Dear Me, Dieu

Dieu Donne

Following a rather unsatisfactory tasting at the farm itself, I was happy to find a friendly soul presenting the wares this time around – making the experience all the more pleasant.

MCC:

• Blanc de Blancs (2010): 100% Chardonnay, Rye & Marmite, concentrated salt, carrot gravy, tinkly, poached egg-y vinegar

WHITE:

• Viognier (2013):  Fresh grapes, rounded, pithy, subtle, rich & full but very shy.

• Chardonnay (2013): 50% 1^st fill, 50% 2^nd fill. Spiced, nutmeg butterscotch, pan-fried butter, honey blossom, desiccated coconut, oranges drizzles with pan-fried butter, full & buttery, toasty caramel. (**)

RED:

• Cabernet Shiraz (2011): 85% Cab, 15% Shiraz. Peppery berries, spiced berries in gentle cream, green peppercorn, tart cherry chocolate, creamy but light, cherry chocolate mousse.

• Merlot (2010): Sharp, sour strawberries, cherry gravy, chewable cherry vitamins, full & round but sharply tart, fresh raspberry.

Keeping It Cool

Siris Chilled Reds

Not being the most educated in The Wine, I do not have to support my sometimes (read: most times) unconventional Wine-related practises. One of said practises is to always chill The Red Wine. I have found a supporter of my practise in these particular wines.

RED:

• Seven Springs Pinot Noir (2012): 2^nd vintage produced. Strawberries in balsamic reduction, light savouriness, soft pepper pastries, dusty peppered rose, currant biltong. (*)

• Quando Pinot Noir (2012):  3000 bottles produced. Green dust, chalk powder, cumin, salty, licking the bottom of a filter coffee, cheese & jam tarts, white pepper coffee, cherry smoke.

• Waverley Hills Grenache Noir (2013): 500 bottles produced. Cherry ice lollies, berry Wine Gums, sweet scallop, red juice concentrate, slight vinigariness, blackcurrant fruit pastilles.

• Arendsig Grenache Noir (2013): Strawberry jam, syrupy, slightly tannic, berry jam tartlets, cranberry, light but full. (*)

• Alphabetical (2011): Swartland Shiraz / Stellenbosch Cab sauv, field spicing, governed by a style vs a recipe. Spicy cherry Pro-Vitas, Special K bars, chalky tannins, dusty, black berries.

NOTES:

• Red wine served too cold – brings out tannins
• Quando – in ecpactation of, langverwacht
• Waverley Hills – 9 Johan’s work on the farm (Johan Wyn, Johan Tuin, etc.)

Dis Koel by die Fontein

Koelfontein

When there is tasting of multiple vintages of lemon meringue yoghurt wine, I a happy person am made.

WHITE:

• Chardonnay (2010): 9 months in 1^st fill. Lemon cheesecake custard, tennis biscuit cheesecake base, lingering biscuits, toasted tennis biscuits, lurking toasty pith (**)

• Chardonnay (2011): Lemon jelly & custard, lemon & lime cheesecake, full, fresh, light, tangy tinned pineapple syrup, creamy, whisper of orange rind, toasty nuts (**)

• Chardonnay (2012): Rye, biscuit crust, dried peaches & apricot, chunky marmalade, acidic end, shy.

RED:

• Shiraz (2006):  Toffee apple berries, sugar syrup sweetness, soft, wispy tannins of taffeta, smokey, smidgen of Scott’s Emulsion, Milk of Magnesia mouthfeel (*)

• Shiraz (2007): Jammy, berry jam with nutmeg, savoury cinnamon, meaty fruit, latte, coffee grounds, chunk dark chocolate, background of black cherry cream, banana.

• Shiraz (2008): Coffee-cured biltong, wet & meaty, strong coffee with tart black cherry essence, black cherry liquorice, winter cherry & lentil soup, building Thai spice.

• Shiraz (2009): Nutmeg baked cherries, savoury stuffed cherries, smokey & bloody chorizo, shy on the tongue, grippy on the side of the mouth.

• Shiraz (2010): Fresh black cherries, lightly bakes cherries, soft down pillows, whispers of tannin, full & creamy, licking whipped cream. (**)

Notes:

• Label  was started in 2002
• 3 000 bottles of Chardonnay produced per year
• 6 000 bottles of Shiraz per year – 18 months on new oak
• Only farm in the Ceres with grapes (5ha)  - actually a fruit farm
• No cellar on the farm, the wine is made at Saronsberg
• Snowfall area
• 2006 & 2007 Shiraz was from the presenters’ private stock
• Corlien of Wine Concepts is the owners’ sister
• 2009 was only labelled for competitions, was not released at the time of tasting
• Wine, fresh fruit & dried fruit are all sold under the same label
• Stock Woolworths with dried fruit

Leaping Leprechauns!

Rainbow’s End

I am unashamedly a white wine fan but from time to winter time, one does enjoy the occasional red. These were indeed a pot o’ gold!

RED:

• Cabernet Sauvignon (2010): Over ripe strawberries with covered up spices, slightly rotting cherries, Marmite, boiled up berries with rhubarb, like sipping a floor plan, baked bluegum leaves.

• Cabernet Sauvignon (2011): Cherry chocolate pudding, sweet spiced jam, plum skin, slightly alcoholic, meaty

• Cabernet Franc (2011): Green peppercorn mulberries, green peppercorns on cherry tart, clingy velvet, slightly harsh, like bluegum pods & leaves

• Cabernet Franc (2012): Bush vine, 1 clone, 3 – 4 barrels produced. Sugar cinnamon raspberries, cinnamon steak, sharp fresh cherries with nutmeg, cheeky tart, would age. “Cab fab”

• Mount Vernon Galileo (2011): Cab Sauv, Petit Verdot, Merlot & Malbec.  Creamed cherries with spice, sour cherries, soft but sharp at the end.

NOTES:

• No whites or rose
• Specialize in classic Bordeaux style
• Area (Banghoek) – ideal for Bordeaux varietals

Pragtig Soos 'n Plaas

Mooiplaas

WHITE:

• MCC (2009): 50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay, 3 years on lees. Big & ballsy, rye bread, punchy passion fruity roses.

• Sauvignon Blanc (2009): Long lees contact, bottle aged. Green passion fruit, lurking Marmite, asparagus dipped in melted Marmite butter, concentrated peach juice, peach pippy.

• Bushvine Chenin (2013): Old vines, 3,8 – 4 tons per hectare, stainless steel tanks, lees contact. Green grapes, fynbos, lime chewing sweets, peach juice, sweet apricot cotton candy, spot of savoury, full, honeyed dried apricot (*)

RED:

• Cabernet Sauvignon (2007): Raspberry & cherry jam tarts, tarty, bitchy pepper, sour Jelly Babies, cheeky, red Wine Gum roses, full & creamy, VERY rich, creamy mousse texture.

• Rosalind (2007): Top 15 barrels selected, Cabernet Sauv (22 months in oak), Cabernet Franc (22 months in oak), Merlot (18 months in oak), 1^st fill French, 3 months in barrel post-blending. Peppered berries, sharper, fresher & fruity but full, light tannins. (*)

• Pinotage (2012): 35 year old bush vines, unwooded. Oxtail stew soup, cupboard full of spice, creamed oxtail ravioli, very rich, beef biltong fat, too rich soft.

• Cabernet Sauvignon (2001): Single vineyard, 22 months oaked. Cheeky berries, whiff of acetone, powder tannins, strong Stopayne, rye.

NOTES:

• Family – there’s nobody you’ll fight harder with & nobody you’ll fight harder for
• Farm is run by 3 cousines – viticulturist, wine maker & sales
• Wooded Chenin to be released soon