Milling Over Wine

Milling Over Wine: Wine at the Mill ‘13

Being offered the opportunity to consume a by no means negligible variety of some of the finest the Cape has to offer upon a sunny Sunday afternoon is certainly not an occasion to raise ones nose at – rather, raise one’s glass. And I duly did.

Adventuring off to an Old Mill once renowned for its biscuits upon a summery noon-day, I was delighted (and suitably overwhelmed) to discover all of the treasures on offer for us Lovers of The Good Wine to taste.

After much deliberation, I determined to begin at the beginning – not the beginning of the tasting tables but at the beginning of my journey into The Good Wine. We began with a Marvellous tasting of a strikingly labelled blended offerings. Turning the traditional tasting order on it’s head, we began with a blend of red with an aptly red label paired with spicy Chorizo. Then we made our way to the slightly more reserved & clinical blue blend of reds paired with ostrich biltong. We ended our Marvellous journey with the white blend paired with Grueyere. This particular Marvel   has been a firm favourite of mine from the start. Safe to say, it still is.

·       Marvellous Shazam (2011): 83% Syrah, 9% Grenache, 5% Mourvedre, 3% Viognier. Spicy, spiced cherries, smokey, soft tannins (*)

·       Marvellous Kaboom (2010): Cabernet Sauvignon (45%), Merlot (25%), Petit Verdot (17%), Malbed (8%), Cabernet Franc (5%). Green pepper, thick skinned plums, refined.

·       Marvellous Kapow (2012): Chenin Blanc (60%), Chardonnay (30%), Viognier (10%): Yum! Soft & creamy, light happiness in springtime, creamy pineapple (*)

After a lovely chat about the Marvel that is wine, we took a step to the left to compare vintages of Cape Rock’s GRV along with the first Rose of the day. Both GRV’s were rather lively, interesting characters with surprisingly varied personalities.

·       Cape Rock GRV (2012): 5 months in old French oak. Sweet salmon, sushi mayo, savoury, creamy.

·       Cape Rock GRV (2013): 4 months in oak. Punchy fruit, cheesey, livelier.

·       Rose (2013): Mourvdre, Grenache, Syrah, Carnigan. Savoury berries, full cheese.

Next, we visited the lovely Iona & her dear daughter Sophie.

·       Iona Chardonnay (2012): 90% oak. Sweet honeysuckle, light summer cream. (*)

·       Sophie Rose: Cotton candy & strawberries, creamy meatiness.

Savouring a last sip of Sophie, we took another short step to the left to find the familiar labels (and faces) of Beaumont, whose Chenin I have particularly fond memories of from an evening revolving around wood treating & facial hair attended earlier in the year.

·       Beaumont Chenin Blanc (2013): Light, pineapple, feta on pineapple, broad & full.

·       Beaumont Hope Marguerite (2012): Barrel fermented. Young girl in a floaty white dress, smooth, fairytale music (**)

·       Goutte d’Or:  (dessert wine)Like sipping sappy syrup

·       Raoul’s Rose (2013): 40 year old Tinta & Merlot, baslet press. Crisp red apple & watermelon, spritzy. Named after Sebastian Beaumont’s father.

From Beaumont we were oppad to sample Opstal.

Opstal Carl Everson Chenin: Sweet honeysuckle & jasmine, could drink it through the nose.

Opstal Blush (2013): Syrah, Viognier Rose. Bulgarian yoghurt, feta, structured but easy drinking.

 Opstal Dessert Chardonnay: Treacle, molassesy

The only way to recover from voluptuous, viscous desserty delights is, of course, with bubbles. Bubbles made by true French folk (although NOT with French grapes nor in the French region of Champagne), are simply a treat regardless of their official name.

·       Chabivin Zero Dosage (2010): Pinot Noir, Chardonnay. Very ripe apples, salted apples.

·       Chabivin Cuvee Jean Michelle (2008): Pinot Noir, Petit Meunier. Savoury, tuna

·       Chabivin Rose (2011): Pinot Noir. Tinned lentils & chickpeas, sour jelly tots.

·       Chabivin Aclemile (2005): 6 years fermentation. Honeyed melon & salticrax (*)

Bubbling over with fanciful French philosophy, we steered over to discover new vines (for me obviously since the rest of the world is apparently rather familiar with the offering – so much so it has been ranked 19^th in the world for the Chardonnay I believe) from Hamilton Russel.

·       Southern Right Ashbourne (2008): 80% Sauvignon, 20% Chardonnay. Aged in clay. Thick saltiness

·       Hamilton Russel Chardonnay (2012): 9 ½ months in oak. Honeyed guava, fresh, lemony, acidic

At this point, the decision as to what to taste next was much less dictated by familiarity or new discoveries, but my our exceedingly empty tummies leading us in the direction of an unruly bunch of Cowboys serving tasty tummy-tickling treats. However, we were able to resist the temptation of pork belly sandwiches long enough to squeeze in a last few tastes.

·       Oak Valley Chardonnay (2012): Toasty honey rye, textured

·       Nativo  Chenin Viognier (2012): Hay & happiness, liquid molasses (**)

·       Aurelia MCC: 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 2 years on lees. Nik Naks

Clearly by this time, I was spending far more time, as is my custom, either chatting mindlessly to the selection of kind People of The Wine or drooling slightly as we inched our way closer to the pork. However, we persevered (as we waited for the queue to dissipate).

·       Signal Hill Grenache Blanc: Toasted peanuts with salt & caramel.

·       Vondeling Chardonnay: Smokey fruit, smoked meat & cheese

·       Vondeling Babiana (2010: Toasted buttery rye (*)

By this point we were in the queue for sustenance as well as cold alcohol-free refreshments. After a brief shady respite, we returned to our wining. It is safe to say that, by this point, I was far less committed to note-taking and far more confident in my ability to make a few scribbles in my own indecipherable brand of shorthand, most of which I shall never ever be able to read until the day I have mastered the art of interpreting Hieroglyphics. Until then, I shall share some (increasingly brief) distinguishable highlights:

·       Domain Des Deux Claudia (2008 or 2005?): 76% Chardonnay, 24% Pinot Noir.  3 ½ years on lees, Granny Smith apples in cream, coconut ice.

·       Domain Des Deux Rose of Sharon (2008): 75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay. Slightly warm

·       Domain Des Deux Chardonnay (2010): 38% new wood. Woody jasmine, smooth, happy, peachy (*)

·       Morgenster Rose:  San Giovese. Light, slight cheese, green peppers & rice

·       Anura Chardonnay: Fresh, peachy, slightly savoury

·       Lemberg Shiraz Rose: Creamy feta on watermelon

·       De Waal Chenin (2013): Old hard Cheddar

·       Nitida Riesling: Green peppers & honey, tangy green peppery honey

·       Nitida Matriarch: 50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay. Fresh citrus

·       Nitida Coronata (2012): 50% Sauvignon, 50% Semillon. Green pepper, full, like drinking apricot gravy

·       Nititda Modjadji (2013): Semillon. River after rain, quince & guava

·       Usana Chenin (2012): 8 months in oak. Buttered rye, mollassesy French toast, orange rind

·       Post House Stamp of Chenin (2012): Happiness & fruit & spice

·       Saltare MCC: 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, 2 years on lees, zero dosage. Caramelized orange with honey & rye, olive oil, mulberry

·       Silverthorn Green Man MCC: 12 months on lees, 100% Chardonnay. Goats cheese, full fleshed, light, buttery

·       Silverthorn Lover Boy MCC (this is the most rational interpretation of my handwriting I can fathom) (2009): 50% Chardonnay, 4^th fill. Rye, light lemonness, cream cheese & lightness

·       Silverthorn Rose (NV): Shiraz, savoury sushi mayo, fizzy Gruyere.

At this point, my interest in note taking disintegrated entirely in favour of happiness, fizz, smiles and home.

I would recommend attending the next.