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.
No comments:
Post a Comment