Beware: Neethlingshof

The farm on today's agenda is Neethlingshof. I must urge caution when tasting at this farm as I was offered 3 oxidised wines (that I picked up), so make sure that the person serving you knows about the wine, and it might be a better idea to go in the afternoon of a busier day (so that you have freshly opened bottles). I, on the other hand, went early on a Monday morning, so I had wines poured for me that were opened days before. Thank Bob I spotted them well before tasting them. The farm has quite a range of wines and a large tasting room that can support groups of people at the same time.

Although they are better-known for their red wines, they also have some interesting whites. The Sauv Blanc (R40) is great value for money - with strong grassy smells, as well as fig leaf, a hint of green pepper and a crisp granny smith apple tang on the palate. They also have an off-dry Gewurztraminer (R40) amongst the whites that they serve. This wine is more complex than the price tag suggests, with litchi, rose petals and a hint of exotic spices - very floral.

I started off the range of reds with the Merlot (R55) which is a merlot worth writing about - while the fruit wasn't particularly high quality, the use of oak was exactly what I enjoy in Merlot, with vanilla, mocha and a smooth chocolate aftertaste, although dark berries did come through, the fruit was smooth and simple. This wine is perfect for sharing with friends at a social evening. The Lord Neethling range is their premium wine range and consists of 5 wines. One of these was the Cab Franc (R95), which was incredibly smooth - possibly the smoothest Cab Franc ex-cellar that I've tasted so far. Incredibly complex with cedar, black berries, vanilla, mocha, caramel, chocolate and light red berries on the palate. The second was the Cab Sauv (R95) with a powerful black currant, black berry backbone and a hint of dried pine needles and a damp earth smell. They have a rather regal blend of Cab Sauv, Franc and Merlot called the Laurentius (R95) which is a bold, serious wine, begging for some bottle maturation. This wine has a pungent dark berry smell with black berry and mulberry coming to the front, and cedar, chocolate, mint and mocha. Open in 5-10 years on a special occassion, like a romantic dinner on your wedding anniversery - where you can spend hours in peaceful contemplative company.

The final wine was the award winning Noble Late Harvest (R85) made from Weisser Reisling. The attack on the nose was led by honey, with dried apricots, peaches, a hint of saltanas and a lingering taste of citrusy orange marmalade. Great level of sweetness and acidity - really well made and well-deserving of praise.

Over the next few weeks I'll be tasting various wines from different farms again, so I'm really looking forward to that. Hopefully I'll have another stack of notes in good detail that I'll be able to share with you.

Cheers!
Val