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.
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.
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