The House that J.C. Le Roux Built

To celebrate the success of my trips around Robertson, I decided that my first stop back would be a JC LeRoux, as no celebration is complete without a glass of good bubbly. So while I sip down my Almond Grove NLH from Robertson winery, which has opened up just beautifully I might add, I'll write down my experiences of good ol' JC (no, not that JC - this one can only turn grape juice into wine - not water).

Of the bubblies, three really stood out for me, so I'll only talk about those three. The first was the Pinot Noir MCC (R70) which had a mixture of fresh baked bread and yeast smells with an undercurrant of soft pear. It was lively, friendly and crisp - the perfect MCC for someone looking for something special without boaring a hole in their wallet. The next was the Pinot Noir Rose MCC (R94) which had the smell of moldy yeast as well as a good amount of berries on the taste - particularly strawberries and cherries, giving it the illusion of being sweeter than it really was - well-balanced, delicate and delicious. And plus, I've always liked a pink bubbly - it gives it a sense of fun and excitement.

The final MCC and my particular favorite was the Scintilla (R121). It's definitely moving onto the more expensive side of MCC, but it is a hot contender as my favorite MCC, and certainly is in my top 3 of off-the-shelf MCC. The moment you place this bubbly in your mouth, you know you are tasting something special and with freshly baked bread crust smells, an after taste of melons, and a hint of chocolate powder, this larger than life sparkling will make you celebrate the joys of being alive and well. The perfect way to stun people into silence at a party and even the look of the bottle gives it a sense of nobility and opulence.

With the last drop of sweet wine left in my glass, I'll toast to all of you, my readers, who have somehow managed to read this far into my emails... I hope that you all will know the pleasures of good wine and good friends as I have!

Val

Bergsig is nie erg nie

Hi everyone,

Sorry for being rather slow with these things at the moment, but my studies are kicking in to full force, so time has been a bit scarce for staring at words beyond my studies. Today I will write about the very last farm we visited in our trip to Robertson - Bergsig. And, boy, did we have a rather odd incident there. In one of those Pulp Fiction style conversations, we began talking about melons (no, not those kind you sick people), which moved onto eating the seeds of paw-paw - which are surprisingly spicy - try them and see for yourself - and somehow this moved onto a conversation about prickly pear fruit (which have loads of tiny little seeds), and Andre admitted having never eaten prickly pear fruit before - at which point the tasting room attendant says she'll go get us a few... which she did... what are the odds of that??? Geez, don't start working the odds out now... that was a rhetorical question. Moral of the story: Go get some free prickly pears at Bergsig... oh, and eat some paw-paw seeds (apparantly they're good for digestion).

As for the wines in Bergsig, these wines were certainly some of the best value for money wines we came across, as they still managed to have some gems amongst the well-priced wines, specifically the Chardonnay and Cape Vintage Port, but I'm getting ahead of myself. In the whites we tasted a Chenin Blanc (R26,50) with soft summer fruit - a quaffer for the summer (which sparked our conversation). The Sauv Blanc (R32,50) was herbaceous with granny smith apple and a heavy smell of freshly-cut pear coming through - great food wine. The Chardonnay (R47,50) had butterscotch, pear, granadilla and a lovely aftertaste of vanilla - a perfect introduction wine to Chardonnay. The off-dry Gewurztraminer (R32,50) was a great example of this cultivar - and if you are a fan of the German varietal, then this will leave you smiling, with a processed lime (like the sweets) smell, litchi and a perfumed rose petal floral smell, and a wine that just glides down easily - certainly a wine to share with a loved one while talking the night away on the couch. The Rose, made from Shiraz (R27) was quite standard, with candy floss, cranberry and cherry sensations.

The reds included 2 vintages of both Pinotage and Cab Sauv, which were certainly different in style. The 04 Pinotage (R48) had ripe banana smells with light red berries on the palate and a lingering taste of coffee at the back of the tongue, whereas the 05 gave a sweeter sensation with more lucious fruit - candy floss, cherries, vanilla, strawberries and raspberries, and soft plum - much more ready to drink, especially with a light meal.

The Cab Sauv 04 (R48) had a strong fresh, clean leather smell (like I walked into a store that sold leather jackets) with cedar and a smooth black currant on the palate. The 05 was more upfront with it's fruit, with overwhelming black currant and it had a sublime finish of caramel and chocolate... mmmm... another great introduction wine for Cab Sauv that isn't dark and heavy (even though I do enjoy the dark and heavy ones ever so much). From there we went on to a great pizza/pasta wine - the Touriga Nacional, with mushrooms, turkish delight and chocolate - this was bottled under their second label - Bain's Kloof, but for R25 a bottle, it certainly reached super-quaffer status in my eyes. The Icarus red blend (R100) is their flagship wine, with a whole lot of Cab Sauv with solid support from Touriga Nacional and a splash of Shiraz - the Cab Sauv still completely dominated, but it became quite soft and elegant with the help of its friends. Expect loads of berries, with black currant, strawberries and raspberries, but also a bit of cedar to let you know that there is some seriousness in this wine. Many of the red wines are made more in a ready to drink style, so don't feel shy to buy a bottle of it and open it up on the
same night.

Finally, we ended off with the ports. The Cape Ruby Port (R39,50) was delicious with treacle, plum, raisons and strawberry jam - certainly quite unique and superbly valued - well worth buying. Unfortunately I struggled a bit with the Late Bottled Vintage - it was freshly opened and the alcohol was attacking me, and we were a bit rushed at this point - it being well past closing time, so I did the smartest thing I could - which is buy a bottle at R48,50, and keep it until I could open it properly and give it a chance to breathe. What I did manage to pick up was a lovely bit of nuttiness, which promises to go well with blue cheeses. The final port was the Cape Vintage Port (R60) which was also a great cheese port, with whiffs of marzipan and walnuts and a smooth, succulent prune taste. Along with the Chardonnay, the ports are definitely worthy of cellar space.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the email today, and I hope that I'll see some of you at the Cheese Festival this weekend!

Val.

Oppad tot Opstal

Howdy!

The third wine farm within wine spitting distance, we did manage to get a little confused when we entered into restaurant tables with no immediate sight of the tasting room. Fortunately our confusion was short lived as we found our way through the back-door. The Sauv Blanc (R44) was very fruity, with predominant green apples with hints of grass and fig leaf on the senses. The Chenin Blanc (R35) lead to an interesting argument between us, because of its sweet fruitness with sharp acidity - well-balanced, but easily-spotted. It had sweet melon, paw-paw smells on the nose with fruit salad flavours coming through on the palate. This wine is perfectly balanced to accompany food - especially something a bit fattier like a creamy pasta or chicken. The Viognier (R55) was very close to textbook, with peachs, rose petals, orange blossom and a slight spiciness on the palate - they manage to keep it quite dry, but left it with a bit of a high alcohol instead.

The Syrah/Viognier (R55) had more than a dab of Viognier, and so it came out looking very much like Rose. This wine was absolutely gorgeous - with a meaty/mushroom nose, peach, guava, and floral smells, and a lively white pepper on the palate. It was suggested to have this wine chilled, and so I imagine this wine to be an excellent picnic wine - especially with pesto,
cold meats, cheese and freshly baked bread... mmmm... I'm starting to get hungry. The Cab Sauv (R58) was quite typical and ready-to-drink, with black currant, chocolate/mocha flavours and cedar and dark berries on the smell and taste as well. The last wine we tasted here was the Hanepoot (R35) which was laden with honey smells, saltanas and dried fruit sweetness on the
palate - a bit too cloying for my tastes, but if you have a sweet tooth, I suggest that you don't drink this wine, because it'll probably cause your last tooth to rot off 8^)

Well, another day and another entry into the diary of wine.

Val.

Slurring at Slanghoek

Greetings to all you winelovers,

From Jason's Hill we went a little further on to Slanghoek. And with wine this affordable (which seems to be the usual way of things around here), you'll be slurring in no time. Starting with the Chenin Blanc (R17), we picked up pear, canned peaches and sweet melon - certainly a fruit salad mix and good value. The Sauv Blanc (R23) was also an interesting mix of green pepper, fig leaf and grassy qualities with an unmistakable pinch of lemon on the finish, giving it a clean, crisp finish.

Of the reds, I enjoyed the Camerca blend (R20), which is an equal blend of Cab Sauv and Merlot, with strong mocha and cigar box smells and smooth black currant and dark berries on the palate, this wine is ready to drink at night around the braai-place after a satisfying meal. The Shiraz also stood out (R27) with a roasted meat nose and a subtle smoky, freshly opened jar of coffee smell with red berries on the palate alongside some cinnamon, cloves and white pepper - surprisingly complex for such a well-priced wine - although, again, better drink this one now than much later. The Cab Sauv (R29) was also quite deliciously complex with black currants, coffee, blackberry jam, pencil shavings, dried pine needles and fynbos to be found - this one can lay down a while, maybe an extra year or three might do it some service. At such a good price, it may be worth your time to buy a case or three of it and try storing it well to see how it develops (and drink a few bottles of it while you wait).

Finally, we tasted two natural sweet wines, starting with the Creme de Chenin which had some quite unique characters with fresh over-ripe peach and guava smells (like they'd just fallen off the tree and had been baking in the sun for hours), saltanas and dried fruit smells. Certainly very pleasing at R22 a bottle and something I'd easily buy to help convert people to the wonders of wine. The last wine we tasted was the Noble Late Harvest (R95) which is mostly Chenin with a touch of Hanepoot, and certainly was a much more typical sweet dessert wine with honey, dried apricot and peachs dominating the wine.

Catch you all later,
Val

Chasin Thrills at Jason's Hill

Hi everyone,

Next on our list was a farm run by a passionate woman wine-maker who started making wine in true garagiste fashion and has been improving the quality of her wines ever since (this farm has only been producing wines since 2002). It was a lovely sight to see the pumps in action and Ivy rushing around, giving you the sense of a real work in progress. This cellar has a small cozy upstairs bistro that makes awesome well-valued food (certainly the best food we had in the area by miles) - I'd highly recommend anyone to stop there for breakfast while their in the winelands. Nothing like fresh, crisp farmland food to get you going in the morning.

The list is surprisingly long for such a young farm, and so I'll skip a few of their wines along the way. The Chardonnay (R29) had butterscotch, granadilla, lemon and lanolin smells, slightly crisp for a chardonnay, but went down well. The Wooded Chenin (R29) was highly undervalued, with guava, paw-paw, sweet melon fruit in the smell, and a slight lanolin, buttered toastiness lingering on the palate. Well worth the price. The Ivy du Toit white blend of Sauv Blanc, Semillon and Chardonnay (R39) had a very unique smell as well that both me and Andre picked up, but couldn't place our collective fingers on, until we were guided by the tasting assistant to peppadews (to which we smacked ourselves on the forehead, having eaten a huge amount of peppadews the night before). It also had green pepper and a slight cashew nuttiness to it's finish. If you can get your hands on a bottle, do try it out. The recently-added wooded Viognier (R29) was quite typical of it's varietal with floral smells, guava and peach smells giving it a very fragrant nose.

In the Reds, the Pinotage (R29) was exceptionally fruity with blackberry jam and mulberry, and plum and a hint of mocha taking root on your tongue. The Shiraz (R38) was an equally fruity version with cranberry and raspberries flavours, nothing too special, but worthwhile as a simple food-going wine. The Cab Sauv (R39) was very typical and had the three c's - cedar, cassis
and coffee in the smell and taste - again, something to buy for tonights dinner with friends. The final wine was the Ivy Du Toit Pinotage (R49), which had a pungent nose of green bananas, mocha and leather and all the robustness of a pinotage - not something we should've been drinking on a hot summers day.

Unfortunately, their better known Noble Late Harvest was not available for tasting 8'( so this is where this story ends.

Well, my Stellies course starts today, so I've got enough reading to do for a while - raise a glass to my success and you'll hear from me again.

Val.

Worcester Vines and Wines at Du Toitskloof

Du Toitskloof is another farm with a huge range of wines, including many box wines, so we were very selective on what we tasted here. We started by tasting the Reserve Sauv Blanc (R48) which was a G wine - green pepper, fresh cut grass, guava and gooseberry - very enjoyable if you like a slightly tropical style of Sauv Blanc. The Reserve Chardonnay/Viognier (R48) was a very interesting wine that would be perfect for a fruit and spicy chicken pizza, and it was a very fragrant wine with some tropical fruit, freshly cut sweet melon, rose petal and peach with lively white pepper on the palate. It's always great to find a good white wine with a strong spiciness coming through.

We decided to taste a few rarer varietals, starting with the Ruby Cab (just shy of R20), which had quite a bit of barrel (or wood chip/staves) flavours like mocha, cocoa and dark chocolate, with a raspberry, dark cherry bit of fruitiness to it - despite the description, it was a bit sharp and tannic - a wine made without much thought. The next was an Italian varietal (we really should have more Italian varietals growing in SA) called Nebbiolo (R40) - the description mentions violets, but I think that is really grasping at straws. Having tasted this wine a second time at a later tasting, my first impression held through (and was shared). The first sensation I got when smelling this wine was a strong sense of tobacco - particularly like that found in cigarettes. Not surprisingly, someone at the tasting said that the wine gave her a sensation that someone had dropped their cigarette in her glass. That aside, I also picked up the smell of wood chips, cocoa, hazelnuts and fresh fynbos. Definitely needs a lot more work to make it work, but it is something quite different. Next was the Dimension Red - a blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot, Shiraz and a dash of Petit Verdot (R63) and this blend was far more enjoyable, with dark berries, floral and coconut smells, and a lingering taste of milk chocolate - yum!

And wine-tasting always ends nicely with a glass of something sweet - in this case it was a Noble Late Harvest (R42) which is a new addition to their range and completely delicious with fresh peach and granadilla, saltanas and an overwhelming passion fruit - something truly different and special from this estate that does very well with its sweet wines.

Well, I'll return to my port (I love that winter is round the corner... all those ports and red wines are looking very ready for drinking...) I hope you have a good day at work or where-ever you are.

Val.

Two please, Du Preez

Hi!

The next stop for the two of us was Du Preez Estate, which maintains remarkably low prices on all of its wines. Unfortunately my memory is a bit fuzzy on the farm itself, so obviously it didn't impress me much (I blame the haste, the wine, and the poor photographs).

Regardless, we tasted most of the range. We started off with the Sauv Blanc (R25) which had granny smith apple smells along with grass and fig leaf. Good acidity, and very good price. The unwooded Chardonnay (R25) had a heavy smell of guava, along with pineapple and lemon - a simple, easy going wine perfect for a hot summer day. The Polla's Red (R39) is a Pinotage based
blend, with Cab Sauv, Petit Verdot and Shiraz lending it support. The barrel contributed the most, with chocolate and mocha flavors coming through, a slight sawdust quality along with white pepper and red berries on the palate - meant as a food wine, it certainly accomplishes that goal.

The Cab Sauv (R39) was surprisingly delightful, and tasted like it was worth twice what it was actually priced as, with mint, black currants, cranberries, cigar box and chocolate smells, and a smooth fruity palate of mulberry and raspberry. Ready to drink and enjoy, and a surprisingly easy-going Cab. The Shiraz, valued at the same, was nothing special. Roasted pork, blue gum, and white pepper. The Merlot (also R39) was a bit more interesting with those heart-warming coffee and chocolate notes along with ripe red berries on the palate - another good food wine to go alongside a lighter home-cooked lunch.

The Hendrik Lodewyk Petit Verdot (R60) immediately leapt out the glass with strong leather whiffs that slowly succumbed to more fruity smells of darker berries, raspberry jam and black pepper. It needed a while to open up, but it was enjoyable when it did. Not the best Petit Verdot I've had, but worth the price. The final wine was the Hanepoot, valued at R35. With honey, orange and saltanas stepping to the frontlines of your tastebuds, this wine is perfect to go alongside that citrus sponge-cake at desert time.

Well, that's all I got for today.

Keep in good health!
Val

Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Deetlefs

Hello there,

One farm on a day would not do, nohow. Even on a day when we set up camp. Contrariwise we still managed to visit quite a few. And the list of wines at this farm was as long as Tweedledum and Tweedledee's poem (which spanned a good few pages). Funnily enough, the symbol of Deetlefs estate is a key, which is exactly what Alice found once she went down the rabbit hole. And I couldn't help but feel that we had gone down into a magical little world after her and found it filled with beautiful bottles labeled 'Drink me'.

Children's literature aside, we tasted about a dozen different wines here, although we only tasted one of the Familie range (which is their premium range). A real shame about that too, because I would've loved to taste the Semillon/Sauv Blanc blend after tasting each seperately and seeing the potential in blending them. The Sauv Blanc (R50) was tropical and had good fruit flavours as well. The Semillon (R75) was unwooded white suited perfectly for food (specifically a mushroom-sauce pasta) with strong minerality coming through and white pepper and honeycomb (well spotted on the tasting notes) - a pity that it's bit expensive (especially considering it hasn't seen the inside of a barrel). The Chardonnay (R50) was well balanced between barrel flavours and summer fruits. The Weisser Reisling (R50) is another great food wine - again I think it'll go well with creamy pastas with its peach and rose petal smells - although I would like to experiment with it alongside a stir-fry.

From there, we moved onto the reds. We started with the Merlot (R63), and what a place to start, as this merlot was a great example of its varietal, at least for my tastes. Although I have come to appreciate Merlot in its infantlike cherubic beauty with it's fruit-foot forward, this one had pulled all those delicious flavours from the barrel, and it's description reads more like Shiraz than Merlot, with meaty, mushroom smells, black pepper and cloves for spices, a depth of plum on the palate and a delicious dark chocolate, mocha finish. Very well priced as well. The other red wine that really stood out for me was the Cab Sauv (R95). It certainly spanned the range of flavours, with pencil shavings, cedar and black currant smells, a taste of cloves at the back of the tongue and a finish of freshly ground coffee. Serious, dark and inviting.

We tasted two sweet wines, the first which was the Hanepoot (R75) which had that typical muscadel smell, with raisons and dried fruit smells, and an unmistakable taste of prunes. The final was one of the premium wines - the Familie Noble Late Harvest (R300). Well deserving of status above the ordinary, this wine was made from Semillon. The first smells were honey, fresh apricot and peachs, with a bit of dried pear for some added complexity. Needless to say, this had a perfect finish that allowed you to finish a whole bottle without even realising it. A pity to taste a bottle of this while it is so young (2005), as it deserves at least 10 years in the bottle, especially considering its hefty price tag.

Sadly, the MCC (which also goes for R300) was the only one on their list that was sold out - preventing us from celebrating this occassion by shouting out "Champagne" while filling up a glass of bubbly. Sounds quite interesting though, as it's a blend of Chardonnay, Weisser Reisling and Semillon - not something you see everyday.

Well, hopefully next time you are near a bottle of bubbly, you'll think of me, shout "Champagne" and toast to the region that gave us such a remarkable style of wine.

Val.

Das Wine is good ja, in Daschbosch

Hi everyone,

Well, with Robertson behind us, Andre and I decided to move on to Worcester and the nearby farms around Rawsonville. The first farm we visited there was high on our list of must visits - simply because Andre had previously had a food pairing with one of their sweet wines that was simply inspired. The farm was Daschbosch, the wine was the Nectar de Provision White, and the food was a home-baked apple cake. Having had this pairing since then, I can attest to its greatness. Daschbosch came highly recommended to us as a wine farm that has excellent value-for-money wines.

With a large range of wines (from sparkling to dry whites and reds, roses, semi-sweets, dessert wines and fortified wines), any style of wine drinker is catered for. Instead of writing about all of them, I'll select a few that we truly enjoyed. The first was the Chardonnay, which had a buttered toast, citrusy lemon and a firm butterscotch finish - delightful at only R25 a bottle. Certainly an everyday drinker. The Groot Eiland Shiraz/Pinotage (R48) also stood out, mostly because it was a bit of a strange combination that they managed to get right, with a smell of banana medicine, caramel, vanilla, mocha and black pepper, the palate was surprisingly fruity, with a nice complement of berries on the palate.

There are two versions of the Nectar De Provision. The white, which is colombar fortified with brandy, is the one that matches very well with deserts, and with honey, apricots and saltanas on the palate, would you expect anything less of this wine. The Red is made from merlot fortified with brandy, and had the distinctive smell of damp, rotting earth, along with some pleasing smells of candyfloss and strawberries. Either of these goes for R29.50 for a 375ml bottle, so they are well worth buying and trying. Well, after having a heated debate between us on whether one of their wines was off, and just what was wrong with it, we decided to pick up the pace, and move onto the next farm...

...which will be the topic for the next blog.

Val

Everything is Rustic at Rusticus

The last farm we visited on the Friday was probably the single highlight of our entire journey. While it may not have had the best wines we've tasted, the quality was definitely very high, and all this considering the rather antique methods they use in producing the wine. From using old-basket presses to motor-driven destalkers (no electricity), this farm is nothing short of a working museum, and tries to return back to the old fashioned way of producing wine with minimal interference of modern technology.

As the story goes, the wine-maker, Pat Busch, is a collector of old machinery and has been slowly collecting odds and ends from nearby farms. One night, in a somewhat jovial and drunken state, he was having a conversation with a friend of his who happened to be an engineer, and in this conversation he mentioned that he'd just about collected every bit of machinery needed (and once used) to produce wine in the antique fashion. Needless to say, he was challenged to try make wine, and a steep challenge it was, as some of the machinery he had collected was not in working condition. This, however, was not a problem to his friend who was able to fix it with his skills as an engineer. Sure enough, once everything was working, Pat tried his hand at making wine, using the knowledge that he had gained from many of his friends in surrounding wine farms. And the rest is, as they say, history (or living history, as the case may be).

And the wines that are being produced here are nothing short of being special. Without a doubt this place is a must-visit if you are ever in the area. We started off with the Viognier (R70), which did have a bit of an alcholic punch to it, but once it opened up, it had a smell of fresh peachs, gooseberry and lanolin, with guava and buttered toast sensations on the tongue. Definite potential in their recently released and only white wine. Needless to say, this is quite amazing, especially if you begin to imagine the difficulty they must face in one of the warmer wine regions with keeping their white wine cool without the use of modern machinery.

As for the reds, the first one we tasted was the Tilled Earth Red blend (R55) of Cab Sauv, Merlot and Shiraz. Each component in this wine stood out as it was a complex blend of fresh meat, ceder, black currant, plum, dark berries with a heavy mocha/chocolate finish. We followed this with the Pinotage (R45) with green banana, plum, succulent mulberries and white pepper on the palate. This last two red wines were both Shiraz from two different vintages - the 2003 and the limited release 2004. And they were significantly different with the 03 (R45) showing more fruit and the barrel character of mocha, while the o4 (R65) had a very intense pepperiness on the palate, as well as the smell of roasted beef and a whiff of turkish delight to go alongside the dark berries and mocha that was also evident in the older vintage.

Needless to say, this farm left us on a high note for the rest of the evening, and it was a pleasant way to end of our week in Robertson, as the next morning had us travel to the nearby Worcester to set up our camping spot at Ramfest and visit a few other farms in the area.

More on that later,
Val.