to the wine, including a very prominent almond taste to it (one that still has that brown skin on it), which almost bordered on the very-similar hazel-nut taste. This sort of nuttiness was also prominently evident in the Pinotage (along with a very green banana peel nose). The pinotage did have a bit of a shiraz character, which is why I thought the blends came out so well. They had some interesting blends, including a Merlot/Cab Franc blend, which reeked of fresh coffee, but was really delightful on the palate, the merlot fruitiness and the Cab Franc depth and seriousness making an excellent combination. The red blend called the 'Inkspot Vin Noir' was a combination of wooded and unwooded reds, and the Shiraz component (which was the wooded part) only consisted of a very small percentage, but man-o-man did it dominate the palate and nose with all the spicy, meaty goodness of a shiraz. Another of their blends - The Dark Side, is a blend of Cab and Shiraz. This time the cab character dominated as all the woodland smells and tastes took over, with tobacco, cigar box, cedar and dark berries making a strong showing. I left their 'The Very Sexy Shiraz' for a final mention of the reds, and again, I was in love with the Shiraz of this area. Really, it is tough to find shiraz of this quality in any other region. The final wine of this email is their chenin blanc sweet wine, which was not my style of a sweet wine at all, as the honey on the nose really over-powered many of the other favourable chenin sweet wine notes that I do so love (where is that lovely chenin fruitiness?). Needless to say, we left with very satisfied smiles on our faces.

Well, I hope you are looking forward to my next long-winded email, as my next planned trip is to Strand/Somerset West on Saturday, where I hope to taste some excellent port, and a whole bunch of great wines. It'll be a short trip this time, as I have an engagement party to be at, which starts promptly at 5. Only a few farms to visit, but a very long list of very good wines in a couple of them.

Chat soon,
Val.

Stunned at Stellenbosch Berg

And now... back to the game...

The final two farms I visited on Wednesday was Kleine Zalze and Blaauwklippen in the Stellenbosch Berg area. I visited these because I finished my original wine route early and didn't want to waste a second of time that could be spent wine tasting.

Kleine Zalze has a beautiful entrance and restaurant alongside it's unique and interesting tasting room - perfect for taking a group of good friends (or even family) sitting back with a few bottles of wine, chatting and relaxing your day away. This also happens to be the only farm I've every found a straight varietal Gamay Noir. It has a long list of wines, good, friendly service and very well-priced wine - an almost-perfect place to take your student-friends. I tasted both of the Sauv Blancs, the first was filled with fresh granny smith apples, whereas the Family Reserve was more complex with hints of fig leaf and green pepper - great for summer, especially if you enjoy a dry, crisp white wine. The Bush Vine Chenin Blanc which gave me the image of women in a full-bodied swimming costumes, wearing over-sized sunglasses and a wide-brim hat on a lounge-chair by the pool sipping on a glass. It had delicious notes of citrus and pine-apple. The wooded chenin is a perfect every-day drinking wine for summer time which still retained its pineapple nose, but had added flavours of paw-paw, with that slight hint of toastiness and a lovely deep straw colour that immediately gives it away that it's wooded. This wine is really my style of white wines that I do so love. They also have both an unwooded and wooded Chardonnay. The unwooded Chardonnay was quite interesting with gooseberry, peach skin, honey and a sharp note of lanolin. The wooded version had an added note of butterscotch (which was fantastic) and an almond finish that lingered on the palate. From there, I went onto the Gamay Noir Rose filled with ripe cherries, strawberries and raspberries, a great picnic wine at a great price. The Gamay Noir straight varietal retained the fruitness of the Rose with some added notes of mushrooms, a slight gamminess (like meat when it gets a bit clammy).

In the reds, I really enjoyed the Merlot here as well, with milk chocolate and dark cherries jumping up the glass - definitely my style of Merlot, and just what I look for when I want an easy-drinking smooth red wine. The Celler Pinotage smelled strongly of fresh banana with a spicy score of black pepper and cloves - an interesting pinotage and well worth the price tag. The Cab Sauv was a fruity version of what Cabs can offer with all the red berries really coming out in the wine - I'd love to taste a blend of this with the Merlot, as I think the softness of this Cab will make an extraordinary addition. The final wine I had here was another odd shiraz (the Family Reserve Shiraz) which had peculiar notes of Turkish Delight and Strawberries, but the palate had the added blackberries with vanilla and white pepper - very enjoyable. Another thing to remember is that this farm closes at 6, which is about an hour after everyone else closes down (I should've made it my last stop).

The final farm I visited on Wednesday was Blaauklippen. For the second time I arrived within minutes of their closing time, but they were nice enough to let me taste a handful of their wines. I began with the White Zinfandel (which is a new wine style for them, if I'm not mistaken) which was filled with peach, apricot and lemon grass, really delicious and quite different and a great rose-style wine. The next wine I had was the Zinfandel, in which I picked up lots of dried fruits - raisons, prunes, and a dark fruit cake (almost coffee/chocolate/treacle to it). I honestly think Zinfandel is the good American varietal, and I've enjoyed them every time I've tasted them. The Cabriolet is the blend I tried out here which is mostly Cab Franc and Cab Sauv with tiny amounts of Malbec and Merlot. I picked up tobacco and black currant predominently, and a bit of a methonal (maybe eucalyptus, lavender or mint) to it. I will definitely revisit this farm in one of my trips and get the full list of tasting. I really wish I made it at the right time last year (between October and November) when they had a sweet Zinfandel on offer, a style which is not likely to be repeated in the near future (from what I was told). Pity, because with all the scents and flavours I picked up from the Zinfandel, it would've made an excellent sweet wine or even port. A great range of wines here as well, and just across the road from Kleine Zalze makes this another great spot to go wine tasting, plus they have an interesting smell display set up for you to compare certain smells with certain wines - perfect for the novice wine taster (hey, I found it interesting as well).

Well, I feel releaved after writing about Wednesday's tasting. Now I need to get through the 6 farms I went to yesterday, and tomorrow will be another whole new set of farms to go to. Busy, busy, busy...

Val.

Stellenbosch The Third

Howdy!

Time for another email catered for your work avoidance behaviour, since I know most of you are bored out of your skulls at work, twiddling your thumbs waiting for something to distract you. Well, since last writing, I managed to vist 12 farms, 10 in one go - a new personal record, and 2 when I went wine tasting with family on Sunday. Since it would take a big chunk of my time to write about all of them in one go, I'll divide it up (I still have a life outside of wine, afterall). For today I'll focus on writing about the few farms I visited on Sunday - which was only two farms.

Of the two farms where I went tasting at on Sunday, the first was Laborie, which was one of the first farms I visited when I started taking notes. It was really great to go back and flesh out my notes (which were nothing more than descriptors of good, great, and excellent). If I were paying attention, I would've noticed the MCC sparkling (as opposed to the non-sparkling MCC's everyone is making ;) they snuck onto the bottom of their list, and asked to taste that first. This is one of the few farms to make a straight-varietal Viognier - which is filled with stone fruit (peach, apricot), quite characteristic of the fruitier side of Viognier - and thank goodness for that, cos the last thing I feel like drinking is something that smells like parafin! The Chardonnay was also quite typical - toast, butterscotch and pineapple/lime/citrus smells and flavours. The Merlot was fruity, but the Shiraz was definitely something different, remarkably soft, slight hints of Vanilla, Turkish Delight and White Pepper. The Cab Sauv was perfect to go with wild game meats, with hints of venison, plummy on the palate, and the smell of a fresh pine forest still dripping from a fresh rain. They have a fortified wine, made from pinotage wine mixed with pot-still brandy made from Pinotage, which was a lovely example of how to make a fruity port (dried fruits like raisons and prunes) that still has a hint of roasted nuts (like slightly roasted cashews when they almost have a chocolate flavour). They also have 8-yr old brandy available for tasting, although it was too strong and overwhelming for my poor palate.

The second farm I visited was Dieu Donne, which has a spectacular tasting room and nearby restaurant (built under a hill). This farm has a spectacular view and relaxing atmosphere. Of the food we had there, only the pasta seemed to be a decent portion and quality (once you added a bit more salt). They make an incredible Don Pedro, and their smoothies are also great - perfect to take your friends for late afternoon/sunset evening drinks. This place also had a very extensive wine list, from MCC's to whites to reds to sweet wines. The MCC Brut reminded me of biscuits (kind of like lemon creams), no doubt due to the Chardonnay from which it's made, as the wooded Chardonnay had a nose of lemon, goose-berry as well as a nose of cookie dough and yeast. The merlot looked perfect for aging, with a nose of mint and coffee backed by dark plums. The Cab Sauv also had a very similar nose of mint, but the dark berries (blue & black berries) and black currant really stood out in the wine. The Noble Late Harvest was made from Chardonnay, so the pineapple/citrus and stoned fruit came out very well, and it had a superior finish. Well-layered and definitely one to keep.

Well, I hope this kept you entertained for a short while, but it's probably time you got back to work, food, or whatever it is you were busy doing.

Til next time,

Val.

Stellies the Second

On Friday, I managed to visit 8 farms... yes... eight farms - which I think is a new record for me. I made sure that I had food ready the day before, and that I got an early start, as I had 7 farms which I planned on going to (somehow an extra farm snuck in there on the day though).

My first stop was at the very beautiful farm and tasting room of Hazendal, which immediately gave a sense of history and grandness to me. They had an MCC, which, unfortunately, was not available for tasting, so I started off with a very tropical Sauv Blanc, which was actually quite pleasant for what it was. I followed this with their Konynwijn - a semi-sweet wine, which was incredibly smooth and easy going, which is perfect for a casual evening with people that aren't avid wine-drinkers, or a nice relaxed day out in the gardens or forest or around the pool. They had a bush vine chenin blanc, which I wasn't that impressed with (it was ok), but had a lot of promise as a sweet wine (which they also do make). They had a blanc de noir made with pinot noir, which made a very pleasing picnic style wine. Not really as serious a rose as I would've liked, but a nice dainty wine. They had a Reserve Red blend, which is completely unwooded, and had me surprised as I find it also very soft and quite pleasant, although it was very much a wine to be drunk now. Again, a lovely wine to share with people who aren't really into their wine. They had a good Cab Sauv/Merlot blend which was very light and fruity. The final wine was the Straw Wine, which was the bushvine chenin sweet. It really was superb, with lovely tastes of cooked prune, honey and sultanas, but ultimately it wasn't worth the price, as just down the road was a wine that was almost every bit as good and half the cost.

The next stop was Kaapzicht, which had a very family-orientated feel to it's tasting room. It had much more of a home kind of feel to it. I wasn't impressed with their whites at all, which were all very shy on the nose, and very young on the palate. Only the Chardonnay stood out a bit on the nose (although I didn't like the hint of marzipan, which was a very sharp jarring smell), but again, very disappointing on the palate. Where the whites failed, however, the reds did a phenomenal job. They had three red blends, the Classic Red, the estate red, and the bin 3. All of them were created with the same vision - which was to create a smooth, elegant and complex wine, all of them with there own distinctive character, but they all still left you with the feeling that you just drank a good wine. Their pinotage had a sweaty leather, kind of wet dog nose, which I'm sure you would've loved. The Shiraz was a bit young still, but it was delicious and showed loads of potential. The Cab Sauv was also subtle and elegant (which I think added alot to all of the blends), but unfortunately the nose immediately gave a whiff of high alcohol. It should be superb in a few years tho, and should mature into a very regal wine. Their natural sweet was much the same as the previous farms (they are neighbouring farms, and pretty much use the same technique), but the price was only R40 for a bottle - very tempting I must tell you. Finally, they had an almost-10 year old (1999) brandy there for tasting, and although they only pour a single taste of it (cos it goes for R300 a bottle), it was spectacular, and easily the best brandy I've tasted to date (not that I've tasted much). A brandy-drinker would probably differ on that opinion, but for a non-brandy drinker it was fantastic. Smooth and what an initial taste on the palate, I really wished I had more than one taste to describe it.

Following from there, I went down the road to Mooiplaas. Upon entering the tasting room, you are greeted by a caution sign warning you that the floor is uneven. Thank goodness for that warning, otherwise I might have thought I'd gotten quite drunk off of that brandy from the last farm. That aside, they did have some enjoyable olives for tasting, not too sweet, not too bitter. As for their wines, they had a largely unwooded pinotage (the wood coming from 10% Cab Sauv they put in). Wasn't really my taste in wine, but I could appreciate it. They had a very herbaceous Cab Sauv with very green, fresh forest smells to it. Their Rosalind blend was Cab Franc driven and was a dark, intense wine and was thoroughly satisfying - a glass of this and you'd be happy all day.

Moving on from Mooiplaas, the next stop was Groenland, where I was astounded by their security gate, apparently installed after the owner got robbed at gun-point, after being followed from the bank with the farm's wages. Their available wines for tasting were very small (only 3 wines), so it was over before I'd even realised it. Their reserve range was not for tasting, but all of the wines I did taste were all above average and very well priced. The three wines available for tasting were a Shiraz, a Cab Sauv and red blend called Antoinette Marie (a very dutch name). They also make a port, which I wasn't able to taste :(

Farm no. 5 was Goede Hoop, were I was served by the wine maker (who didn't tell me he was the wine-maker). I must of made such a fool of myself there, but the guy was so open and friendly that I actually don't mind. Really, this wine-maker was so charismatic that I almost feel like dropping by there with a great bottle of wine someday to share with him. He gave me the chance to smell and taste a corked pinotage, as well as an oxidised merlot and pinotage. Surprisingly the corked pinotage smelt more like damp cardboard and a musty attic, than the smells I normally associate with a corked wine, and I don't know if I would've picked it up on the nose as corked. Although it was a give-away on the palate, I still would've guessed oxidised and not corked. It was one place that I was really impressed with the Chardonnay (which apparantly aged very well from one year to the next) and it was filled perfectly with all the tertiary smells and tastes I do so love, butterscotch and toasty goodness, but remarkable still had a good tropical fruit kick to it, with peaches and melons coming through quite prominently. A perfect textbook example of a good Chardonnay. Their household/table wine red blend I thought would be spectacular to cook with, especially given its very good price. The merlot/cab sauv blend was very well-blended and complex, and complemented each other perfectly to give a real full-mouth feel. The final wine to impress me here was the Shiraz, it's seen lots of oak, and came across as almost everything but a shiraz, a pleasing smokiness bouquet filled with light red berries, although it did have a bit of the characteristic pepperiness to its nose and palate (ground cloves and black pepper, if memory serves). And I got the tasting glass for only R5 instead of R10 (cos he didn't have change and neither did I).

The next farm was a fort upon the hill. Yes, it was Fort Simon. Pity that I wasn't so impressed with the wines, save for the wooded chenin which was really gorgeous and reminded me why I love wooded chenins so much. While there was nothing wrong with the rest of the wines, and their reds, they didn't really have anything that stood out for me. They also have a Viognier Sweet, but, yes, you know it, it wasn't available for tasting.

Getting later into the afternoon, I stopped by at Bellevue, which had a very unique tasting room, filled with booths and in the same room that once had their vats filled with grapes sitting on their skins. The guy who served me couldn't believe I was from South Africa and Cape Town, and sincerely asked if I spent a few years in the States or somewhere else in the world. I actually got asked that sort of question alot (where are you from? with surprised looks when I said I've lived in Cape Town all my life). I know I'm very English, but I didn't realise my accent was that warped. Anyway, they had a huge range of wines here, and some very interesting wines to boot. They had three pinotages which were all hugely different, but all of them had their own strengths and pleasing points. The first was the Sizanami, which is their B.E.E. range, and was a very affordable and accessible pinotage. The second is the Morkel, which I bought a bottle of, just so that you could smell and taste it when you get back. It absolutely reeks of banana and vanilla - which means it must be divinely made. The final was the PK Morkel which was incredibly complex and layered, definitely well beyond what my taste-buds were capable of right then. They had several red blends (the Rozanne, the Tumara, and the Atticus), all of which were great, balanced and full-bodied red blends. They had an unfiltered Shiraz, which almost made me laugh, because they were the only ones around that I actually saw that used a proper burgandy bottle for their shiraz, instead of the claret that everybody else seemed to prefer. No shoulder to catch any of that sediment at all. All-in-all, not a particularly astounding shiraz, but as full-bodied as you'd expect an unfiltered wine to be. They also had a petit verdot which reminded me of chocolate strawberries, pretty good in my books. The Malbec was the red I really enjoyed there, and I rated it as excellent. It took me ages to pick up one of the smells, which the attendee picked up for me - cranberries, but it also had a eucalyptus nose to it which was quite remarkable, and some pencil shavings on the nose (and palate, don't ask me how I know that - I guess I just chewed too many pencils in my day).

The final, rather rushed stop was at Hartenburg, which I would like to revisit (mostly because I was a bit rushed). The attendee there was very friendly, and wasn't all to bothered about my late turn-up (especially since they had such a long list of wines, and I managed to get a few tastings that's not normally available). I tasted the Weisser Reisling, and while I wasn't too impressed with it (as it did have a parafin nose, which they denied it had), it did still have some nice peachy/apricoty and very strong honey nose (and a high alcohol level). I could already tell that it would make a remarkable sweet wine. They also had an excellent chardonnay, which was very well balanced, although leaned slightly towards the barrel characteristics I so love - buttered toast and a slight yeastiness, it was still fruity, and it had such a long finish, real great acidity. To be honest I didn't really enjoy many of the reds that I was served, mostly because I found them to be quite oxidised, but I didn't bother saying anything, because it's not like they'd open up a whole bottle just for me at the end of the day. I did manage to taste two of their premium range of wines - The Stork and The Mackenzie, both of which were charming and regal wines, really filling your mouth with flavours, and asking to be laid to rest for a few years to come back with astounding grace. But at R250 a bottle, I'll think I'll pass up on buying a bottle for now. The last two wines I tasted here were very interesting - the first was the off-list Zinfindel Natural Sweet - a very, very peculiar attempt - I was given the very special price of R20 for a bottle, so I bought one without hesitation - although I have absolutely no space for it and I'm hoping it'll be fine until Monday sitting on a shelf next to the Vin de Constance. What was truly amazing about the Zinfindel was its finish, which was remarkable dry. This is probably the only sweet wine I could imagine drinking lots of in a go, and not be completely overpowered by its sweetness. The final wine I had was the L'Estreux which was a natural sweet made from Weisser Reisling. It did, in fact, make a very good sweet wine that was complex and could go well with a nice strong blue cheese, and was incredibly affordable (R35 a bottle).

So that's a run-down of the farms I visited on Friday. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Keep well and enjoy a good bottle of wine for me!

Val.

Starting off in Stellies

Hey guy,

Well, I went wine tasting on Wed when I went to Stellies side. Here's a breakdown of the farms I visited:

I started off at Vriesenhof. The girl there kept apologising for everything, it was hilarious. They had a Pinot Noir there, which was actually quite cheap, but sold out very quickly because of it, so didn't get to taste that one, but I did taste the older, more expensive one, which is easily loved. They had a very nice red Cape blend which had a great nose and was well-priced, as well as a ridiculously cheap Muscat d' Alexandrie (priced at R30), which was quite accessible and perfect to go with cheeses. I bought a bottle for essentially R10, as they took off the tasting fee (of R20) if you bought a bottle.

Next I went to De Trafford, going down a long dirt road, until I saw the sign saying they are only open of Fridays and Saturdays.

I bounced back down the road and visited Waterford, which had a lovely tasting area, and it was very busy there. They also do a chocolate pairing (and tasting) with their last 3 wines. Their service there was incredibly professional and the only thing I was disappointed with was there poor spitton. Their wines were definitely made to lie down a good few years, most of them tasted a bit young with firm tannins, but with great potential, and a lot of the reds had already been lying in wait for a handful of years. The ones I enjoyed there were the Shiraz, the Cab Sauv and the Family Reserve (Heatherleigh). Unfortunately though, their wines were not cheap. I also liked their Chenin, which I thought was a perfect food wine. This was also the birthplace of The Jem, a R680 bottle of wine, which you could taste for R50. Having already heard about the wine, and being told it was an Ernie Els wine, I passed on that tasting, knowing I'd never be crazy enough to buy a bottle anyway.

Following the road, I stopped by Dornier. The tasting room moved from the building with the huge fish tank and signature curvy roof, to the restaurant at the top - which was terrible for smelling the wines as it was just down the corridor from the kitchen. That aside, I enjoyed the Cocoa Hill Red, which was definitely tasty, easy drinking and well-priced, the Cab Sauv was quite smooth and elegant, which got a rating of 'good' in my book, and an 'excellent' pinotage, more so because of it's fantastic nose than it's palate, but also well-priced.

Then, after missing a turnoff and going the really long way round, I ended up in Stellenzicht. The tasting room was tiny, elevated room and just outside was a beautiful landscape, which they didn't take advantage of at all. It was quite sad, actually. This was one place that I actually enjoyed their Golden Triangle Sauv Blanc, even though it was still not exactly my taste, I wouldn't complain if someone poured me a glass. They had an excellent wooded Semillon (9 months in wood), which left a lovely taste in the mouth, almost butter-scotch like a Chardonnay. The last really great wine that I enjoyed there was their Golden Triangle Pinotage, which had great acidity so left a nice long lingering full-mouth feel.

Only four farms on Wednesday, as I got a late start, and there were a lot of dirt roads to travel on.

Val.

Something Sumptous in Somerset West

Howdy everybody,

I've reached about the quarter mark on my journey around the winelands in the Cape and I've already visited so many farms I'm really hoping I get to visit all the areas I want to before I feel the work world calling me. On Saturday I managed to continue my route that was prematurely cut short two weeks ago when my car gave up on me. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go to the one place (Flagstone) that was the only reason for me to go wine tasting on a Saturday as I couldn't find how to get to it. The only road that looked like it went to Flagstone was closed off.

This time round I started off at a few farms I missed the last time I went to this area, so my first stop was at Avontuur (after accidentily driving past Ken Forrester's almost invisible entrance). This is where I discovered I had 0 battery power left for my camera (thanks to the power failure the evening before), so please excuse if my discriptions of the farms are a bit vague, as I'm relying on my terrible memory. Avontuur has a huge range of wines to try, including a sparkling wine, several whites and reds and a 5-year old brandy, as well as a 10 year. Avontuur also has a very nice restaurant and they are smart enough to put the tasting room far enough away from the kitchen and sealed off by glass doors and windows from the tables as well. They have 3 ranges of wine here, the Vintners (V), Estate (E) and Premium/Reserve range (R).

I could spend a whole email going through each of the wines I tasted, but I'll select a few as a taster for you 8) The E. Brut MCC (Methode Cap Classique) is made from an equal blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and first gave off a smell of beer yeast with a follow through of sweet fruit on the nose and citrus on the palate, with a very crisp finish that leaves you smacking your lips together. I found that I enjoyed the Sauv Blancs (R&E), as they weren't excessively crisp and on the Reserve (called the Sarabranda) I found some interesting floral notes (rose petals?) and I caught a hint of lemon grass (I think). Not an everyday wine, but if you are a big fan of Sauv Blanc, this would make an excellent birthday gift for you. The Vintner's Blend is a mixture of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and is an absolutely marvellous wine that only cost R38 a bottle - definitely an everyday drinking wine. It is a new release, so make sure to look out for a bottle before everyone realises how good it is and it gets sold out... actually maybe I should go buy some quickly... oh wait, before I do that.. uhm... it's a terrible wine... don't buy it... seriously... it's only lightly wooded and has a really icky toasty/butterscotch nose with an awful strawberry nose that leaps out of the glass and grabs you by the throat. In fact, forget I even mentioned it, and don't try it... you'll spit it out all over your lovely clothes.

The reserve Chardonnay (called the Luna de Miel) is my style of Chard, with a rich creamy butterscotch nose mixed with vanilla and slight notes of citrus. Wine like this glides down your throat like a kid going down a waterslide - with great delight. The R Pinot Noir (the Minelli) is a very complex wine with an alcohol that's just a tad bit too high - it's very fruity with dark berries, but has a dried woodland nose to it with just a subtle hint of leather. Skipping through the list, the next interesting wine was the E Cab Sauv/Merlot blend, which had that nose I'm becoming more familiar with - candied apple and turkish delight, with light red berries and a slight smell of cigar smoke. The R Bourdeux blend - the Baccarat, is a blend of Cab Sauv/Merlot/Cab Franc, with fresh forest smells, fynbos, black berries and some lovely barrel characters coming through of white pepper and milk chocolate - complex and delicious. I'll skip commenting too much on the brandy, other than to say that the 10 year old was a softer style of brandy - good for a non-brandy drinker, so it'll make a good brandy to have on stand by for high-end business executives.

My next stop was at Ken Forrester, another farm with another long list. The Sauv Blanc is a very text-book example (grass and apples), but they've done some fantastic work with Chenin Blanc here. The Petit Chenin Blanc is their quaffer with splashes of melons, peaches and guava - at R30 a bottle, it's well-worth the price-tag for a wine to enjoy throughout the summer. Their estate Chenin Blanc is ever-so-slightly wooded and has rose petal/floral smells mixed with peaches, and their Forrester Meinert Chenin is an interesting combination of a heavily-oaked chenin (10 months) mixed with their natural sweet Chenin to produce an off-dry and delicious white wine that is very highly rated. Well worth the hype, it has intensily complex aromas including: buttered toast, sweet and water-melons, peaches, flowers, honey, apricot, nartjie, litchi, vanilla and light raisons. Unfortunately, at R240 a bottle, the tasting room is about the only place that I'd see this wine touching my lips - a pity, because it's really a one-of-a-kind wine. I'd suggest going through the struggle of finding the farm, looking out at the water fountain from the tasting room and the hanging pieces of meat in the cellar, and have a sip or three of this wine if you are a wine lover. Amongst the other red wines this is one of the very few (if not only) farms to make a straight varietal Grenache. Called the Lonely Grenache, the smells are driven by an powerful cherry nose, with strawberries and raspberries complimenting it, and a slightly spicy (mostly white pepper) backbone just to give it that little extra push. The Grenache is mixed in with Shiraz to make two blends here, and I'd suggest buying the Ken Forrester Shiraz/Grenache if you want a relatively good sense of what a grenache is like, with a little added pepperiness and vanilla, and at R65 a bottle, it's very worthwhile. Especially since the Lonely Grenache is valued at R160, and the Gypsy blend (also Shiraz and Grenache) is sitting at a whopping R240 a bottle. The sweet wine was sold out, so I can't comment on that.

Dellrust was next on my list, and after a long dusty road, I arrived at the farm to the sounds of Fish Eagles. Of the white wines I had there, the slightly wooded Chenin Blanc/Semillon stood out, filled with tropical fruit - like passion fruit and mango. The Rose was an off-dry picnic style wine. Then came some interesting Red blends - the Vinehills Red Ruby Cabernet/ Tinta Barocca blend of cinnamon, pine needles, fynbos and ceder, followed by the Tinta Barocca/ Cinsaut blend of leather, black currant, cinnamon (guess that's from the Tinta) and coffee. The Merlot was well worth the price-tag of R45 a bottle - a soft, easy-drinking red filled with dark berries and plums, a smell of damp earth and mocha. The Three Vines red blend of Merlot/Pinotage/Shiraz was a very interesting wine - a mixture of leather and a kind of meaty paste (which I'm struggling to connect), which I think may be liver pate, olive paste and prunes coming in at the end. The Late Bottled Vintage Port had a delicious dried fruit (almost fruit roll) style and well-priced. They also have two Jerepigos here, white and red, although they aren't really noteworthy.

The next few farms were all farms with a lot of history behind them and all of them had gorgeous farms with large ponds and a large variety of flora. I stopped first at Morgenster (although, on hindsight, I should've stopped at Lourensford first). Morgenster has a stunning tasting room with a superb view looking out over a serene pond. They also have olive tastings here... yum. The farm was originally all part of Vergelegen and owned by Simon Van De Stel's son William. After some bad business practices, it got divided up and Morgenster came under the ownership of a French Huguenot - Jacques Malan, so it is over 300 years old (thank you google!) Although they are more well-known for their olives and especially their olive oil, they do have a small selection of wines. The wines are regal reds - strong, powerful, complex, and worthy of a throne. The Lourensriver Valley is a Merlot driven blend with Cab Sauv and Cab Franc adding complexity to the wine. A firm, gripping wine, it has flavours ranging from the barrel chacteristics of mocha, milk chocolate and a spicy black pepper, to the fruitier black berries and black currant, with an added dose of mushrooms - I'd imagine this to go well with dark-meat poultry, boar or lamb, but a must to have with an exotic old-world meal (it goes with the whole regal image). Still reasonably affordable (barely under R100 a bottle). The Morgenster is a more balanced blend of Cab Sauv/ Cab Franc/ Merlot filled with fresh forest smells, ceder/pine trees, and fruity plums, raspberries, blueberries and dark cherries - a more accessible and smooth wine, which the farm calls their 'liquid velvet' and it almost costs as much.

The second last stop was at Lourensford that had a very nice and friendly staff - they let me stay and go through almost all of their range, which was quite extensive, and even offered some off the list wine to taste, and all well past their closing time (I stayed about an hour and a half after closing time because the company was that good). Of the extensive list, I'll comment on a few of their wines. They have 3 ranges of wines here, the Lourensford Estate, the Lourensford Five Heirs, and the Eden Crest, and wine from their sister farm of Lanzerac. The Eden Crest Sauv was a typical green apple and fresh cut grass - a very textbook, typical sauv blanc at a very good price (especially since it's on promotion). The Eden Crest white blend of Sauv Blanc/ Chard has a hint of toast, but is predominantly filled with citrus/tropical flavours like pineapple, guava and a hint of passion fruit and peach. They have a wooded Estate Viognier, with which I can attribute mouth-watering flavours like peach, apricot, gooseberry, vanilla and butterscotch. The Chardonnay here was another one made in the style I like with rich butterscotch and buttered toast, but with some added smells of sweet melon and a surprising note of ginger. Blend the two together, and you have the Chardonnay/Viognier which gives off all sorts of dried fruits - apricots, peaches and pears, as well as a subtle macadamian nuttiness. Of the reds, there were a few that stood out for me, and I tasted the 5 heirs reds - the merlot had a strong mocha/cocoa flavour to it, the shiraz was a mixture of fresh meat and dark berries, and in the blend with Mouvedre, it became leathery and filled with light berries instead, the pinotage was herbaceous (thyme and italian herbs) and smelled of fresh bananas as well. The final red I managed to sneak a taste of was the Seventeen Hundred - mostly Cab Sauv with a dollup of Merlot and a drop of Shiraz, it was an intense complex wine and I picked up black currant, chocolate/coffee, blackberry and black pepper and a hint of vanilla.

I was about to go home, but decided to stop by Vergelegen again (as they were still open) to check to see if I could get a fresh taste of their Merlot (with a drop of Cab Franc) that I had last time and I thought was corked. The farm here is such a beautiful place to visit, and it's very easy to make a whole day of it wandering around the nearby grounds, having a bite to eat at the near-by restaurant, and generally have a nice relaxing day. Unfortunately, I came in the closing hour of the tasting room, and got an overwhelming sense from the help that they've had a long day, and so they were rather slow, impatient and unenthusiastic, even though my enthusiasm rubbed off a bit and they were at least a bit polite and engaging with me at times. Still, it was a good idea to go back, and I should've trusted my taste the first time, as that smell of damp cardboard that I got last time was no-where to be found and in it's place was black currant, dark plum, black pepper and fresh fynbos. By now I should've really learnt to trust my instincts and simply ask for a new bottle to be opened, even if the people behind the desk seemed rather unhelpful and unsympathetic.

Well, that's it for today. I'm sure I've given you a good few minutes reading. I haven't decided whether or not to go tasting tomorrow yet, but I've booked Friday for some tasting in the nearby Durbanville area and I'm definitely looking forward to some of their wines!

Until I find the time to write another email about the 6 Franschhoek farms I visited yesterday, you'll have to wait patiently doing your nails or whatever it is you do during the day when you're not reading my thoroughly engrossing emails.

Ciao,
Val.

Bottle me up in Bottelary Hills

Heya

After my local garage was nice enough to fix my garage for free, I managed to get back on the road for some more wine tasting. This time I went to 6 farms in the Greater Simonsberg and Bottelary Hills - which made for a great time on Friday.

The first farm I went to was Villiera (which kind of sounds like some sort of disease involving mosquitos). With a large selection of famous bubblies, whites, reds, sweets and ports and even some wines from the South of France, this farm is a must visit - especially if you are on a student's budget. They have three brut MCCs - all of which had deliciously yeasty nose and a smell like the crust of a freshly baked bread. Their Flagship MCC - the Monro Brut was exceptionally lively and vivacious (my word of the day) and, best of all, very affordable. The final MCC I tasted was the Brut Rose, which was filled with light berries, which reminded me mostly of freshly picked cherries and raspberries. Extremely good value-for-money bubblies.

Although the farm is known for it's bubblies, the rest of their range is every bit as good. The bush-vine sauv blanc was filled with green peppers and was surprisingly not so strapping and brash, despite it's youth and intensity of colour. The chenin blanc was a typical sweet-melon type of chenin, but they also had a toasty-good wooded chenin (The Cellardoor) at incredible value and taste - not the best I've had, but definitely good to open up for a good meal looking for a bit of romantic charm (if I recall correctly they said a curry, although I was more thinking chicken, especially in a white-sauce pasta). I had the pleasure of trying one of their french wines - a blend of Maccabeu and Viognier, which had an excellent blend of minerality and fruitiness - really perfectly blended to the last %. The next two red blends I had were also french in origin. The L'Aqueduc - a name taken from a nearby aqueduct to their farm in France, was a blend of Carignan, Grenache and Syrah, filled with dark cherries, black currant, and other dark, lush berries with juices bursting at the seams. Along with the Galamus (named after the nearby valley and monastery), these wines were incredibly smooth and elegant reds, ready to glide down like a sheet of the finest Chinese silk. Of the local reds, I fancied their Merlot, which was fruity, filled with ripe plums and cherries and it gave a great full mouth feel, perfect balance between fruit and acidity. My final note on this farm will be on the sweet wines, which included a pair of very different Noble Late Harvest - the Cellar Door (Rhine Riesling) which I expected immense honey tones, but found a surprising amount of fruitiness especially fresh apricots and saltanas with a minimal hint of honey. The Inspiration NLH, on the other hand (you have different fingers), was made from Chenin Blanc, and was aptly labeled with a bee, as it reeked of honey and was awfully sweet - I think it was still to early in the morning for that. Their port - named Fired Earth, was enjoyable, but not really noteworthy - a good standard balanced port, not too fruity, not too nutty, but tasted a bit of rotting raisons and prunes (sounds delicious, doesn't it?)

Moving on - to Koelenhof, where they also showcase some Ernst & Co wines. I visited this farm because of it's port. Although Platter seems to dislike it, I haven't found a port at this price that goes so well with cheeses of all kinds. I was told that the previous year's one was much nuttier than the latest release, the Pino Porto had a great nose and taste of raisons and nuts (more a kind of shelled nut, like walnut). I'm jumping ahead of myself again. They also have bubbly here, although not made in the traditional method, they have a Vin-Sec Sauv Blanc (which was exactly what you'd expect - sauv blanc with bubbles), and a Vin-Sec Pinotage Rose sparkling, which was better than I expected, with hints of freshly cleaned and cut strawberries. The semi-sweet Koelnektar (a gewurz) was an easy-drinking very affordable white wine - perfect for those summer days stretched out on the lawn with a big hat you've convinced yourself looks good on you. In the reds, I tasted the Ernst & Co merlot which was a textbook merlot - plum, coffee, milk chocolate. The only other one I'll mention from this farm is the Sangiovese (cos you don't see much of it around), which was filled with fresh leathery smells (like I just got into a recently cleaned luxory car) - interesting, but not really my taste in wine.

Next on my list was Hoopenburg - which got a recommendation from the first farm. When I arrived here, I realised I left my notebook behind in the last farm - cos I was too focused on taking the port with me and thinking of all the chevins, bree, camemburts (I hope I spelt those right) and other delicious blue cheeses I'd eat with the port. SOOOO I rushed back to fetch my book, and forgot to fetch my pen as well. At least Hoopenburg was so nice that they gave me a pen (which was exactly like the one I lost). So if you are looking to get some free pens - here's the place to go. They have an unwooded Chardonnay, but I was far more interested in their Integer wooded Chardonnay - which boasts a gold award from the 2007 IWC (no, not idiotic wine contest - it's the International Wine Challenge) in London last year. While I usually don't place too much stock in competitions of this kind, I must admit that the wine-maker did get this Chardonnay just right - although I'd put this into the textbook Chardonnay category - it'd be in the textbook on how to get wooded Chardonnay to be phenomenal - all those lovely wood characteristics of butterscotch and cookie-dough (on the nose), with a great citrus (pineapple and lime) tone. It has perfect acidity (which I believe was all-natural) and so it'll not only age exceptionally in my books, but will leave a long lingering taste in your mouth reminding you of the great wine you just finished. The tremendous chardonnay aside, this farm also has a light, fruity Pinot Noir at a very affordable price - especially for Pinot - a great elegant and charming wine if you want to drink a little something special on a relaxed afternoon (after a good massage). The Cab Sauv followed suit and was a medium-bodied red filled with dark berry-jammy goodness, with a bit of fynbos - reminding me of tea-time with black rooibos tea and jam-filled scones. My last wine here was a sweet Sauvignon-Blanc (first sparkling, now sweet, next they'll be making port from this!). This had an odd extra-toasted on the verge of glue nose to it, which was labeled as 'minerality'. A late harvest wine that would go fantastically with some of those brees at Anura, or any other light, sweet cheese with a bit of backbone.

The final farm in the Greater Simonsberg was De Meye (another recommended farm). I came at a bad time of year, however, as they had two sold out wines. They had a delightful family-owned farm feel to their tasting room, cob-webs and all. Unfortunately, I wasn't really impressed with their wines. There was nothing wrong with them technically, but there was nothing really special about them either. Decent value-for-money wines. The only exception (to me) was the Shiraz, which had a rich mushroom nose, with a perfectly layered pepperiness (black pepper and cloves) and fruitness (dark cherries, plums and especially freshly picked black berries). A real shame that the two sold out wines was a Shiraz Rose and a Cab Sauv/Shiraz blend, as I'd expect them to be fabulous.

Onto a farm that has become synonymous with Pinotage - Beyerskloof. They have a new tasting room, so expect a much more modernised and trendy experience here (I mean, all the kids are doing it these days!). The Pinotage Sparkling Brut Rose had lovely tones of strawberries, as did the Pinotage Rose, which was a well-balanced rose, not too light, fruity and playful, but not too serious and overpowering as a Pinotage can be. Their regular range of Pinotages are interesting, but have nothing on their reserve range (which nearly made me cry when I saw that their 2003 Reserve Pinotage is going for nearly R250). Their 2006 is readily available, and promises to be superb given a nap (lasting a few years), as it's filled with rich berries (those blue & black berries again) with a jammy quality to it, and milk chocolate - can't wait to open a bottle of this on my 30th. The Synergy Cape-blend had more of a light berry palate with a dose of white pepper (which I'm starting to pick out quite well, if the tasting notes are anything to go by). I would love to have someone else nose this wine, as I picked up an odd smell in it (Head-ache tablet) - it was quite weird. The field blend was also a remarkable wine, but unfortunately, after all the pinotage, my taste buds weren't as sharp, and their were no crackers to neutralise my palate with :( This is the wine I'm leaving behind for next time - and I'll look forward too it, as it is a complex wine worthy of contemplation and deep thought.

No time to rest for the tongue-weary, as my last stop was Louiesenhof. A very small, natural farm, with absolutely beautiful surroundings - it's a real shame that the tasting counter is so small and cramped and the attendee seemed more pre-occupied with moving boxes around than having a dialogue. Still, this was the only the 2nd farm I've been to that has Pinot Grigio, and one of the small handful that make a straight Tinta Barroca (although they haven't produced it as a straight varietal in a while). I could see why Pinot Grigio (as a varietal) is breaking some ground overseas, as this was a light, fruity white with notes of peach and litchi. Mmmm good. The Rouge is a red blend driven mostly by Tinta Barroca with a dab of merlot for extra fruit. This gave off wads of prunes and fruit cake, and made the port look very promising, especially since it was made in a cognac style. Needless to say, the port was terrific with all that fruit cake and prunes, but also filled with dark, shelled nuts. I wanted to take this home and have it with some bol de mel (literally translated into honey cake - a traditional christmas cake in Madeira made with treacle, walnuts, prunes and honey). I can see why this kind of cake became so popular their as it goes beautifully with a good port. They also have a very reasonably priced 16-yr potstill brandy (only R250), which utterly killed my taste-buds, so it was a good thing I ended here. Sadly, this farm doesn't always have all its various wines available for tasting, so you have to play lucky packet and hope you get a good set on the day. Still, the lady did hand me a great big wad of free tasting comps and this place does look like it would be great to visit when it is busier, or as a birthday/engagement party function, when they use their full tasting room, have their chef's in and all their wines open.

Well, that's all I have for you today, although I should be writing another (much smaller) email on Monday as I will be wine-tasting tomorrow with family. Until then, visit a farm and have some fun!

Val.

Round the Robertson Rock (Day 2)

After a good nights rest, Andre & I woke up bright and early, ate some breakfast, and off we went to visit wine farms. We started off at the two nearest farms to us - Roodezandt and Robertson before making our way out of the town.

First stop - Roodezandt. The wines here are all very well-priced and easily affordable. Starting with the Sauv Blanc (R25.50), which is a good example of Robertson's style of Sauv Blanc - minerality, granny smith apples and even dried apples coming through - perfect for that scorching summers day by the pool. The Special Late Harvest made from Chenin and White Muscadel (R18.25) is marketed as a table wine and it suits that role perfectly - with saltanas, peachs, apricots, honey and dried apple - I'd easily open up a bottle of this wine with people who aren't mad about their wine, but like to have some to relax with. In the reds, the Syrah (R27.75)impressed me with it's bovreal, strawberry jam, black pepper and mocha - a wine, as my best friend would put it, costs R20, but tastes like R40, well worth buying in a pinch. The Cab Sauv (R29) was fulled with dry woodland smells - dried leaves, cigar box, cedar, dried bark, and even a rich, dark earthiness. This really wasn't my taste in a Cab, as it had very little fruit or pleasing barrel tastes and it's almost as if the dust of the wood chips (or staves or whatever) integrated with the wine. The Balthazar Classic Cab Sauv (R57) was much more pleasant - while it still had a bit of a dried firewood smell, it had some prunes and plum and an enjoyable hint of spiciness with black pepper and cloves coming through on the taste buds.

From there we moved on to Robertson Winery. With a huge list of around 30 wines, I'll try limit myself to selecting a handful of whites and reds to write about. The Retreat Sauv Blanc (R45) was quite unique in the area with asparagus, a slight citrus note, a strange fungal smell, and a very strong minerality/flinty finish. The Colombard (R19) was quite a typical example of the varietal (or so I am lead to believe), with peach, melons, granadilla, and some floral smells - quite crisp and a wine to be enjoyed while sitting out in the public gardens or anywhere that you would picnic. The Kings River Chardonnay (R45) is a well-balanced chardonnay and one that I would enjoy with a good meal - that mouth-watering smell of butterscotch coupled with some fruit-driven smells (peach and citrus, esp. lemon) make this a very enjoyable wine for any Chardonnay lover. The Viognier (R28)is a bit different from what I've come to expect from this varietal, although it did have its typical floral smells together with stoned fruits and honey, it also had a slight hint of fattiness (almost like raw bacon fat) which was a bit odd.

The Pinot Noir (R28) was an amazing discovery - normally you'd expect to spend near a R100 or more for any Pinot Noir. While this wine was certainly not the quality of a superb Pinot Noir, it certainly tasted two or three times its worth, with light red berries, cedar, cloves and cinnamon coming through. The Ruby Cabernet (R22) was an interesting table wine, with fennel, mocha, dark berries and white pepper coming through on the palate - quite a difficult wine to appreciate, but I can imagine it working alongside a good lamb curry (although it would be quite experimental for me to do so). The Prospect Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (R52) is a very affordable, ready-to-drink red wine, with black currant, mulberries, raspberries, prunes, cedar and chocolate - perfect for a mealtime wine to go alongside some roast lamb or oxtail. The Wolfkloof Shiraz (R52) was another fruitier shiraz, with prunes and dark plums, chocolates, white pepper and red spices coming through - also a wine to be coupled with a meaty curry. The Gewurztraminer SLH (R22) had a very typical set of smells - lime, litchi, rose petal and other floral smells - and well worth the price of a bottle. The Cape Ruby Port (R32) is a very afforable port to go alongside blue cheeses or to contrast with a malva pudding, with walnut, fruit cake and treacle leaping out the glass.

Moving outside the town we moved to Springfield - an estate that I have been told repeatedly to go visit, and it managed to match my grape expectations. The farm is absolutely stunning, from the friendly bok (that thinks it's a dog) out on the lawn, to its picturesque view over a lake, to its beautiful gravel-stone cellar, this is a must-do for anyone visiting Robertson. The wines are also very worthwhile and top-class wines. Starting with the Life from Stone Sauv Blanc (R57), and it is well-named, as the flint and minerality take you by the throat, with that grassy, green apple tastes still wandering around your mouth. The Special Cuvee Sauv Blanc is similar, but balances itself more on the grassy, green pepper flavours thats more typical of a Sauv Blanc. The Wild Yeast Chardonnay is made in a slightly different style and it's quite fruity with only the slightest hint of wood coming through in the form of butterscotch flavours, and subtle peach and pear taste. The Methode Ancienne (a reference to the traditional old way of making wines which they use) used the barrel much more, giving it a more prominent butterscotch nose, as well as opening up some fuzzy peach and guava in the taste. At R129 a bottle, it might be worthwhile to go taste the wine rather than buy it - while it was throughly enjoyable, I've certainly found Chardonnays that are every bit as good for under R100. The Work of TIme (R90)bordeuax blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv and Cab Franc is delicious with intense plum, blackberry, cinnamon, cloves and fynbos. Drink with friends. The Methode Ancienne Cab Sauv (R180) is a well-layered and integrated wine, with black currant, dark berries, cloves, dried pine needles, mocha, chocolate and cedar all competing for your attention - an expensive wine, maybe a little too expensive for some, but I wouldn't expect to pay anything less than R150 a bottle for it's quality, especially since it's already been aged in the bottle for a few years before being sold and it's at a perfect drinking age. Open it for a very special meal with a good steak - and don't dare waste a drop.

Cloverfield was the next farm on the list, and was well worth a visit. This large farm opened up in front of us, with big, large buildings and farmlands that stretched out for miles. But as soon as we got in we found a small tasting room overlooking a small part of a small cellar - and with a small list of wines in front of me, my expectations were s...large. I had heard good things about the Chardonnay, and so I was very hopeful. The Chenin (R23) gave me a pleasant surprise with its medley of fruits, especially sweet melon pulp, golden delicious apples and pears - perfect for warm breezy days. The wooded Chardonnay (R35) did impress me (they have an unwooded as well), with butterscotch and lanolin (from the barrel) as well as citrus like processed lemon, pineapple, granadilla and lime, and leaving with a delicious full-mouth almond nuttiness in the mouth. My only regret is that the wine was still so young, as it will be beautiful in a year or two. The final wine I tasted in this farm was the Shiraz (R42) which had that yummy vanilla smell mixed with spicy bite of black pepper and cloves, with a distinct smell of fresh prunes and processed meat giving the taste some body and intensity.

Following the Breede River, the next stop was Viljoensdrift, a farm with a sizeable eating area, a mini-movie house, and a ferry that takes people on trips along the river. The best part was the sign (which I'm ashamed to say, I don't seem to have a good picture of) - which read something like this:

HIPPOPOTAMUS
CROCODILES
have never been seen by anybody on one of our ferries, but we'll charge you a fortune all the same.

I love commercialism...

Still, we ate an overpriced, but equally delicious lunch there as we waited for the German and American tourists to get on the ferry and open up the tasting room. The Sauv blanc (R32) had overpowering grassy notes with green pepper, asparagus and sweet melon smells (taking something of a Chenin character). The Chenin (R25) took some of the Sauv's character in return by having a strong note of minerality alongside the pear and watermelon notes. The Chardonnay (R40) impressed me right from the start and I think my descriptor will show you why: processed mint, lime, buttered toast, pineapple, and a long lingering taste of brazil nuts - an experience well worth the price of a bottle. Onto the pink wine! The Shiraz off-dry Rose (R22) had a good complex mix of smells and tastes including the ever-present cherry and strawberry, but with an added floral and candy floss smell and a surprisingly crisp mineral finish that helps offset it's slightly sweeter nature - a classic pool wine. The Cape Blend (R30) is amazing value for money and the two varietals used in this wine stand out quite prominently - from the dominant Shiraz, the smell of boerewors and bovreal, with black pepper and cloves came to the front (which describes exactly what the single varietal shiraz had to offer), but the Pinotage added some green bananas and the smell of leather to give it a little something something. The flagship red bordeaux blend - Serenity - goes for nearly R100 a bottle, and it was admittedly something different. You can expect brown spices, treacle, black currant, mocha, dark chocolate and christmas cake - in other words, a dark, intense, overpowering wine that you would only have a glass worth before feeling satisfied. To end it all off, we had a taste of the latest, poorly labeled port - the Cape Vintage Reserve (R55), which was an elegant balance of roasted nuts and dark, dried fruit - which I immediately thought would go well with cranberry-flavoured blue cheese.

From Prestige to Popular, out next stop was Van Loveren. In the middle of a stunningly beautiful garden, this farm has a very relaxed approach to wine tasting. I started with the Sauv Blanc (R26) - a crisp refreshing white that had notes of granny smith apple, grass, gooseberry and that Robertson minerality. They have a Pinot Grigio (R26) which is a great table wine with fruit salad, lemon, peach and granadilla smells. The semi-sweet Colombar (R20) was an easy-drinking, share a few bottles with friends wine with very floral, fresh orange blossom scent and a peach, pear and sweet melon fruitiness to it. This was also the first time I encountered a Fernao Pires (which is a Portuguese white wine varietal), and at R22 a bottle, it was worth tasting a wine with lime, peach, granadilla and floral smells - almost like a blend between Gewurz and an unwooded Chardonnay. Talking about Gewurztraminer, the special late harvest (R26) did have that litchi, lime smell so strongly associated with this variety of grape, but it also had a hint of dried pears and apricots. All of these whites are very accessible, and easy to enjoy with company when you're not concentrating to hard on the wine you're drinking.

From the whites, we moved onto the Limited Release wines (Wolverine Creek), which are more complex and full-bodied wines. The Chardonnay (R45) was deliciously nutty, with butterscotch, buttered toast and peach notes in it as well. The Cab Sauv (R69) had stewed fruits (yuk!), cloves, prunes, and a slight dark jammy smell to it - maybe a blackberry jam. The Shiraz (R69) was also very fruity with heavy black currant smells as well as treacle, with a playful black pepper spiciness on the tongue. The Noble Late Harvest (R45), made from Rhine Reisling, is very good value-for-money, as it still manages to be quite complex with marzipan, saltanas, honey, peach and apricot all making a play for your attention. All-in-all Van Loveran is a great place to shop for table wines, or student party wines as they glide down easily and are often very playful, fun loving wines that will ease the social tension in a room, leaving people to talk about life (also known as wine), love (for wine), and everything else (like what kind of temperature to serve your wine at).

We passed along some very scenic roads on our way to the next farm - Zandvliet, which is well-known for its shiraz and its horses. The Sauv Blanc (R36) was quite herbaceous, but also still kept that minerality of the land. The unwooded Chardonnay (R39) had a slightly floral nose to it, but otherwise it was unremarkable. The wooded Chardonnay (R46) had a slight bit of mustiness to it, with honey, lanolin, gooseberry and granadilla smells, but a gorgeous bit of butterscotch and lemon in its taste. The Cab Sauv (R54) was superb value-for-money, with some very woody smells to it, as well as black currant and prunes and a slight gamey smell to it (maybe truffles). The Zandvliet Shiraz (R69) was also great value for money and a perfect companion for a hearty meal, with roasted meat, cloves, black pepper, mocha, raisons, and liqorice. The two more famous Shirazs (R112 each) is the Kalkveld Shiraz, one which uses french barrels and the other which uses american barrels. The French version has an unbelievable spiciness to it, with black pepper, cloves, black berry and liqorice smells. The American version has picked up a lot from the barrel with vanilla, cocunut, coffee and a delcious roasted nuttiness to its taste. This is a farm to take someone to, if you want to show how much of a difference the barrel can make on a wine.

Our last stop of the day was the clean, green Rietvallei. The Classic Estate Sauv Blanc (R35) had a strong smell of fresh cut grass and asparagus, but also had a clean crisp finish with its minerality and flintiness to its taste. The Juanita Cab Sauv Rose (R56) had the smell of fresh strawberries (to the point of its rather pungent earthiness) and candy floss. The John B Cab Sauv/Tinta Barocca Red Blend would go very well with a meaty pasta, like a spaghetti bolognese, as it has an unmistakable smell of fresh meat and mushrooms. From there we tasted the special select wines. First was the Cab Sauv (R110) which was a textbook example of an excellent cab sauv, with black currant and black berries making the fruit component, a strong smell of ceder and dry pine forest smells, and a follow through of the barrel in the form of mocha and cocoa. The second was the shiraz (R110) which had vanilla and ripe red berries dominating the sense, but an underlying cocoa and mocha as well. The final wine we tasted for the day was the 1908 Muscadel, which I called the "3 S" wine - strawberries, saltanas and spices.

On that note, I'll say my goodbyes. Hopefully I'll get the chance to write another email sooner rather than later. Until then, open up a fresh bottle, and enjoy a glass on my behalf.

Val.