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.