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
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Perfection in Paarl
This Wednesday I went out to Paarl to some of my favorite farms. I was suffering from hayfever, thanks to some strong winds, so I wasn't as sharp at times.
The first farm I visited was Fairview, who have opened up a new tasting room, and will soon have an outdoor patio for tasters as well. The Fairview Weisser Reisling was interesting with mineral, flint and floral smells and unripe (slightly green) peach and apricot tastes. The Oom Pagel Semillon (R90) was a fantastic white wine - meant for a special occasion with some more exotic fish, like salmon or kingklip, with notes like honey, vanilla, buttered toast and citrus on the palate. The Fairview Chardonnay was lightly toasted and very fruity, with a little bit of buttered toast, pineapple, processed granadilla and guava - a middle-of-the line white good for occasions when you want to share a glass or two with people of various tastes.
Of the reds, Fairview has a wide range of reds, from the lighter and fruiter, to the dark and intensive. The lighter styles include a Pinotage/Viognier, which is a delightful mixture of banana, vanilla and light red berries that make up a very smooth and creamy wine. There are many medium bodied reds, such as the Cab Franc, which was quite floral (like potpourri), cranberry, white pepper and vanilla, with some woodland tastes (cedar, cigar box). The Pegleg Carignan (a rare varietal in South Africa) had the slightest hint of vanilla, but was filled with dark berries and spices (like Nutmeg, Cloves, and Cinnamon). The Spice Route Mouvedre was exceptionally fruity - especially dark intense fruits like black currant, blue and black-berries, and deep plums. The Primo Pinotage (R110) is one of the best pinotages I've found for lying down and keeping for 10 years. The hostess made a case for it, and I needed very little convincing after looking at it's ruby colour and intensity despite it's age and it's remarkable subtlety and various layers of flavour, ranging from vanilla, light berries (esp. cranberries), butterscotch, milk chocolate and even a slight bit of white and black pepper. A hedonistic wine to buy and enjoy privately. I had three various Shiraz's here - all of which were complex and enjoyable. The Beacon Shiraz is perfect for dark meat/wild poultry, with even a spiced ostrich meat on the nose. The Spice Route Flagship Syrah is a mouth-smacking combination of pork meat, chocolate, vanilla, white pepper, and light fruity red berries (another great Shiraz from the Swartland!) and the Cyril Back Shiraz is great for a pepper steak, with intense black pepper and cloves leaping out the glass and lots of intense dark berries with a whiff of mocha.
The final red wine I had here deserves a paragraph of it's own. To date, still one of my favorite red wines has to be the Spice Route Malabar. It is red blend that varies in it's mixture from year to year and which my research tells me is mostly Shiraz from the Swartland. I've tasted the 2002 and the 2003. Although I'd need to be wealthy to afford buying a bottle at R300 each, it would be a mistake for any wine lover to skip this complex, layered and ultimately throughly engrossing wine. As my hayfever (and thus my sense of smell) was particularly bad at this stage, I took a long time with this wine, and even then, I was still unable to grasp the fullness that this wine has to offer. Admittedly the 2002 I tasted has some of my favorite flavours to find in a wine - that of mushrooms and chocolate, it also had a bit of gamminess/ fresh meat, caramel, cloves and black peppers. 100% YUM!
I'll end off Fairview's note with the Special Late Harvest Viognier, which is a great sweet to buy at R45 a bottle, even though, as a sweet wine, it's nothing extraordinary - filled mostly with a very clean, fresh peach and apricot smell and taste.
I was filled with glee at the prospect of visiting Seidelberg after Fairview, as their Reserve Cab Sauv has always been one of my favorite red wines. Leaving my car sitting out in the sun, I walked across their gardens towards the entrance, noticing that they've built a new outdoor area almost tripling their space for visitors (two new tasting areas in two farms). There were a lot of very loud german tourists around, giving the place a very jovial feel. Again, it was another opportunity to go through a large list of wines, including a Brut MCC made from Chardonnay - and with only a subtle yeastiness and all sorts of citrus holding a lively jazz concert on my tongue, I found the sparkling to be well made and enjoyable. The Sauv Blanc (green pepper, fig leaf and asparagus) and the Chenin Blanc (guava, pineapple, naartjie, lime), which was barely off-dry, were both pretty typical light, delightful summer wines - great for relaxing with in the garden or nature park. The wooded Viognier (R53) is one of the more enjoyable whites here (as I do so love my wooded whites in summer), and is a textbook example of a good Viognier - stone fruit, floral and slightly spicy, with a good-body and creamy feel in the mouth - a wine that will glide down your throat and leave you with hints of it's goodness coming to you hours later, leaving your mind begging for another glass. The Nuance (R29), an off-dry white blend of White Muscadel and Crouchen Blanc (aka Cape Reisling), was surprisingly better than I expected, with floral smells like rose petals, raisons (esp saltanas), golden delicious apples and pears all coming out on the nose and a smooth, easy-going taste - a quaffer for sure, but also good to toss a glassful in a stir-fry to add another dimension to your food, or as an evening drink for people who are looking to relax and talk the hours away. The dry Blanc De Noir (R45) made from Shiraz was smashing, with starking apple being the taste that tackled your taste-buds, but it had terrific floral undertones and a subtle spiceness.
Still, it was the red wines that have always impressed me most in Seidelberg. It was a pity that the lady sitting behind me decided to start chain-smoking at this point, and it took me very little time to decide to move my seat. The Merlot was very fruity, with deep intense berries, and a bit of spiciness, great to go with pasta, but with some bottle age and patience, this Merlot will make excellent company with roast lamb or maybe some stuffed poultry (if I was American - I'd say save this wine for the Thanksgiving turkey). The Reserve Pinotage was a full-bodied red, with three c's on the nose - cloves, cinnamon and cocoa. On the palate the blackberries and rich ripe plum left a long lingering taste that could be enjoyed for a good long while. The Shiraz (R59) would make an excellent braai-wine with dark berries, crushed cloves and black pepper. As for the Reserve Syrah - I found it overpriced at R130 when compared with the other reserve wines here. Before I get onto the Cab Sauv, I'll talk about the Un Deux Trois (so named from the three bourdeux grapes used in its making - Cab Sauv/ Merlot/ Cab Franc) - a serious heavy wine with scents like dried fynbos, cigar box and cocoa giving it depth, but black currant and dark plums giving it a youthful fruitiness. It's not often you find such a serious wine for well-under a hundred, and at R74 a bottle, I wish I had the space to keep this wine - definitely one I'll jot down to buy later. Like a bottle of Vin de Constance, the reserve Cab Sauv (R94) is likely to be a bottle of wine I'd purchase every year. Begging to be laid down to rest for a few years, this intense, deep and brilliant red wine is the wine you pull out when you want the best wine you have to go with a perfectly roasted side of steak. If kept well, I can imagine this wine lasting 10 years in the cellar before reaching it's peak potential, and it is everything you'd expect from a Cab Sauv - black currant, cedar, cigar box, black currant, mocha, and even a hint of raisons/prunes on the after-taste, giving it a superior finish. At this point I fully admit to being biased towards this wine as it fits what I look for in a Cab Sauv to a tee, and as they say - the best wine in the world is the one you like, and I do like... Finishing off my tasting experience here, I had a glass of the Fortified Muscadel (from their second label - De Leuwen Jagt), which had a very fruity port-like nose of raisons, saltanas and fresh prunes.
Just around the corner from Seidelberg was my next stop - Landskroon. A farm that makes very affordable and accessible wine, this is good brand to look out for if you want wine that'll fit into your stringent student budget. The three dry unwooded whites were all very typical of their varietal - from the green smells of the Sauv Blanc, to the tropical, summer fruits in the Chenin and the Chardonnay's peach, pineapple and gooseberry, all of them make delightful summer wines at R25 and under a bottle. These are wines for everyday drinking. It was here that I had a very self-affirming moment. As I had only about an hour to spend before I needed to go off to the next far-away farm of Welgemeend, I was tasting these wines at break-neck speed - afterall, I wanted to taste nearly 20 wines here. When I tasted the Chenin Blanc, I detected a very slight trace of dried cardboard - which signaled an off-wine in my brain. I first asked when the bottle was opened - which was the previous day, so I doubted it was oxidised - my next statement was immediately - well, I think this wine is corked. The attendee tasted it, saw nothing wrong with me, but later admited to 'seeing where I got cardboard from', and went to the office to let one of the more experienced admin people taste the wine, and the verdict returned - Not Guilty of being corked. Somewhat deflated, I continued my tasting. About a half-hour later, the wine maker himself entered the tasting room, declared unequivocally that the wine was corked, with a wry smile on his face, poured the glass out and left in an equal rush (understandably since it they were harvesting their Pinotage that day). Needless to say, I was beaming from ear to ear that I managed to pick up such a slight amount of taint in a very quick moment of tasting, especially on a day where I was already suffering from hayfever and had 30+ wines beforehand - seems like tasting around half a thousand different wines in the span of a month has paid off.
Of the Reds, I started off with the rarely found single varietal Cinsaut - at R22.50 a bottle, it is a very worth-while purchase. A medium-bodied red, this is a red wine that can be drunk in summer without being over-bearing. Light red berries, liquorice and candy floss is what you can expect from this delightful red wine. The cinsaut can also be found in a blend with Shiraz here, and it suddenly becomes more meaty, with mushrooms and plum smells coming out, as well as an superb aftertaste of prunes and fruitcake - a bottle to buy and drink. The Pinotage (R32.50) was a lighter-style of red wine - with the varietal-typical smell of fresh banana, as well as a combination of vanilla, instant milky coffee and plum. The Merlot (R36.50) had exactly the characteristics I enjoy - light red berries (like cranberries) and chocolate - while this was not as full-bodied as I like a red wine to be, it certainly is an every-day drinking red wine for me, and I'll be sure to buy a case of this when winter-time comes. The Paul de Villiers Shiraz (R46) smelt like roasted/braai-meat, maybe a venison, with vanilla, white pepper and cinnamon (sweeter spices) - great to bring to a social braai with your friends and family. The Paul de Villiers Cab Sauv (R48.50) had a rich blackcurrant and prune smell with damp red sand, or clay as the peculiar nose. Not at all my taste in a Cab Sauv, but good value nonetheless. The Paul De Villiers Reserve (R48.50) is half-shiraz, with a good dose of Merlot and bits of Touriga Nacionale (used in ports mostly) and a drop of Cab Sauv. Again, great value for money, drink soon (although a year or two won't hurt) and expect vanilla, dark plum and blueberries. Finally, the Port was a fruity style of port with loads of prunes and raisons just leaping out the glass and dancing around. As a final note - if I was at a bottle store looking for a wine to buy, open, and drink that night, Landskroon would certainly be one of the labels I'd keep an eye out for. They generally make good wines to cook with as well.
Now, after driving around for nearly an hour, and getting no luck at three different farms (Joostenberg, Welgelee and Welgemeend) I got to Simonsvlei - the only farm I hadn't visited before on today's route. I arrived to find out why the other farms were closed - and it's not because it was Ash Wednesday, signalling the start of Lent, but because the power had gone off moments after I had left Landskroon. Fortunately Simonsvlei did have a generator going, so they had minimal power in the tasting room (enough for some lights), but it was also nice walking around and seeing the candles lit everywhere (it made my bathroom experience more interesting). I imagine it would've been quite romantic to have wine tasting by candle light, at least until you try to find the spittoon and accidentily spray wine on the candle (which will either set the place alight, or put the light out - both which would not be good options). This was another farm with a wide range of wines - even if I didn't visit a whole lot of farms today, at least I got a whole lot of tasting done. They have a few ranges of wines here, although I only really tasted two of the ranges - the Hercules Paragon range and the Classic Range. I enjoyed and bought a bottle of the HP Sauv Blanc (R59) with mixed herbs, pepper, fig and even a nuttiness to it - different than I would've expected, but I imagine it would make a great food wine - especially with fish, lightly-fried/grilled, or even a snoek/tuna over a braai. The CR Chardonnay (R27,50) was very lightly wooded and filled with more bitter citrus, like lemon, grapefruit and even lime. They suggest drinking it with oysters (which I think is spot on), smoked meats or fish. The CR Cab Sauv/ Merlot blend (R31) was also an interesting wine, and another I'd use in a good stir-fry, but also good to have with chicken. It had aromas of herbs, plum, blackberry and mushroom - very aromatic. The CR Cab Sauv (R35) was another interesting wine - and I'd say it'd make a good braai-wine as well, especially if you bring a good greek-salad along. It had a variety of smells including mint, cedar and coriander (good for boerewors). The HP version of the Cab Sauv (R79) was all that and more, although it was more elegant and smooth, with a strong dose of vanilla and cinnamon - this wine I'd reserve more for a spit-roast or a steak with a light mint white-sauce. The HP Shiraz is also a meat-wine, with fresh fatty meat on the nose (maybe bacon) and leather - a bit of white pepper and black berries give this wine some extra depth - said to be good with roasted leg of lamb, although I'd personally like to see it combined with roasted pork.
And, I'm afraid, that's it for today. It's good to finally catch up again with my tasting notes. I only have another two months or so available to keep up this life-style of wine-tasting (at least, until someone pays me to do it), so I'm hoping to get a lot more done. I write my Intro to Wine exam next week, so it's going to be a slow wine-tasting week for me as I sit down and study (I'm sure I could already pass the exam, but I'd like to use the time to bulk up on my wine knowledge anyway). Wish me luck anyway (it never hurts to have luck).
Til' next time, raise a glass of good wine for me!
Val
The first farm I visited was Fairview, who have opened up a new tasting room, and will soon have an outdoor patio for tasters as well. The Fairview Weisser Reisling was interesting with mineral, flint and floral smells and unripe (slightly green) peach and apricot tastes. The Oom Pagel Semillon (R90) was a fantastic white wine - meant for a special occasion with some more exotic fish, like salmon or kingklip, with notes like honey, vanilla, buttered toast and citrus on the palate. The Fairview Chardonnay was lightly toasted and very fruity, with a little bit of buttered toast, pineapple, processed granadilla and guava - a middle-of-the line white good for occasions when you want to share a glass or two with people of various tastes.
Of the reds, Fairview has a wide range of reds, from the lighter and fruiter, to the dark and intensive. The lighter styles include a Pinotage/Viognier, which is a delightful mixture of banana, vanilla and light red berries that make up a very smooth and creamy wine. There are many medium bodied reds, such as the Cab Franc, which was quite floral (like potpourri), cranberry, white pepper and vanilla, with some woodland tastes (cedar, cigar box). The Pegleg Carignan (a rare varietal in South Africa) had the slightest hint of vanilla, but was filled with dark berries and spices (like Nutmeg, Cloves, and Cinnamon). The Spice Route Mouvedre was exceptionally fruity - especially dark intense fruits like black currant, blue and black-berries, and deep plums. The Primo Pinotage (R110) is one of the best pinotages I've found for lying down and keeping for 10 years. The hostess made a case for it, and I needed very little convincing after looking at it's ruby colour and intensity despite it's age and it's remarkable subtlety and various layers of flavour, ranging from vanilla, light berries (esp. cranberries), butterscotch, milk chocolate and even a slight bit of white and black pepper. A hedonistic wine to buy and enjoy privately. I had three various Shiraz's here - all of which were complex and enjoyable. The Beacon Shiraz is perfect for dark meat/wild poultry, with even a spiced ostrich meat on the nose. The Spice Route Flagship Syrah is a mouth-smacking combination of pork meat, chocolate, vanilla, white pepper, and light fruity red berries (another great Shiraz from the Swartland!) and the Cyril Back Shiraz is great for a pepper steak, with intense black pepper and cloves leaping out the glass and lots of intense dark berries with a whiff of mocha.
The final red wine I had here deserves a paragraph of it's own. To date, still one of my favorite red wines has to be the Spice Route Malabar. It is red blend that varies in it's mixture from year to year and which my research tells me is mostly Shiraz from the Swartland. I've tasted the 2002 and the 2003. Although I'd need to be wealthy to afford buying a bottle at R300 each, it would be a mistake for any wine lover to skip this complex, layered and ultimately throughly engrossing wine. As my hayfever (and thus my sense of smell) was particularly bad at this stage, I took a long time with this wine, and even then, I was still unable to grasp the fullness that this wine has to offer. Admittedly the 2002 I tasted has some of my favorite flavours to find in a wine - that of mushrooms and chocolate, it also had a bit of gamminess/ fresh meat, caramel, cloves and black peppers. 100% YUM!
I'll end off Fairview's note with the Special Late Harvest Viognier, which is a great sweet to buy at R45 a bottle, even though, as a sweet wine, it's nothing extraordinary - filled mostly with a very clean, fresh peach and apricot smell and taste.
I was filled with glee at the prospect of visiting Seidelberg after Fairview, as their Reserve Cab Sauv has always been one of my favorite red wines. Leaving my car sitting out in the sun, I walked across their gardens towards the entrance, noticing that they've built a new outdoor area almost tripling their space for visitors (two new tasting areas in two farms). There were a lot of very loud german tourists around, giving the place a very jovial feel. Again, it was another opportunity to go through a large list of wines, including a Brut MCC made from Chardonnay - and with only a subtle yeastiness and all sorts of citrus holding a lively jazz concert on my tongue, I found the sparkling to be well made and enjoyable. The Sauv Blanc (green pepper, fig leaf and asparagus) and the Chenin Blanc (guava, pineapple, naartjie, lime), which was barely off-dry, were both pretty typical light, delightful summer wines - great for relaxing with in the garden or nature park. The wooded Viognier (R53) is one of the more enjoyable whites here (as I do so love my wooded whites in summer), and is a textbook example of a good Viognier - stone fruit, floral and slightly spicy, with a good-body and creamy feel in the mouth - a wine that will glide down your throat and leave you with hints of it's goodness coming to you hours later, leaving your mind begging for another glass. The Nuance (R29), an off-dry white blend of White Muscadel and Crouchen Blanc (aka Cape Reisling), was surprisingly better than I expected, with floral smells like rose petals, raisons (esp saltanas), golden delicious apples and pears all coming out on the nose and a smooth, easy-going taste - a quaffer for sure, but also good to toss a glassful in a stir-fry to add another dimension to your food, or as an evening drink for people who are looking to relax and talk the hours away. The dry Blanc De Noir (R45) made from Shiraz was smashing, with starking apple being the taste that tackled your taste-buds, but it had terrific floral undertones and a subtle spiceness.
Still, it was the red wines that have always impressed me most in Seidelberg. It was a pity that the lady sitting behind me decided to start chain-smoking at this point, and it took me very little time to decide to move my seat. The Merlot was very fruity, with deep intense berries, and a bit of spiciness, great to go with pasta, but with some bottle age and patience, this Merlot will make excellent company with roast lamb or maybe some stuffed poultry (if I was American - I'd say save this wine for the Thanksgiving turkey). The Reserve Pinotage was a full-bodied red, with three c's on the nose - cloves, cinnamon and cocoa. On the palate the blackberries and rich ripe plum left a long lingering taste that could be enjoyed for a good long while. The Shiraz (R59) would make an excellent braai-wine with dark berries, crushed cloves and black pepper. As for the Reserve Syrah - I found it overpriced at R130 when compared with the other reserve wines here. Before I get onto the Cab Sauv, I'll talk about the Un Deux Trois (so named from the three bourdeux grapes used in its making - Cab Sauv/ Merlot/ Cab Franc) - a serious heavy wine with scents like dried fynbos, cigar box and cocoa giving it depth, but black currant and dark plums giving it a youthful fruitiness. It's not often you find such a serious wine for well-under a hundred, and at R74 a bottle, I wish I had the space to keep this wine - definitely one I'll jot down to buy later. Like a bottle of Vin de Constance, the reserve Cab Sauv (R94) is likely to be a bottle of wine I'd purchase every year. Begging to be laid down to rest for a few years, this intense, deep and brilliant red wine is the wine you pull out when you want the best wine you have to go with a perfectly roasted side of steak. If kept well, I can imagine this wine lasting 10 years in the cellar before reaching it's peak potential, and it is everything you'd expect from a Cab Sauv - black currant, cedar, cigar box, black currant, mocha, and even a hint of raisons/prunes on the after-taste, giving it a superior finish. At this point I fully admit to being biased towards this wine as it fits what I look for in a Cab Sauv to a tee, and as they say - the best wine in the world is the one you like, and I do like... Finishing off my tasting experience here, I had a glass of the Fortified Muscadel (from their second label - De Leuwen Jagt), which had a very fruity port-like nose of raisons, saltanas and fresh prunes.
Just around the corner from Seidelberg was my next stop - Landskroon. A farm that makes very affordable and accessible wine, this is good brand to look out for if you want wine that'll fit into your stringent student budget. The three dry unwooded whites were all very typical of their varietal - from the green smells of the Sauv Blanc, to the tropical, summer fruits in the Chenin and the Chardonnay's peach, pineapple and gooseberry, all of them make delightful summer wines at R25 and under a bottle. These are wines for everyday drinking. It was here that I had a very self-affirming moment. As I had only about an hour to spend before I needed to go off to the next far-away farm of Welgemeend, I was tasting these wines at break-neck speed - afterall, I wanted to taste nearly 20 wines here. When I tasted the Chenin Blanc, I detected a very slight trace of dried cardboard - which signaled an off-wine in my brain. I first asked when the bottle was opened - which was the previous day, so I doubted it was oxidised - my next statement was immediately - well, I think this wine is corked. The attendee tasted it, saw nothing wrong with me, but later admited to 'seeing where I got cardboard from', and went to the office to let one of the more experienced admin people taste the wine, and the verdict returned - Not Guilty of being corked. Somewhat deflated, I continued my tasting. About a half-hour later, the wine maker himself entered the tasting room, declared unequivocally that the wine was corked, with a wry smile on his face, poured the glass out and left in an equal rush (understandably since it they were harvesting their Pinotage that day). Needless to say, I was beaming from ear to ear that I managed to pick up such a slight amount of taint in a very quick moment of tasting, especially on a day where I was already suffering from hayfever and had 30+ wines beforehand - seems like tasting around half a thousand different wines in the span of a month has paid off.
Of the Reds, I started off with the rarely found single varietal Cinsaut - at R22.50 a bottle, it is a very worth-while purchase. A medium-bodied red, this is a red wine that can be drunk in summer without being over-bearing. Light red berries, liquorice and candy floss is what you can expect from this delightful red wine. The cinsaut can also be found in a blend with Shiraz here, and it suddenly becomes more meaty, with mushrooms and plum smells coming out, as well as an superb aftertaste of prunes and fruitcake - a bottle to buy and drink. The Pinotage (R32.50) was a lighter-style of red wine - with the varietal-typical smell of fresh banana, as well as a combination of vanilla, instant milky coffee and plum. The Merlot (R36.50) had exactly the characteristics I enjoy - light red berries (like cranberries) and chocolate - while this was not as full-bodied as I like a red wine to be, it certainly is an every-day drinking red wine for me, and I'll be sure to buy a case of this when winter-time comes. The Paul de Villiers Shiraz (R46) smelt like roasted/braai-meat, maybe a venison, with vanilla, white pepper and cinnamon (sweeter spices) - great to bring to a social braai with your friends and family. The Paul de Villiers Cab Sauv (R48.50) had a rich blackcurrant and prune smell with damp red sand, or clay as the peculiar nose. Not at all my taste in a Cab Sauv, but good value nonetheless. The Paul De Villiers Reserve (R48.50) is half-shiraz, with a good dose of Merlot and bits of Touriga Nacionale (used in ports mostly) and a drop of Cab Sauv. Again, great value for money, drink soon (although a year or two won't hurt) and expect vanilla, dark plum and blueberries. Finally, the Port was a fruity style of port with loads of prunes and raisons just leaping out the glass and dancing around. As a final note - if I was at a bottle store looking for a wine to buy, open, and drink that night, Landskroon would certainly be one of the labels I'd keep an eye out for. They generally make good wines to cook with as well.
Now, after driving around for nearly an hour, and getting no luck at three different farms (Joostenberg, Welgelee and Welgemeend) I got to Simonsvlei - the only farm I hadn't visited before on today's route. I arrived to find out why the other farms were closed - and it's not because it was Ash Wednesday, signalling the start of Lent, but because the power had gone off moments after I had left Landskroon. Fortunately Simonsvlei did have a generator going, so they had minimal power in the tasting room (enough for some lights), but it was also nice walking around and seeing the candles lit everywhere (it made my bathroom experience more interesting). I imagine it would've been quite romantic to have wine tasting by candle light, at least until you try to find the spittoon and accidentily spray wine on the candle (which will either set the place alight, or put the light out - both which would not be good options). This was another farm with a wide range of wines - even if I didn't visit a whole lot of farms today, at least I got a whole lot of tasting done. They have a few ranges of wines here, although I only really tasted two of the ranges - the Hercules Paragon range and the Classic Range. I enjoyed and bought a bottle of the HP Sauv Blanc (R59) with mixed herbs, pepper, fig and even a nuttiness to it - different than I would've expected, but I imagine it would make a great food wine - especially with fish, lightly-fried/grilled, or even a snoek/tuna over a braai. The CR Chardonnay (R27,50) was very lightly wooded and filled with more bitter citrus, like lemon, grapefruit and even lime. They suggest drinking it with oysters (which I think is spot on), smoked meats or fish. The CR Cab Sauv/ Merlot blend (R31) was also an interesting wine, and another I'd use in a good stir-fry, but also good to have with chicken. It had aromas of herbs, plum, blackberry and mushroom - very aromatic. The CR Cab Sauv (R35) was another interesting wine - and I'd say it'd make a good braai-wine as well, especially if you bring a good greek-salad along. It had a variety of smells including mint, cedar and coriander (good for boerewors). The HP version of the Cab Sauv (R79) was all that and more, although it was more elegant and smooth, with a strong dose of vanilla and cinnamon - this wine I'd reserve more for a spit-roast or a steak with a light mint white-sauce. The HP Shiraz is also a meat-wine, with fresh fatty meat on the nose (maybe bacon) and leather - a bit of white pepper and black berries give this wine some extra depth - said to be good with roasted leg of lamb, although I'd personally like to see it combined with roasted pork.
And, I'm afraid, that's it for today. It's good to finally catch up again with my tasting notes. I only have another two months or so available to keep up this life-style of wine-tasting (at least, until someone pays me to do it), so I'm hoping to get a lot more done. I write my Intro to Wine exam next week, so it's going to be a slow wine-tasting week for me as I sit down and study (I'm sure I could already pass the exam, but I'd like to use the time to bulk up on my wine knowledge anyway). Wish me luck anyway (it never hurts to have luck).
Til' next time, raise a glass of good wine for me!
Val
Here in Helshoogte
Hi everyone,
Due to some bad planning on my behalf, I ended up going to this area only on Wednesday. I've already booked accomodation and organised transport to go wine tasting in Robertson for almost the whole of next week, so it's gonna be a while before I get a chance to write an exceptionally long email about all the farms there. I'm considering taking a second book, just so that I can write down some of the details to help me remember - but I'm sure enough pics will help my memory out too.
On todays list of farms, I managed to only visit 6 farms (disappointing I know :) and I ended earlier than usual. The first farm I visited was Rustenberg. Perhaps a farm more well known for its cows than its grapes, it is a very picturesque farm to visit with a very interesting shiny tasting room. Unfortunately the tasting room did have a smell of musty,moldy cardboard, which is a definite fashion no-no (since that's the typical smell of a corked wine). As for the wines... well, you'll just have to taste them for yourself... Oh, ok, I'll guess I'll tell you about them (geez, you didn't have to keep nagging me about it).
From the Brampton range, I started off with the Sauv Blanc (R38), with loads of freshly cut grass, greenpepper and gooseberry, this Sauv has a good high acidity, giving it a clean, clear finish. I must admit, fans of Sauv Blanc are certainly not at a loss for finding good Sauv Blanc these days. Unfortunately they didn't have any chenin for tasting, so I moved onto the unwooded Chard. Again, a high acidity leading to a crisp finish, I got a very different experience from this wine than the tasting notes (which suggest pears, peachs, melon and ginger). I instead got much more citrus - peach was a given, but lemons, pineapple and nartjie was apparant to me. Then again, after my next wine (the Viognier) I began to wonder if my nose was up to scratch today. A deliciously wooded Viognier (R48) the first smell I picked up was, strangely enough, mushroom - which is certainly not a white wine smell, but is a smell I pick up extremely well (as I cook a lot with mushrooms). That aside it had floral-perfumed smells, as is typical of Viognier, with some added peachs, white pepper, and a hint of orange peel - very much a showcase wine to open up and enjoy with people who are fans of wooded whites (like me). Changing over to pink wine, the Rose (R30) is made from a huge range of reds (5 different reds), and for some strange reason, with all this variety in, well, varietals, they still decided to stick with strawberries, cherries and rose petals... it's like an eskimo who has won the home make-over award, and can have a house built from anything he wants, but still chooses packed snow... Ok, it was a little more complex than that, I did pick up a hint of instant coffee as well, and there certainly was more there for the finding.
I started off the reds with the OVR - old vines red - blend of Cab Sauv, Shiraz and Merlot (with the equivalent of a single drop of Cab Franc and Petit Verdot in each glass). I'm glad I relied on my own senses here, because it appears the attendee gave me the completely wrong info on the blend of this wine. I picked up on the fresh shoe leather (especially on the aftertaste, which was quite off-putting), and the filter coffee, with a backbone of blue and rasp-berry. Next was the meaty Merlot (R38), which would make a good table wine for a function - with a range of berries, from the very light, sweet and fruity cranberry, to black berries and dark cherries, as well as fynbos and a hint of milk chocolate, this merlot really runs the gambit and seems to be a little wild and unfocused. The Cab Sauv (R48) had a little bit of merlot and cab franc in it, and it is a great value-for-money Cab, with black currant, vanilla, mocha, milk chocolate, mulberries and other dark berries - definitely worth buying a bottle, opening and drinking now (it'll surprise you to find wine of this quality for such a low price). Next up came the John X Merrimen (R115) blend - which is a wine that should go straight into the cellar. Needless to say, it's got superb potential - with all five bourdeaux varietals! Expect dark berries, black currant, mocha, pencil shavings, cigar box, and cherry tobacco. Keep it safe for at least five years, and you'll be in for a treat. And to end things off with a bang, I had their traditional port - with Tinta Barocca, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacionale. Fruit cake, dried prunes and raisons, but still a delightful bite of walnuts/pecan nuts and incredibly velvety.
From there, I moved to the tasting room at Delaire. High up on the hills, and with a commanding view of the area, this is a beautiful farm to visit - take a picnic basket or buy a cheese platter there and enjoy the outdoor sunshine on the lawn or on a bench, while enjoying a wine or two. It appears that there is a new tasting room under construction here, which, in my opinion, may be a shame, as the farm very much reminds me of a quaint little lodge, kind of like a chalot. The new tasting room is probably going to follow the example of the nearby farms and transform into a shiny new modernised tasting room. Of the 5 wines I had there, I started with the Sauv Blanc (R59), which was filled with apples, clean, canned peas, and a hint of gooseberry and green pepper. The unwooded Chardonnay had golden delicious apple (maybe pear) peach, nartjie, granadilla and a hint of grapefruit. The wooded version (R69) was another yummy example of what I like in a Chard. Not as overpowering as the Durbanville Hills Rhinofields I commented on the other day, it had some very similar characteristics - butterscotch, a hint of vanilla, macadamian & brazil nut, lemon and grapefruit - another wine that a fan of a wooded white would love. The first red on my list was a merlot (R39), which is definitely closer to my style of merlot (except for a little too much tannin) - filter coffee, dark chocolate, spearmint, fynbos, dark plum and dark berries - a good use of wood - and ridiculously cheap. The final wine was the red blend called "Driven by Cab". Mostly Cab Sauv, but with some merlot and cab franc giving it a bit of complexity, this wine has a range of smells and flavours, including saddle leather, pencil shavings, cedar, black currant, mulberry, and a hint of mocha and spearmint. All in all, a marvellous farm to visit with some very affordable wines.
From Delaire you could see my next stop, Tokara. With a huge range and free tastings (for everything except the brandy), this is a great spot for students to go to (or people on a tight budget). It is a beautifully modern tasting room (it's so shiny), and they also have olives and olive oil for tasting as well as making dark chocolate, and various bits of art for display - definitely the kind of place I can imagine taking corporate business people to. They have 3 Sauvignon Blancs - the Zondernaam, the Walker Bay, and the Elgin. The Zondernaam is their second label and their everyday drinking range. The Zondernaam isn't as full or crisp as the other two, and the Walker Bay had to be the one which I prefered - with canned peas, fresh-cut grass, asparagus and a pleasing clean, crisp mineral finish (which is a crisp finish I can enjoy). I enjoyed the ZN Chenin (R50), which is slightly wooded, and has a hint of fennel/aniseed, as well as stoned fruit (peach/apricot) and buttered toast, not the best value for money wooded Chenin I've found, but still worthwhile. The Tokara White is a blend of Sauv with some wooded Semillon - an expensive wine at R125, but I can't fault it on quality - tinned peas, minerality, slight vanilla, and some golden fruit flavours like gooseberry, pineapple and granadilla. Well worth tasting. The 2 Chardonnays were very different in style - the ZN was very fruity with peach, pineapple and lemon grass, wheras the Tokara was a fuller-bodied Chardonnay with buttered toast, butterscotch and a citrus, lemon zest to it. The ZN Shiraz was very fruity with light red berries and black currant, but also a hint of fresh meat. The ZN Cab Sauv (R62) had a whole range of woodland smells, tobacco, cigar box, cedar, dried pine needles, but also some superb fruitiness with black currant and blue berries, well worth buying a bottle to open and enjoy on a cool winter's evening. The Tokara Red 2003 is a bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv and Petit Verdot - remarkably complex (and expensive) with rich intense red berries (maybe that's why it's expensive), mocha, dark chocolate, and fresh woodland smells. A bottle to be laid down for a few years, then opened up and drunk with an expensive meal. By the way, did I mention it was expensive... well, in case I didn't, it's expensive (R150). They have the Tokara Red 2004 available for tasting as well, which is also a bordeaux blend, but this time it's based on Cab Sauv, with Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cab Franc giving it a whole lot of support. Personally I prefered the 2003, since this was even more expensive (I did mention the last one was expensive, didn't I?) at R180, this one struggled to get away from it's Cab Sauv inheritance - with cedar, mocha, black currant and dark berries as part of its legacy. The final thing I tasted there was the 5 year potstill brandy (R300). As I'm utterly useless when it comes to smelling and tasting brandy, I'll give you a rundown of what they say you'll find in the brandy - which is incredibly complex - dried fig, peach, raison, pot-pourri, saffron, spicy pepper, vanilla, jasmine and orange blossom. I'll fully admit that this is only the second brandy I've come across that I could actually imagine buying (looking at it in hindsight) as it had a perfect, smooth and lingering aftertaste and I could pick up an strong, unmistakeable flavour of oranges. Hopefully, after my trip to Robertson, I'll not only be able to appreciate brandies more than I do now, but I'll also find more that I do enjoy.
Just up the road was my find of the day, Thelema. The reason why is because they had the most unique wines of the day (while still being very enjoyable, unlike the uniqueness of Zorgvliet, which I'll mention later). The tasting room is also a modern looking tasting room, with a great balcony area, perfect for taking a group of friends for a relaxing afternoon, and a lovely indoor fireplace to keep the room warm during winter, and designed to make sure that the fire-smoke won't ruin your ability to smell the wines. Of the wines, the Sutherland Sauv Blanc (which originates from Elgin), was quite unique with strong watermelon smells as well as grassy and apple smells. The unwooded Sutherland Chardonnay was filled with citrus notes, especially lime and pineapple. There was two wooded Chardonnay, still had the similar tropical citrus notes that the unwooded had, except that it was a slightly more processed smell like a grated lemon/lime/orange peel and of course, for the obvious smell of buttered toast. The white that took me by complete surprise here was the Ed's Reserve Chardonnay (R75). This is a wine I'd struggle to describe, and I suggest tasting it yourself if you know your wines well. I picked up orange peel (almost like a bathroom spray) and a bit of a floral smell, with the pineapple, granadilla and a soft buttered toast smell coming through. This white wine is excellently balanced between fruit and oak and a superior finish - a wine that I would label as dangerous - as you could accidentily finish a bottle of it on your own without realising. The final white wine I tasted here was the off-dry Sutherland Rhine Riesling (also from the Elgin area) which had a floral nose, but also contained some summer citrus fruit smells and no minerality at all to it - all the attractive smells you could want in a Rhine Riesling for only R45 a bottle - and I would love to see this as a sweet wine.
The red wines at this farm gave me equal pause as some were quite outside of what you would normally experience. The Pinotage (R45) is a real bargain, with banana peel, coffee, dark berries, and a smell of sweaty leather (it even tasted a bit like licking a car seat) - however it was only a slight hint of it on the aftertaste, so hardly off-putting. From there I moved on to the Mountain Red which is a Cab sauv-driven blend with Shiraz, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot. It was also quite unique with red berries, prunes, raisons, cedar and a processed meat (like marmite) smell. This is more of a tasting wine for a late winter's evening, or an intellectual social event like a debate, auction or award ceremony. The Merlot Reserve (R225) was an exceptionally well made Merlot, since it is one that is capable of putting alongside some of the best roasted beef or venison you can find, and it will still shine. A pity it is so expensive, but with the selection process and very small quantity of it available, it makes perfectly good sense, as this is a wine meant for only the best of occasions. This merlot has a lovely meaty nose, with peppermint and a dark plum gently caressing your sense of smell and a strong backbone of mocha and dark chocolate to give it a depth of character few Merlots achieve. A sterling example. I moved on to the two Shirazs - The Arumdale Shiraz (also from Elgin) was filled with smells like fresh meat, vanilla, white pepper and dark rotting plum and berries. The Thelema Shiraz, on the other hand, had more of the barrel's vanilla coming through with candy floss, prune, plum and white pepper and a dark, deep, rich body and long finish. The last three red's were all Cab Sauv's. The Arumdale (R90) was a more typical fruity Cab with black currant, raisons and mulberry/blueberry/blackberry on the palate, but a bit of mintiness was definitely there along with cedar and cigar box smells. Another good wine to have with food. The Thelema opened up with a smell of fresh meat, although that did pass in moments, and soon the smell was replaced with all the woodland smells I associate with Cab's, cigar box, pencil shavings, and dry pine needles, which came out as mocha on the taste mixed with ripe black currant. The final wine here was "The Mint" Cabernet Sauvignon (R180). While I've definitely tasted far more minty wines than this, the taste and smell of spearming is very powerful in this wine - mixed in with dark chocolate and black currant, this wine has the ability to make people weep and reminds me of a good dark chocolate with mint and raisons. This is a wine I can easily imagine people jealously guarding, although others may completely hate it (we have a name for those people - 'insane').
That was the end of the good part of my trip - and things pretty much went downhill from there. The next farm I visited was Camberley - which was largely disappointing, though not through any major fault of their own. Unfortunately, their attendee has temporarily left for a week, and so the wines were served in very poor condition. To begin with, the glasses looked pretty disgusting, and I started off being served by a farm hand (and told that I could pour the wine for myself, because he had no clue how tastings worked) and the wine was served far too warm, having not been cooled at all (a huge let-down on such a hot day). Although my comments are pretty scathing of this farm, I completely understand (and actually pity) the poor state the tasting room was in. Unfortunately, because of this, my comments on the farm and its wines will not really be accurate enough to be worth sharing. All I can say, is that the wines were a bit on the expensive side, the tasting room gives you a definite sense of pride (even though at the moment it's a bit run-down) and the winemaker, who came in half-way through my tasting, is a very friendly, social person, well worth meeting and talking to. What I can say of the wines is this: The pinotage is a very robust, new-world style of red, which means very punchy over-powering smells that grab you by the nose, and the port is quite fruity, but still retains a bit of nuttiness. I will revisit this farm sometime in the distant future, and then I'll give a proper write-up of it's wines.
The last farm of the voyage was Zorgvliet. Arriving there to the sound of dozens of Americans talking amongst each other, this farm looked quite popular. The farm didn't particularly stand out for me, except for the friendly and helpful attendee, who was obviously interested in promoting wine by being socialable to people (which is great for taking groups of people). As for the wines, all 3 of the Sauv Blancs were sold out, so I moved straight onto the Silvermyn Viognier (R69), which is 50% wooded. This was a tasty wine and a perfect textbook example of viognier, with a floral nose, lime, lanolin, peach, apricot, spiciness, and even kiwi (which I don't think I've ever used as a descriptor for anything other than a Gewurz) - delightful and great to showcase this varietal. The SM Chardonnay was almost entirely unwooded, with stone fruit and granadilla, and the lightest hint of butterscotch. A neither here-nor-there wine, suitable to buy for a summer day to share, when you know that people will have differing tastes in wine and want a decent table wine. The Silvermyn white bordeaux blend was a mixture of Sauv Blanc and Semillon, and called, you guessed it White. Yes, I sat there for a moment going, "Bordeaux has a white blend?" since it's not that often you come across them - although it only took me a moment to click what the hell they were talking about. Still, the Sauv Blanc definitely overpowered the Semillon, with green pepper, fresh-cut grass and green apples (geez, I should really cut-and-paste this description for Sauv Blanc by now), although the acid wasn't as sharp, and it did have a pleasing, clean mineral finish (well, pleasing for me, cos I like that Sauv taste to be gone as soon as possible :)
Onto their long, long range of Red wine. I had very mixed feelings about the reds here. Some were very enjoyable, others just seemed like ordinary every-day plonk - which I *hate* to use to describe any SA wine. Starting at the heart-break wine of Pinot Noir (R85), I was pleased with this wine, and not only because it was under R100 a bottle, but also because it had some very pleasing tastes and was a medium-bodied pinot. It had black currant, cranberry, milk chocolate, mocha and candy floss. The SM Cab Franc was not my taste of red wine, with stewed fruit, prunes and leather (almost an old, tawny style). The Le Pommier Cab Franc (R55) was cheaper and, in my opinion, better, as it had more fresh fruity smells like dark berries, black pepper, cinnamon and cloves with a hint of stewed fruit. The SM Merlot/Cab Franc blend was a mixture of dark berries and prune with more stewed fruit... disappointing. I was looking forward to the next wine - the Petit Verdot (R85), which is the wine to add when you want to add some colour and fruit to a blend (and your lips and teeth when you drink it!) I enjoyed this Petit Verdot, with blackberry/blueberry jam quality to it, which was 100% Yum! Perfect to go with a tomato-based pasta/pizza, especially if it has some high-quality olives. The Zorgvliet Shiraz (R150) was also disappointing - I think the wine maker has something about stewed fruit, a taste which I personally dislike in wines (but which I find lovely in a port). It had dark red berries, stewed fruit, pepper (couldn't really tell if it was white or black, but it was spicy) and cloves. They have 4 Cab Sauvs available - the SM was very fruity with only a bit of cherry tobacco giving it a bit of woodland characters. The Le Pommier also had the typical Cab Sauv fruitiness except for a bit of fynbos and, maybe a blue gum, maybe a lavender smell to it. The Zorgvliet was more pleasing with mocha and pine cones adding some complexity to the typical black currant fruit. Overall, though, it was the Le Pommier Cab Sauv Reserve (R60) which impressed me the most of the Cab Sauvs. Cheaper than the other ranges Cab Sauv's this one had the complexity that the others lacked. While it may not age as well as the others (although I wouldn't say that the others are even worth keeping that long), this Cab Sauv is meant to be drunk sooner rather than later. It had a more unique nose to it, with the typical black currant and black berry, a delightful spiciness of a ground black pepper, cloves, but also a very farmyard smell, almost manure, but also sheepskin. Yes, manure... I did say that as a positive thing... what... it's unique... At least it faded into the sheepskin smell pretty quickly. Oh, and if you do go to this farm (and god knows why you would) at least mention that you want to learn more about wine and be inquisitive about the wines - if you're not in too large a group, they'll probably let you get away with paying a tasting fee at all - a great tip for students or people on a tight budget. Needless to say, I'm sure I'll look for one of these wines on a shopping shelf somewhere, buy it and try it, just to see if I really do hate it as much as I did when I was there.
Well, that's all for today. You can go about your normal everyday life now. Goodbye. Cheers. Ta-ta now. Fair-thee-well. God-speed (thats 180km/hour). Until later. See you soon. Ciao. Erm... yes, you! You can go now.
Val.
Due to some bad planning on my behalf, I ended up going to this area only on Wednesday. I've already booked accomodation and organised transport to go wine tasting in Robertson for almost the whole of next week, so it's gonna be a while before I get a chance to write an exceptionally long email about all the farms there. I'm considering taking a second book, just so that I can write down some of the details to help me remember - but I'm sure enough pics will help my memory out too.
On todays list of farms, I managed to only visit 6 farms (disappointing I know :) and I ended earlier than usual. The first farm I visited was Rustenberg. Perhaps a farm more well known for its cows than its grapes, it is a very picturesque farm to visit with a very interesting shiny tasting room. Unfortunately the tasting room did have a smell of musty,moldy cardboard, which is a definite fashion no-no (since that's the typical smell of a corked wine). As for the wines... well, you'll just have to taste them for yourself... Oh, ok, I'll guess I'll tell you about them (geez, you didn't have to keep nagging me about it).
From the Brampton range, I started off with the Sauv Blanc (R38), with loads of freshly cut grass, greenpepper and gooseberry, this Sauv has a good high acidity, giving it a clean, clear finish. I must admit, fans of Sauv Blanc are certainly not at a loss for finding good Sauv Blanc these days. Unfortunately they didn't have any chenin for tasting, so I moved onto the unwooded Chard. Again, a high acidity leading to a crisp finish, I got a very different experience from this wine than the tasting notes (which suggest pears, peachs, melon and ginger). I instead got much more citrus - peach was a given, but lemons, pineapple and nartjie was apparant to me. Then again, after my next wine (the Viognier) I began to wonder if my nose was up to scratch today. A deliciously wooded Viognier (R48) the first smell I picked up was, strangely enough, mushroom - which is certainly not a white wine smell, but is a smell I pick up extremely well (as I cook a lot with mushrooms). That aside it had floral-perfumed smells, as is typical of Viognier, with some added peachs, white pepper, and a hint of orange peel - very much a showcase wine to open up and enjoy with people who are fans of wooded whites (like me). Changing over to pink wine, the Rose (R30) is made from a huge range of reds (5 different reds), and for some strange reason, with all this variety in, well, varietals, they still decided to stick with strawberries, cherries and rose petals... it's like an eskimo who has won the home make-over award, and can have a house built from anything he wants, but still chooses packed snow... Ok, it was a little more complex than that, I did pick up a hint of instant coffee as well, and there certainly was more there for the finding.
I started off the reds with the OVR - old vines red - blend of Cab Sauv, Shiraz and Merlot (with the equivalent of a single drop of Cab Franc and Petit Verdot in each glass). I'm glad I relied on my own senses here, because it appears the attendee gave me the completely wrong info on the blend of this wine. I picked up on the fresh shoe leather (especially on the aftertaste, which was quite off-putting), and the filter coffee, with a backbone of blue and rasp-berry. Next was the meaty Merlot (R38), which would make a good table wine for a function - with a range of berries, from the very light, sweet and fruity cranberry, to black berries and dark cherries, as well as fynbos and a hint of milk chocolate, this merlot really runs the gambit and seems to be a little wild and unfocused. The Cab Sauv (R48) had a little bit of merlot and cab franc in it, and it is a great value-for-money Cab, with black currant, vanilla, mocha, milk chocolate, mulberries and other dark berries - definitely worth buying a bottle, opening and drinking now (it'll surprise you to find wine of this quality for such a low price). Next up came the John X Merrimen (R115) blend - which is a wine that should go straight into the cellar. Needless to say, it's got superb potential - with all five bourdeaux varietals! Expect dark berries, black currant, mocha, pencil shavings, cigar box, and cherry tobacco. Keep it safe for at least five years, and you'll be in for a treat. And to end things off with a bang, I had their traditional port - with Tinta Barocca, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacionale. Fruit cake, dried prunes and raisons, but still a delightful bite of walnuts/pecan nuts and incredibly velvety.
From there, I moved to the tasting room at Delaire. High up on the hills, and with a commanding view of the area, this is a beautiful farm to visit - take a picnic basket or buy a cheese platter there and enjoy the outdoor sunshine on the lawn or on a bench, while enjoying a wine or two. It appears that there is a new tasting room under construction here, which, in my opinion, may be a shame, as the farm very much reminds me of a quaint little lodge, kind of like a chalot. The new tasting room is probably going to follow the example of the nearby farms and transform into a shiny new modernised tasting room. Of the 5 wines I had there, I started with the Sauv Blanc (R59), which was filled with apples, clean, canned peas, and a hint of gooseberry and green pepper. The unwooded Chardonnay had golden delicious apple (maybe pear) peach, nartjie, granadilla and a hint of grapefruit. The wooded version (R69) was another yummy example of what I like in a Chard. Not as overpowering as the Durbanville Hills Rhinofields I commented on the other day, it had some very similar characteristics - butterscotch, a hint of vanilla, macadamian & brazil nut, lemon and grapefruit - another wine that a fan of a wooded white would love. The first red on my list was a merlot (R39), which is definitely closer to my style of merlot (except for a little too much tannin) - filter coffee, dark chocolate, spearmint, fynbos, dark plum and dark berries - a good use of wood - and ridiculously cheap. The final wine was the red blend called "Driven by Cab". Mostly Cab Sauv, but with some merlot and cab franc giving it a bit of complexity, this wine has a range of smells and flavours, including saddle leather, pencil shavings, cedar, black currant, mulberry, and a hint of mocha and spearmint. All in all, a marvellous farm to visit with some very affordable wines.
From Delaire you could see my next stop, Tokara. With a huge range and free tastings (for everything except the brandy), this is a great spot for students to go to (or people on a tight budget). It is a beautifully modern tasting room (it's so shiny), and they also have olives and olive oil for tasting as well as making dark chocolate, and various bits of art for display - definitely the kind of place I can imagine taking corporate business people to. They have 3 Sauvignon Blancs - the Zondernaam, the Walker Bay, and the Elgin. The Zondernaam is their second label and their everyday drinking range. The Zondernaam isn't as full or crisp as the other two, and the Walker Bay had to be the one which I prefered - with canned peas, fresh-cut grass, asparagus and a pleasing clean, crisp mineral finish (which is a crisp finish I can enjoy). I enjoyed the ZN Chenin (R50), which is slightly wooded, and has a hint of fennel/aniseed, as well as stoned fruit (peach/apricot) and buttered toast, not the best value for money wooded Chenin I've found, but still worthwhile. The Tokara White is a blend of Sauv with some wooded Semillon - an expensive wine at R125, but I can't fault it on quality - tinned peas, minerality, slight vanilla, and some golden fruit flavours like gooseberry, pineapple and granadilla. Well worth tasting. The 2 Chardonnays were very different in style - the ZN was very fruity with peach, pineapple and lemon grass, wheras the Tokara was a fuller-bodied Chardonnay with buttered toast, butterscotch and a citrus, lemon zest to it. The ZN Shiraz was very fruity with light red berries and black currant, but also a hint of fresh meat. The ZN Cab Sauv (R62) had a whole range of woodland smells, tobacco, cigar box, cedar, dried pine needles, but also some superb fruitiness with black currant and blue berries, well worth buying a bottle to open and enjoy on a cool winter's evening. The Tokara Red 2003 is a bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cab Sauv and Petit Verdot - remarkably complex (and expensive) with rich intense red berries (maybe that's why it's expensive), mocha, dark chocolate, and fresh woodland smells. A bottle to be laid down for a few years, then opened up and drunk with an expensive meal. By the way, did I mention it was expensive... well, in case I didn't, it's expensive (R150). They have the Tokara Red 2004 available for tasting as well, which is also a bordeaux blend, but this time it's based on Cab Sauv, with Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cab Franc giving it a whole lot of support. Personally I prefered the 2003, since this was even more expensive (I did mention the last one was expensive, didn't I?) at R180, this one struggled to get away from it's Cab Sauv inheritance - with cedar, mocha, black currant and dark berries as part of its legacy. The final thing I tasted there was the 5 year potstill brandy (R300). As I'm utterly useless when it comes to smelling and tasting brandy, I'll give you a rundown of what they say you'll find in the brandy - which is incredibly complex - dried fig, peach, raison, pot-pourri, saffron, spicy pepper, vanilla, jasmine and orange blossom. I'll fully admit that this is only the second brandy I've come across that I could actually imagine buying (looking at it in hindsight) as it had a perfect, smooth and lingering aftertaste and I could pick up an strong, unmistakeable flavour of oranges. Hopefully, after my trip to Robertson, I'll not only be able to appreciate brandies more than I do now, but I'll also find more that I do enjoy.
Just up the road was my find of the day, Thelema. The reason why is because they had the most unique wines of the day (while still being very enjoyable, unlike the uniqueness of Zorgvliet, which I'll mention later). The tasting room is also a modern looking tasting room, with a great balcony area, perfect for taking a group of friends for a relaxing afternoon, and a lovely indoor fireplace to keep the room warm during winter, and designed to make sure that the fire-smoke won't ruin your ability to smell the wines. Of the wines, the Sutherland Sauv Blanc (which originates from Elgin), was quite unique with strong watermelon smells as well as grassy and apple smells. The unwooded Sutherland Chardonnay was filled with citrus notes, especially lime and pineapple. There was two wooded Chardonnay, still had the similar tropical citrus notes that the unwooded had, except that it was a slightly more processed smell like a grated lemon/lime/orange peel and of course, for the obvious smell of buttered toast. The white that took me by complete surprise here was the Ed's Reserve Chardonnay (R75). This is a wine I'd struggle to describe, and I suggest tasting it yourself if you know your wines well. I picked up orange peel (almost like a bathroom spray) and a bit of a floral smell, with the pineapple, granadilla and a soft buttered toast smell coming through. This white wine is excellently balanced between fruit and oak and a superior finish - a wine that I would label as dangerous - as you could accidentily finish a bottle of it on your own without realising. The final white wine I tasted here was the off-dry Sutherland Rhine Riesling (also from the Elgin area) which had a floral nose, but also contained some summer citrus fruit smells and no minerality at all to it - all the attractive smells you could want in a Rhine Riesling for only R45 a bottle - and I would love to see this as a sweet wine.
The red wines at this farm gave me equal pause as some were quite outside of what you would normally experience. The Pinotage (R45) is a real bargain, with banana peel, coffee, dark berries, and a smell of sweaty leather (it even tasted a bit like licking a car seat) - however it was only a slight hint of it on the aftertaste, so hardly off-putting. From there I moved on to the Mountain Red which is a Cab sauv-driven blend with Shiraz, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot. It was also quite unique with red berries, prunes, raisons, cedar and a processed meat (like marmite) smell. This is more of a tasting wine for a late winter's evening, or an intellectual social event like a debate, auction or award ceremony. The Merlot Reserve (R225) was an exceptionally well made Merlot, since it is one that is capable of putting alongside some of the best roasted beef or venison you can find, and it will still shine. A pity it is so expensive, but with the selection process and very small quantity of it available, it makes perfectly good sense, as this is a wine meant for only the best of occasions. This merlot has a lovely meaty nose, with peppermint and a dark plum gently caressing your sense of smell and a strong backbone of mocha and dark chocolate to give it a depth of character few Merlots achieve. A sterling example. I moved on to the two Shirazs - The Arumdale Shiraz (also from Elgin) was filled with smells like fresh meat, vanilla, white pepper and dark rotting plum and berries. The Thelema Shiraz, on the other hand, had more of the barrel's vanilla coming through with candy floss, prune, plum and white pepper and a dark, deep, rich body and long finish. The last three red's were all Cab Sauv's. The Arumdale (R90) was a more typical fruity Cab with black currant, raisons and mulberry/blueberry/blackberry on the palate, but a bit of mintiness was definitely there along with cedar and cigar box smells. Another good wine to have with food. The Thelema opened up with a smell of fresh meat, although that did pass in moments, and soon the smell was replaced with all the woodland smells I associate with Cab's, cigar box, pencil shavings, and dry pine needles, which came out as mocha on the taste mixed with ripe black currant. The final wine here was "The Mint" Cabernet Sauvignon (R180). While I've definitely tasted far more minty wines than this, the taste and smell of spearming is very powerful in this wine - mixed in with dark chocolate and black currant, this wine has the ability to make people weep and reminds me of a good dark chocolate with mint and raisons. This is a wine I can easily imagine people jealously guarding, although others may completely hate it (we have a name for those people - 'insane').
That was the end of the good part of my trip - and things pretty much went downhill from there. The next farm I visited was Camberley - which was largely disappointing, though not through any major fault of their own. Unfortunately, their attendee has temporarily left for a week, and so the wines were served in very poor condition. To begin with, the glasses looked pretty disgusting, and I started off being served by a farm hand (and told that I could pour the wine for myself, because he had no clue how tastings worked) and the wine was served far too warm, having not been cooled at all (a huge let-down on such a hot day). Although my comments are pretty scathing of this farm, I completely understand (and actually pity) the poor state the tasting room was in. Unfortunately, because of this, my comments on the farm and its wines will not really be accurate enough to be worth sharing. All I can say, is that the wines were a bit on the expensive side, the tasting room gives you a definite sense of pride (even though at the moment it's a bit run-down) and the winemaker, who came in half-way through my tasting, is a very friendly, social person, well worth meeting and talking to. What I can say of the wines is this: The pinotage is a very robust, new-world style of red, which means very punchy over-powering smells that grab you by the nose, and the port is quite fruity, but still retains a bit of nuttiness. I will revisit this farm sometime in the distant future, and then I'll give a proper write-up of it's wines.
The last farm of the voyage was Zorgvliet. Arriving there to the sound of dozens of Americans talking amongst each other, this farm looked quite popular. The farm didn't particularly stand out for me, except for the friendly and helpful attendee, who was obviously interested in promoting wine by being socialable to people (which is great for taking groups of people). As for the wines, all 3 of the Sauv Blancs were sold out, so I moved straight onto the Silvermyn Viognier (R69), which is 50% wooded. This was a tasty wine and a perfect textbook example of viognier, with a floral nose, lime, lanolin, peach, apricot, spiciness, and even kiwi (which I don't think I've ever used as a descriptor for anything other than a Gewurz) - delightful and great to showcase this varietal. The SM Chardonnay was almost entirely unwooded, with stone fruit and granadilla, and the lightest hint of butterscotch. A neither here-nor-there wine, suitable to buy for a summer day to share, when you know that people will have differing tastes in wine and want a decent table wine. The Silvermyn white bordeaux blend was a mixture of Sauv Blanc and Semillon, and called, you guessed it White. Yes, I sat there for a moment going, "Bordeaux has a white blend?" since it's not that often you come across them - although it only took me a moment to click what the hell they were talking about. Still, the Sauv Blanc definitely overpowered the Semillon, with green pepper, fresh-cut grass and green apples (geez, I should really cut-and-paste this description for Sauv Blanc by now), although the acid wasn't as sharp, and it did have a pleasing, clean mineral finish (well, pleasing for me, cos I like that Sauv taste to be gone as soon as possible :)
Onto their long, long range of Red wine. I had very mixed feelings about the reds here. Some were very enjoyable, others just seemed like ordinary every-day plonk - which I *hate* to use to describe any SA wine. Starting at the heart-break wine of Pinot Noir (R85), I was pleased with this wine, and not only because it was under R100 a bottle, but also because it had some very pleasing tastes and was a medium-bodied pinot. It had black currant, cranberry, milk chocolate, mocha and candy floss. The SM Cab Franc was not my taste of red wine, with stewed fruit, prunes and leather (almost an old, tawny style). The Le Pommier Cab Franc (R55) was cheaper and, in my opinion, better, as it had more fresh fruity smells like dark berries, black pepper, cinnamon and cloves with a hint of stewed fruit. The SM Merlot/Cab Franc blend was a mixture of dark berries and prune with more stewed fruit... disappointing. I was looking forward to the next wine - the Petit Verdot (R85), which is the wine to add when you want to add some colour and fruit to a blend (and your lips and teeth when you drink it!) I enjoyed this Petit Verdot, with blackberry/blueberry jam quality to it, which was 100% Yum! Perfect to go with a tomato-based pasta/pizza, especially if it has some high-quality olives. The Zorgvliet Shiraz (R150) was also disappointing - I think the wine maker has something about stewed fruit, a taste which I personally dislike in wines (but which I find lovely in a port). It had dark red berries, stewed fruit, pepper (couldn't really tell if it was white or black, but it was spicy) and cloves. They have 4 Cab Sauvs available - the SM was very fruity with only a bit of cherry tobacco giving it a bit of woodland characters. The Le Pommier also had the typical Cab Sauv fruitiness except for a bit of fynbos and, maybe a blue gum, maybe a lavender smell to it. The Zorgvliet was more pleasing with mocha and pine cones adding some complexity to the typical black currant fruit. Overall, though, it was the Le Pommier Cab Sauv Reserve (R60) which impressed me the most of the Cab Sauvs. Cheaper than the other ranges Cab Sauv's this one had the complexity that the others lacked. While it may not age as well as the others (although I wouldn't say that the others are even worth keeping that long), this Cab Sauv is meant to be drunk sooner rather than later. It had a more unique nose to it, with the typical black currant and black berry, a delightful spiciness of a ground black pepper, cloves, but also a very farmyard smell, almost manure, but also sheepskin. Yes, manure... I did say that as a positive thing... what... it's unique... At least it faded into the sheepskin smell pretty quickly. Oh, and if you do go to this farm (and god knows why you would) at least mention that you want to learn more about wine and be inquisitive about the wines - if you're not in too large a group, they'll probably let you get away with paying a tasting fee at all - a great tip for students or people on a tight budget. Needless to say, I'm sure I'll look for one of these wines on a shopping shelf somewhere, buy it and try it, just to see if I really do hate it as much as I did when I was there.
Well, that's all for today. You can go about your normal everyday life now. Goodbye. Cheers. Ta-ta now. Fair-thee-well. God-speed (thats 180km/hour). Until later. See you soon. Ciao. Erm... yes, you! You can go now.
Val.
Helderberg Heights (the Second)
Here's the second instalment of my trip to the Helderberg. Last email ended off at Guardian Peak, so I'll begin with my next stop at the new tasting room at Alto. It is a small tasting room at the moment, but it does have great big window sliding doors and a small patio where you can sit and enjoy a warm summers day. There is only three red wines on offer at the moment. The Cab Sauv is on the side of light and fruity, with black currant and fynbos/dried leaves being the smells that leap out of the glass, and a subtle plum and coffee on the taste. The Shiraz is perfect for dark roasted meats (like in a spitfire) especially a pepper-steak because it's filled with black pepper and a dash of cloves - very spicy. The final is their blend - the Rouge - which is a blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, and Shiraz. The Rouge was filled with mocha and dark berries (plums, black currant and blue berries). The wines were a little highly priced for their value (by about R10 a bottle or so), except for the Rouge, which I found to be pretty plain.
Next stop is a farm known for its wine and chocolate taste pairings... mmmm. I've generally enjoyed Bilton wines in the past, although they do tend to be high-priced - they can be worth it. Starting off with a white blend - and I'll give you 10 points if you can guess the absolutely original name for the blend. If you guessed "White" you got it! A mixture of Sauv, Chenin and Semillon which is excessively tropical, especially pineapples, but with loads of other citrus in there, it had a great apple finish (mostly granny smith, but a hint of golden delicious). The Merlot was really exceptional in my books, and at R85 a bottle, very well priced for such beauty (I'd expect to pay over R100). It is balanced perfectly between oak and fruit, with milk chocolate, red berries and lush plums. Leave it to open up for a while and all of a sudden, you have some spicy notes coming through with incredibly subtle hints of cloves and black pepper, and a helpful dose of cinnamon blending into a kind of mintiness. This is a Merlot that restores my faith in the varietal. The Cab Sauv was a textbook example - coffee, black berries, cedar, cigar box, with a delightful note of leather. The Shiraz was filled with fresh raw meat, mocha, light red berries and cinnamon for spices. The final wine here is called Sir Percy, which is a cab sauv driven blend mixed with a nice chunk of their lovely merlot and a splash of Petit Verdot. A mixture of woodland smells (dry soil and cedar) and berries (cherries, strawberries and raspberries) this wine had such a full-mouth and long lasting taste, that I can only call it jammy. A wine to spoil yourself with on a quiet anniversery while you are sitting on top of Table Mountain watching the sun set over the horizon hoping for another great year. The name was perfectly chosen for this wine - as this wine should be honored much as Sir Percy was.
From Bilton I went up the road to Rust En Vrede, which was undergoing a terrible noise in the tasting room (which happens to be the same room as all of their fermentation tanks). The farm itself is fairly beautiful, and sitting outside the tasting room in the courtyard under the trees is an appealing option, while tasting inside in the air conditioned room and looking through the great glass windows into the gardens, or looking at all the large shiny steel containers is also a good option (if it's a bit less noisy). The wines were all very pleasing and all very red :) The Merlot was typical in its range of smells and tastes, with the exception that it was quite full-bodied, heavy and masculine. Mushrooms, mocha, milk chocolate and a deep dark plum were all very noticeable in this wine. The Cab Sauv was surprisingly feminine and elegant after that, with ceder, aniseed, mint, dark chocolate and mocha all making an appearance, but leaving with a smooth finish on the palate. The shiraz was another rather odd red here and cherry chocolates immediately sprang to mind - maybe I'll go retaste this one sometime, preferably when I haven't tasted so many wines beforehand. The Estate blend is a Cab Sauv driven blend with a dollup of Shiraz and a smattering of Merlot and you can expect chocolate (dark and light), pencil shavings (even on the palate), black currant and white pepper. The thing that put me off of this farm though, to be honest, is that it's quite expensive wines. Good place to taste, although maybe you should save your money to buy wine somewhere else.
My final stop in the Helderberg region was at Annandale - well known for it's horse logo, cellar filled with cobwebs, and it's wine maker Hempies Du Toit, who I was lucky enough to meet the first time I visited this farm (while he was unloading a bakkie full of fresh produce). This is a farm and tasting room that truly makes you feel like you've entered into a different world. The back wall is filled with wines from various estates where Hempies has bought wine and drunk it, and you immediately get the sense like you've entered into an old, near-forgotten monastery of the dark ages and returned to a simpler life where the only goal and passion is to work with great wine every day. I firmly believe that the dedication and effort it takes to make good wine is near-religious. Although only three red wines (and a port) are on offer, they are three superb wines. The Cavalier is the Merlot driven blend with Cab Sauv and Cab Franc giving it a good strong backbone and a little Shiraz just for extra flavour - a very earthy and minty wine with dark fruits on the palate and 36 months in the barrel. The Cab Sauv was put in new French oak for an astounding 66 months (very heavily wooded reds usually spend 24 months in a barrel, so you can imagine how much longer this one has been in those barrels). With that much wood on it, I would love to keep a bottle for 10 years and see how it matures and it's almost a waste to open it so soon (even though it's a 2002 Cab Sauv). Still, it had pleasing notes of prune and fruit cake (with all it's associated dried fruit, cinnamon/cloves and even walnuts) and a taste that will not go away for hours if you leave it lingering in your mouth - in fact, I think I can still taste it :) The Shiraz was also kept for a long time in barrels (for 4 years in French) and I picked up dried prunes, with other dark berries, and mint (could be liquorice). Admittedly, my taste buds were starting to struggle by this point - heavily oaked reds make it very difficult to taste, so I can't really comment well on the Cape Vintage Port, other than to say that it was a fruity port (translating to fruit cake, dried prunes, raisons and baked cherries) made from Shiraz. The attendee convinced me to taste it with a drop of the shiraz (apparantly people who find port too over-powering manage to enjoy it with a bit of the wine to mellow it out). I found it completely disgusting actually and spat it out immediately - Ugh... I still shiver...
Val
Next stop is a farm known for its wine and chocolate taste pairings... mmmm. I've generally enjoyed Bilton wines in the past, although they do tend to be high-priced - they can be worth it. Starting off with a white blend - and I'll give you 10 points if you can guess the absolutely original name for the blend. If you guessed "White" you got it! A mixture of Sauv, Chenin and Semillon which is excessively tropical, especially pineapples, but with loads of other citrus in there, it had a great apple finish (mostly granny smith, but a hint of golden delicious). The Merlot was really exceptional in my books, and at R85 a bottle, very well priced for such beauty (I'd expect to pay over R100). It is balanced perfectly between oak and fruit, with milk chocolate, red berries and lush plums. Leave it to open up for a while and all of a sudden, you have some spicy notes coming through with incredibly subtle hints of cloves and black pepper, and a helpful dose of cinnamon blending into a kind of mintiness. This is a Merlot that restores my faith in the varietal. The Cab Sauv was a textbook example - coffee, black berries, cedar, cigar box, with a delightful note of leather. The Shiraz was filled with fresh raw meat, mocha, light red berries and cinnamon for spices. The final wine here is called Sir Percy, which is a cab sauv driven blend mixed with a nice chunk of their lovely merlot and a splash of Petit Verdot. A mixture of woodland smells (dry soil and cedar) and berries (cherries, strawberries and raspberries) this wine had such a full-mouth and long lasting taste, that I can only call it jammy. A wine to spoil yourself with on a quiet anniversery while you are sitting on top of Table Mountain watching the sun set over the horizon hoping for another great year. The name was perfectly chosen for this wine - as this wine should be honored much as Sir Percy was.
From Bilton I went up the road to Rust En Vrede, which was undergoing a terrible noise in the tasting room (which happens to be the same room as all of their fermentation tanks). The farm itself is fairly beautiful, and sitting outside the tasting room in the courtyard under the trees is an appealing option, while tasting inside in the air conditioned room and looking through the great glass windows into the gardens, or looking at all the large shiny steel containers is also a good option (if it's a bit less noisy). The wines were all very pleasing and all very red :) The Merlot was typical in its range of smells and tastes, with the exception that it was quite full-bodied, heavy and masculine. Mushrooms, mocha, milk chocolate and a deep dark plum were all very noticeable in this wine. The Cab Sauv was surprisingly feminine and elegant after that, with ceder, aniseed, mint, dark chocolate and mocha all making an appearance, but leaving with a smooth finish on the palate. The shiraz was another rather odd red here and cherry chocolates immediately sprang to mind - maybe I'll go retaste this one sometime, preferably when I haven't tasted so many wines beforehand. The Estate blend is a Cab Sauv driven blend with a dollup of Shiraz and a smattering of Merlot and you can expect chocolate (dark and light), pencil shavings (even on the palate), black currant and white pepper. The thing that put me off of this farm though, to be honest, is that it's quite expensive wines. Good place to taste, although maybe you should save your money to buy wine somewhere else.
My final stop in the Helderberg region was at Annandale - well known for it's horse logo, cellar filled with cobwebs, and it's wine maker Hempies Du Toit, who I was lucky enough to meet the first time I visited this farm (while he was unloading a bakkie full of fresh produce). This is a farm and tasting room that truly makes you feel like you've entered into a different world. The back wall is filled with wines from various estates where Hempies has bought wine and drunk it, and you immediately get the sense like you've entered into an old, near-forgotten monastery of the dark ages and returned to a simpler life where the only goal and passion is to work with great wine every day. I firmly believe that the dedication and effort it takes to make good wine is near-religious. Although only three red wines (and a port) are on offer, they are three superb wines. The Cavalier is the Merlot driven blend with Cab Sauv and Cab Franc giving it a good strong backbone and a little Shiraz just for extra flavour - a very earthy and minty wine with dark fruits on the palate and 36 months in the barrel. The Cab Sauv was put in new French oak for an astounding 66 months (very heavily wooded reds usually spend 24 months in a barrel, so you can imagine how much longer this one has been in those barrels). With that much wood on it, I would love to keep a bottle for 10 years and see how it matures and it's almost a waste to open it so soon (even though it's a 2002 Cab Sauv). Still, it had pleasing notes of prune and fruit cake (with all it's associated dried fruit, cinnamon/cloves and even walnuts) and a taste that will not go away for hours if you leave it lingering in your mouth - in fact, I think I can still taste it :) The Shiraz was also kept for a long time in barrels (for 4 years in French) and I picked up dried prunes, with other dark berries, and mint (could be liquorice). Admittedly, my taste buds were starting to struggle by this point - heavily oaked reds make it very difficult to taste, so I can't really comment well on the Cape Vintage Port, other than to say that it was a fruity port (translating to fruit cake, dried prunes, raisons and baked cherries) made from Shiraz. The attendee convinced me to taste it with a drop of the shiraz (apparantly people who find port too over-powering manage to enjoy it with a bit of the wine to mellow it out). I found it completely disgusting actually and spat it out immediately - Ugh... I still shiver...
Val
Helderberg's Heights
As promised, here's your special deluxe, extra padded (and filled with flavour text) edition of wine tasting notes. This time I managed to get to 8 farms in the Helderberg (which will be the topic of today's email) and 2 farms in Stellenbosch Berg (which were an added bonus).
The first farm I stopped at bright and early in the morning was Uva Mira. High up in Helderberg, Uva Mira claims that it's high vantage point not only gives it an excellent view of the valley below and a high altitude tasting experience, but also an advantage in white wines as the climate is cooler. If you enjoy a bold, crisp Sauv Blanc then you will not be disappointed here - with an overwhelming note of green pepper and a hint of fig leaves, this Sauv Blanc was made to showcase the varietal. Unfortunately their Chardonnay was sold out 8'( Onto the reds, the Merlot driven blend (with Cab Sauv) was a perfect wine to age, with a nose of Pine cones and dried bark, and a palate of mocha and dark chocolate, this wine is perfect to go with that Belgium chocolate you've been saving (or eating). The next red blend on the list is a blend of Cab Sauv/Merlot/Cab Franc/Shiraz and is called the 'Red Blend' (very original, I know). On the palate this is an intense wine filled with red berries (raspberries and cherries) and a hint of mocha, and a dash of fynbos on the nose. The Syrah was surprisingly fruity and had a blend of fresh, pulpy plums and white pepper. A rather small operation, but on the whole, a very beautiful farm to visit with some interesting wines.
Next up was Hidden Valley with a whole host of wines and labels - Four labels to be exact. The Hidden Valley label is their premium range, the Hidden Agenda label is their everyday drinking wine, the Contour 296 is their quaffing wines and the Land's End label is the wines that come from Elim near Cape Agulhas (an area with a strong wind climate). The Land's End Sauv Blanc was very different and had a nose of canned peas/green beans and a freshly peeled granny smith apple, however it had a taste of fig and green pepper and fresh thick green grass (was I the only one who wondered what cows got outta eating grass?), so this really is everything sauv blanc has in one bottle. The Hidden Agenda Chenin was next (with a dab of Viognier), which came across as a smooth, easy drinking wine at first, but had a bit of a high acidity, a pity, since it was a very citrusy chenin, with pineapple, litchi and lime all coming across in the taste and smell. The Cab Franc Contour Rose was next, which would make an excellent pool-side wine, with lovely hints of strawberries, fresh barely-ripe cherries and a strong note of minerality to it. The Contour Red was a blend of Pinotage/ Cab Sauv/ Merlot filled with cloves, cinnamon and a hint of filter coffee, a good mid-afternoon, tea-time wine to go with a light dried fruit cake. The Hidden Agenda Shiraz/Viognier was filled with flavours like turkish delight, liquorice, candied apples and black currant, strawberries and black pepper on the palate, summed up in one word - YUM. The Hidden Valley and Hidden Agenda Shiraz were both very spicy, but the Land's End Shiraz was really something else - the nose was exactly what a bar-one ice-cream smells like - a mixture of vanilla, caramel & milk chocolate, with splashes of treacle and coffee - a wine that will leave you feeling like you've indulged yourself. As for the farm itself, it also has a commanding view of the valley below, a large restaurant perfect for functions, but, unfortunately, I waited for about 5-10 minutes before losing patience and asking one of the Kitchen Staff about wine tasting. If you want good service from this place, I'd advise phoning in advance (although for that Shiraz, I'd dare say it's worth it).
Next up is the famous Ernie Els wines (although it's fame is mostly based on it's excessive prices). The staff here are very friendly and helpful, and I had a good few laughs when I was there. And I'd write more about the wines, except that I can't seem to find my notes on it... Oops. Still, the three wines they had there were the Ernie Els, which is a Bordeux Cab Sauv driven blended with Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cab Franc and Malbec, the Cirrus which is a Rhone style Syrah with a drop of Viognier, and another red blend, the Engelbrecht Els which is a blend of Cab Sauv and Shiraz with a dab of Petit Verdot, Cab Franc, Merlot and Malbec. If & when I find my notes about it, I'll write up more. The view here is extraordinary - really, this is the area to go if you want a clear view of the farmlands that stretchs out for miles.
Just down the road is their sister farm - Guardian Peak, which is still my favorite location for a hot summers day, with a fine mist of water being sprayed into the air to cool all around. I suggest tasting your wines outside of the main room though, as the nearby kitchen can sometimes overwhelm your sense of smell. Two wines were sold out, including their only white (the Sauv Blanc) and the Cab Sauv. The Rose was made from their Cab Sauv with a splash of Grenache thrown in, and smelt of over-ripe cherries and fresh granny-smith & golden delicious apples, a great fruit-salad style wine, great to finish a light meal with. The Merlot smells very earthy like fresh garden soil after a good watering, and the taste was light and fresh, filled with plums, strawberries, raspberries and light cherries. Mmmm good. The Shiraz smelt of fatty meat (great to go with pork/bacon or chicken thighs and drum-sticks) and had a palate of light red berries and a hint of mocha, making it a very feminine shiraz that's perfect to accompany food. The Frontier is an interesting blend of Cab Sauv and Shiraz with a dash of Merlot, and was an incredibly complex wine that will become excellently layered with some years in the bottle. I picked up a whole host of smells and tastes, from jammy plums and prominent red berries, fynbos, black currant, black pepper, cloves to add an extra bit of spiciness. Excellent wine at excellent value (R55 a bottle). The final wine is the SMG (Shiraz/Mouvedre and Grenache) which had a very savoury nose - I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it was kind of like pasty meat smell (almost mince) - with black pepper and cloves on the nose, and a surprisingly fruity taste, filled with berries ranging from light red to dark berries, although most prominent was probably black berries.
Well, that's part one for today, I'll try get to the rest of the farms later.
To Be Continued ...
The first farm I stopped at bright and early in the morning was Uva Mira. High up in Helderberg, Uva Mira claims that it's high vantage point not only gives it an excellent view of the valley below and a high altitude tasting experience, but also an advantage in white wines as the climate is cooler. If you enjoy a bold, crisp Sauv Blanc then you will not be disappointed here - with an overwhelming note of green pepper and a hint of fig leaves, this Sauv Blanc was made to showcase the varietal. Unfortunately their Chardonnay was sold out 8'( Onto the reds, the Merlot driven blend (with Cab Sauv) was a perfect wine to age, with a nose of Pine cones and dried bark, and a palate of mocha and dark chocolate, this wine is perfect to go with that Belgium chocolate you've been saving (or eating). The next red blend on the list is a blend of Cab Sauv/Merlot/Cab Franc/Shiraz and is called the 'Red Blend' (very original, I know). On the palate this is an intense wine filled with red berries (raspberries and cherries) and a hint of mocha, and a dash of fynbos on the nose. The Syrah was surprisingly fruity and had a blend of fresh, pulpy plums and white pepper. A rather small operation, but on the whole, a very beautiful farm to visit with some interesting wines.
Next up was Hidden Valley with a whole host of wines and labels - Four labels to be exact. The Hidden Valley label is their premium range, the Hidden Agenda label is their everyday drinking wine, the Contour 296 is their quaffing wines and the Land's End label is the wines that come from Elim near Cape Agulhas (an area with a strong wind climate). The Land's End Sauv Blanc was very different and had a nose of canned peas/green beans and a freshly peeled granny smith apple, however it had a taste of fig and green pepper and fresh thick green grass (was I the only one who wondered what cows got outta eating grass?), so this really is everything sauv blanc has in one bottle. The Hidden Agenda Chenin was next (with a dab of Viognier), which came across as a smooth, easy drinking wine at first, but had a bit of a high acidity, a pity, since it was a very citrusy chenin, with pineapple, litchi and lime all coming across in the taste and smell. The Cab Franc Contour Rose was next, which would make an excellent pool-side wine, with lovely hints of strawberries, fresh barely-ripe cherries and a strong note of minerality to it. The Contour Red was a blend of Pinotage/ Cab Sauv/ Merlot filled with cloves, cinnamon and a hint of filter coffee, a good mid-afternoon, tea-time wine to go with a light dried fruit cake. The Hidden Agenda Shiraz/Viognier was filled with flavours like turkish delight, liquorice, candied apples and black currant, strawberries and black pepper on the palate, summed up in one word - YUM. The Hidden Valley and Hidden Agenda Shiraz were both very spicy, but the Land's End Shiraz was really something else - the nose was exactly what a bar-one ice-cream smells like - a mixture of vanilla, caramel & milk chocolate, with splashes of treacle and coffee - a wine that will leave you feeling like you've indulged yourself. As for the farm itself, it also has a commanding view of the valley below, a large restaurant perfect for functions, but, unfortunately, I waited for about 5-10 minutes before losing patience and asking one of the Kitchen Staff about wine tasting. If you want good service from this place, I'd advise phoning in advance (although for that Shiraz, I'd dare say it's worth it).
Next up is the famous Ernie Els wines (although it's fame is mostly based on it's excessive prices). The staff here are very friendly and helpful, and I had a good few laughs when I was there. And I'd write more about the wines, except that I can't seem to find my notes on it... Oops. Still, the three wines they had there were the Ernie Els, which is a Bordeux Cab Sauv driven blended with Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cab Franc and Malbec, the Cirrus which is a Rhone style Syrah with a drop of Viognier, and another red blend, the Engelbrecht Els which is a blend of Cab Sauv and Shiraz with a dab of Petit Verdot, Cab Franc, Merlot and Malbec. If & when I find my notes about it, I'll write up more. The view here is extraordinary - really, this is the area to go if you want a clear view of the farmlands that stretchs out for miles.
Just down the road is their sister farm - Guardian Peak, which is still my favorite location for a hot summers day, with a fine mist of water being sprayed into the air to cool all around. I suggest tasting your wines outside of the main room though, as the nearby kitchen can sometimes overwhelm your sense of smell. Two wines were sold out, including their only white (the Sauv Blanc) and the Cab Sauv. The Rose was made from their Cab Sauv with a splash of Grenache thrown in, and smelt of over-ripe cherries and fresh granny-smith & golden delicious apples, a great fruit-salad style wine, great to finish a light meal with. The Merlot smells very earthy like fresh garden soil after a good watering, and the taste was light and fresh, filled with plums, strawberries, raspberries and light cherries. Mmmm good. The Shiraz smelt of fatty meat (great to go with pork/bacon or chicken thighs and drum-sticks) and had a palate of light red berries and a hint of mocha, making it a very feminine shiraz that's perfect to accompany food. The Frontier is an interesting blend of Cab Sauv and Shiraz with a dash of Merlot, and was an incredibly complex wine that will become excellently layered with some years in the bottle. I picked up a whole host of smells and tastes, from jammy plums and prominent red berries, fynbos, black currant, black pepper, cloves to add an extra bit of spiciness. Excellent wine at excellent value (R55 a bottle). The final wine is the SMG (Shiraz/Mouvedre and Grenache) which had a very savoury nose - I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it was kind of like pasty meat smell (almost mince) - with black pepper and cloves on the nose, and a surprisingly fruity taste, filled with berries ranging from light red to dark berries, although most prominent was probably black berries.
Well, that's part one for today, I'll try get to the rest of the farms later.
To Be Continued ...
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