Round the Robertson Rock (Day 1)

And so it begins...

I'll try my best to be as accurate and complete as possible, but please keep in mind that I spent the week on the road with barely a moment to organise anything while I was there - and with nearly 30 farms visited and probably well over 200 wines tasted, my poor brain starts to melt when I look at all my notes and loose pages. There were some farms that I wanted to visit (due to some connections with people on this list), however I quickly forgot about all that and visited all the farms I had the time to visit. There are still dozens of farms I didn't visit which will have to wait until I get another chance like this one (maybe on the Wacky Wine Weekend). So, I will only comment on the wines that stood out, or were different, to save myself from being stuck behind my computer for the next month.

After a bit of problems organising our transport and accomodation, we managed to find out way out to Robertson where we stayed at the Route 62 B&B, which is within walking distance of two wine-tasting rooms and Klipdrif's tasting room. After settling in, we managed to visit 3 farms on the first day - starting at Bon Cap, where they have many organic wines. They also have 2 ranges, the Ruins, which is their everyday drinking wines, and their estate range. The Ruins Chardonnay/Viognier (R30) was an interesting wine with fresh oranges/nartjie, peach, pear and apricots coming through. The Bon Cap Viognier, which is barreled for 18 months, had the typical floral smells you'd expect, some vanilla, peach and musk to add a little character to the wine - a bit expensive at R110 though. The Ruins Pinotage (R35) was an easy-drinking and delicious wine, with caramel, mocha, chocolate and a soft ripe berry taste - perfect for a social night where you want to buy a bottle and pop it open within the day. The Bon Cap Syrah (R55) was a mix of fresh fatty bacon, raspberries, mulberries and dark cherries. The shiraz's around this area were all surprisingly fruity, with the meat and spicy sensations often taking a back seat to the fruitiness - so if you are ever buying a Shiraz to go with a braai (as they so often do), I'd be very cautious about buying one from this area at all. The Ruins Syrah/Cab Sauv (R35) was over two-thirds syrah, and although I was surprised to find such a blend here, it seems that it is quite common in this area to blend the two together (probably because this area tends to have very fruity reds). In this wine, the smell of roasted red meats came through, with raisons, black pepper and black currant coming through quite strongly. Other wines include: a sparkling, chardonnay, pinotage rose, another pinotage, a cape blend of pinotage, cab sauv and petit verdot, and a cab sauv.

Next up was Graham Beck wines. Some of you who have been on my mailing list for a while will know that my last experience at Graham Beck in Franschhoek was a very poor one. Well, I was much happier at Robertson's tasting room. While it might not be as shiny and clinical as the Franschhoek tasting room, this was a beautiful farm and tasting room all the same, and still kept many of the same motif's. I was fortunate enough here to taste many more wines than last time, so I will be able to comment more on them. First-off, I feel I should mention that I still highly rate the Graham Beck Brut Rose MCC, and even though it costs R115 a bottle, it still remains, for me, a bottle to be opened upon a special occasion, or when you have some shelled fish, which I can imagine would be so good, you'd probably faint. Sad thing is, they no longer have it available for tasting, so buying a bottle is the only way you'll get to taste this very special bubbly. I did still taste the Brut and the Demi-sec here (R79) which were both good fresh MCC's, although I'd recommend the Demi-Sec more often, since it was very fruity with peach and rose petal fragrances. The Lonehill Chardonnay (R80) was also inviting with the heavy barrel character that I do so love (I like it so heavy that it leaves splinters behind on my tongue!), although the nuttiness came out more, with marzipan and peanuts, as well as butterscotch and honey. From there we moved onto the Pinotage Rose with a unique strawberry and, strangely, chicken skins smell to it - dry and delicious, just the way I like my Rose.

I also enjoyed the Merlot (R64) - with a whafting smell of vanilla, ripe berries on the palate and a lingering aftertaste of chocolate - a soft, smooth red wine. The Old Road Pinotage was interesting with the smell of "vrot" bananas, marzipan, and a slight hint of leather - a bit expensive, and not really worth the cost. The Joshua is a blend of Shiraz and Viognier and another relatively expensive wine - expect liquorice, mocha, prunes, vanilla, perhaps something a bit floral. The William was more accessible to people's wallets at R80 a bottle - a marvellous mix of Cab Sauv with some Pinotage and a splash of Cab Franc. I picked up black currant, dark plums, blackberries, candy floss and mocha. The final wine we had here was the Rhona Muscadel (R50), a very sweet, but not cloying wine with nartjie coming through strongly, but also hints of sweet stone fruit and saltanas.

The final farm of the day was Rooiberg - which is a great place to shop for wine accessories, from all the glass needs you want, to all the other wine gadgets you'd want to buy (hmmm.... maybe I should've asked about a decanter), and a long list of wines to try. The wines here are all very affordable. The Chardonnay Reserve (R32) was a well-balanced wine with pineapple and citrus, but also lanolin, honey and butterscotch coming through. The Cab Sauv Reserve (R42) had everything you could expect in an easier-drinking Cab Sauv - good for a sunday meal - with black currant, mulberry, blackberries, dark chocolate, earthy clay and cedar coming through. The Shiraz (R42) was also interesting with a strong jammy smell, blueberries and cranberries, as well as caramel, mocha and white pepper - another fruity shiraz. The final wine was a red Muscadel (R23) which was also very sweet - cranberries, raspberries, glazed cherries and saltanas in the smell and taste.

That was our first day out in Robertson. We managed to find our way around quite easily and pick up some good maps along the way (which is always helpful). The next day was going to be filled with a whole bunch of big names in the Robertson area, and we spent most of the evening looking through the maps and guides to decide which farms we'd visit during the rest of the week.

You'll hear from me as soon as I can write up the next one!
Val