Warming Winter Wines

Having been particularly partial to The White Wine in most shapes & forms (largely except for Sauvignon Blanc), I am experiencing a rather interesting shift in tastes in correlation with the shift in season. By no means am I losing my deep-set love for The White Wine, but I am also learning to love The Red Wine. 
In an exercise to capture this adventure, I shall use this post to document some of my discoveries along this road.

THE RED WINE:

• Allee Bleue Shiraz (2012): Pump overs, 14 months oak, 60% new, 90% French. Big yet soft nose, Hagrid-like cuddliness rolled in cherries, tartness, Black Forest-y, chalky soft tannins, ballerina-like lightness with velvety fullness, like a down duvet. (*)

• Hidden Valley Pinotage (2013): 9 months, French. Smokey, subtle chocolate, whiff of lurking coffee, banana bread baking in the oven, sharpish but still shy, a quiet girl with a sharp wit, soft berries, spot of tart blueberry jam, softens as it breathes.

• Beaumont Raoul's Red Blend (2011): Tinta Barocca, Merlot, Cab Franc. Red berry powder, dried berries, strong spine but soft around the edges, philosophising wine, good to tell fairytales to, fireside & lovely people. (*)

• Kloovenburg Merlot (2012): 13 year old trellised block, 6t/hectare, 12 months French, 20% first fill, 60% 2nd fill, 20% 3rd fill. Intense spicy start, turns to sharp tart berries with allspice and ends in a swish of softly whipped cream. Dreamily drinkable (*)

Aren'd They Lovely

Arendsig Hand Crafted Wines

In the learning of loving of wine, one comes across many rather...questionable wines as well as many truly fantastic examples of the craft. This particular experience of very limited, hand-crafted single-vineyard wines falls firmly into the latter category.

WHITES:

• Sauvignon Blanc (2013): Less than 1 hectare of vines, 4 – 6 months on lees. Lime marmalade, roasted green pepper, lemon & lime juice, light, grapefruit, very green apple, crisp but gets richer
• Chardonnay (2013): Old barrel & wild yeast, 12 months in oak.  Green pepper & fynbos honey, honey crème brulee sugar, orange blossom turns to pith, age to soften (***)

REDS:

• Grenache Inspirational Batch #2 (2013): 180 bottles available in the Western Cape, 500 bottles made. 8 months in oak. Caramelized candyfloss, berries on an old wooden fence, sliver of wet biltong in tangy berry jus, soft but sharp, very sugary berry tartlets with spicy crust.

• Shiraz (2012): Bloody well-spiced biltong, spiced jam tartlet, gentle richness, first date wine, easy drinking & easy talking, more-ish, sweet baked berries in softly whipped cream. (*)

• Cabernet Sauvignon (2012): “Red Sauv Blanc”, honey on slightly warm berries, lurking green peppercorns, dried bluegum leaves, velvety, very ripe strawberries. (*)

Notes:

• “Barrels are like bubblegum – the more you pass it around, the less it tastes like bubblegum”
• Grenache – Rhone varietal, Pinot Noir-like colour
• 8,4l per year – Per capita wine consumption
• Cab sauv is the world’s most planted varietal

Aged Ladies

OLD WHITES

The common perception of white wines is that they must be consumed when young & fresh. This, as a general rule, stands to be true. But as with all things in this wonderful life, there will always be exceptions to every rule.

• Boschendal Grande Vin Blanc (1997): Sauvignon. Citrus, yeasty brioche with old moved grass, noxious honey, bicarby honeycomb, chalky.

• Landua Du Val Sauvignon Blanc (1997): Wet straw with acid, rotten balloon inside, questionable Chardonnay, rotting fennel, like eating a baby naartjie with the peel on, lucern, crushed chalk, sour Jelly Tots at the back of the throat.

• Tokara Sauvignon Blanc (2003): Green Sparkles, asparagus, lettuce, passion fruit cordial, zingy pith, sneeze, grapefruit

• Thelema Chardonnay (1997): Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice, Elizabeth love, blue gum honey, whiff of crunchies, candied vanilla, dried out naartjie smell, dark chocolate marmalade (**)

• Uitkyk Chardonnay (1996): Marmaladey peels, sharp blue cheese, boiled buttery cabbage, artichoke, yeast, honey, inside of a school shoe, honeyed Vaseline.

• Landua Du Val Semillon (2003): 90 year old bush vines. Zingy balloon, oily, sticky sour honey, like being kicked in the throat by a honey bee, white peach

*Corked bottle of the above: Old dusty granny cupboard, old suitcase, mothballs, like sucking on an orange mothball.

Notes:

• The ‘heartburn’ feeling from drinking some wines if caused by the alcohol

Have Another Sip of Nitida

NITIDA

I have not been especially silent about my misgivings around Ye Olde Durbanville region in terms of their wine offering, but I have also found a few gems worth revisiting – such as the Nitida Coronata Integration. In this tasting we revisited this old favourite.

WHITE:

• Sauvignon Blanc (2013): Lees contact. Soapy lime Turkish Delight, green Sparkles, lime peel, growing acid, nutty, drinkable but lurking acid, slightly weighty.

• Semillon (2013): 50% barrel ferment. Salted green peppercorns, capers, softness, velvety Velcro, Thai curry warmth in the throat, shy, salted honey. (*)

• Coronata Integration (2012): Very salted caramel, honey on buttered puff pastry, baklava, jasmine, peach blossom. 6 – 7 years aging potential. (**)

• Riesling (2013): Platter 5 star. Litchis dipped in Vaseline, lurking petroleum, orange & apricot, crisp green apple, Ruby grapefruit, citrus. (*)

RED:

• Calligraphy (2012): Bordeaux Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot. Blueberry Jolly Jammers, violets, blueberry jam, brambles, Spekulaas, decanter wine.

NOTES:

• 140 5 star wines in 2014

• Platter Guide sales are 2^nd only to the Bible in SA

• “Semillon tastes like ass-paragus”

• Off-dry wines – “the ones you eat with sticky pork”

• Calligraphy named after the diaries that were written in calligraphy made from crushed protea bark

• Use an old milk truck partitioned into tanks for ferment

• 1999 – farm’s first Sauv won double gold at Michaelangelo

• 8 workers on the farm

• Workers used to get paid per lug box

• Nitida now pays the workers for the estimated duration of the harvest

• Harvest 4 – 6 tons per day

The Fairest In the Land

FAIRVIEW

A farm familiar to most due to its scale & Tour d’Cheese, it surprised me to learn they often produce a large array of out of the ordinary varietals.

WHITE:

• Viognier (2013): Paarl & Darling region, 50% French oak, 9 months, batonage. Litchi & pears, green Sparkles, light zest, creamy jasmine with lurking lime marmalade, light & drinkable but pleasantly full. (*)

• Oom Pagel Semillon (2012): Paarl, 20 – 30 year old blocks, 3^rd & 4^th fill French. Just Juice passion fruit & peach, artichoke & asparagus, weed fumes, lurking taste of the smell of my hippie uncle, like an asparagus grew up into an artichoke.

• Nurok (2012): Viognier, Chenin, Grenache, Rousanne, 2^nd vintage released, components fermented separately in barrel for 9 months. Fresh toasted cheese on brown bread, orange jasmine, orange pith with perfume, Granny’s cheese & bacon quiche crust well baked, baked asparagus with soft cheese & butter & flowers.  (**)

RED:

• Tannat (2011): Paarl, Uruguayan grape, picked early & kept at 2 degrees for 4 days, 15 months in 3^rd & 4^th fill French. Raspberry jam, cherry cereal, sharp but rich, fills mouth with cream at the end, tannic to full & back to tannic – like swallowing but not.

• Sangiovese (2012): From Cianti in Italy, translates to Blood of Love, 3^rd fill French. Strawberry jam, tinned & boiled strawberry, bakes strawberry jam Roly Poly, rare smoked pork, almond essence, sour cherry.

• Caldera (2011): 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Mourvedre, 7 months in barrel, 10% new, 90% 3^rd & 4^th fill. Mary Poppins strawberry medicine, strawberry jelly sweets, spikey lace, creamy berries, chalky tea tannins. (*)

Notes:

• Fairview consists of 9 farms

• Fairview was the first farm to produce Viognier in SA in 1997

• Oom Pagel was a descendant of slaves & lived on the farm to the age of 100

• Oom Pagel’s grand children still work on the farm

• Semillon was Oom Pagel’s favourite grape

• Tannat is the only 100% Tannat in SA

• Painting on the Nurok label was painted by the owner’s wife whose maiden name was Nurok meaning Diver

• Caldera is a Catalanian pot used for soulful food – winemakers’ favourite

Drifting Along

Winter’s Drift

Another example of the enchanting Elgin region.

WHITE:

• Sauvignon Blanc (2013):  6 000 bottles produced, released 3 -4 months before tasting. Unripe guava, crispy cheesey pears, unripe white cheese, camembert sauce, cheese fondu on unripe pears, crunchy creamed sharp white cheese.

• Chardonnay (2012):  9 months in oak, 50% 1^st & 2^nd fill 300l barrel, 50% steel tank. Digestive biscuit lemon meringue, salted caramel popcorn, orange zest marmalade with cream on crumpets, dahl-like fullness, fresh & light sharpness. (**)

RED:

• Pinot Noir (2013):  3^rd vintage to be bottled at end of November 2014, 9 months on 2^nd fill oak. Blueberry perfume, violets, blue, cinnamon & nutmeg chocolate Jolly Jammers, creamed fruit tart, rich berries, sour cherry, smidgen of coffee, chalky. (*)

• Shiraz (2012): 8% Viognier. Drunken blueberries with green peppercorns, alcoholised black & red jelly babies, big puff of zesty pepper finely ground, pepper in a silk glove, spice in the throat, lurking paprika warmth.

Notes:

• Winemaker is Koert from Spioenkop

• Brothers bought the farm in 1903

• Farm is managed by trustees of the brothers and all profits go to the community

• Planted grapes in 2004 & sell 80% of their grapes to La Motte & Flagstone

• Farm is 1 600 Ha

• Chardonnay & SWinterhiraz is stocked on BA’s 1^st class & business class

An ACide(r) from Wine

EVERSON’S CIDER

Veering off from my normal foray into gaining an education about  The Wine, on this particular adventure, we explored another fermented fruit beverage – The Cider.

• Apple Cider: Med dry by international standards, blend of 5 apples. Rotting apple, old apple juice, micro bubbles, softens a little, spritzy creaminess. (**)

• Pear Cider: 1^st pear cider in SA. Rotting lemon juice, florally nose, softness, lurking acid, like licking a cracker, growing sweetness.

• Cloudy Cider: Apple cider + ¼ apple juice, apple tart yumminess.

• Brandy Cask-Conditioned Cider: 50% apple, 50% pear + honey, 1^st bottling. Raw defrosted chicken breasts, metallic, cream cracker aftertaste with sharpness.

• Cripp’s Pink Single Varietal Cider: Rotting flowers in vinegar, cream crackers dipped in cider vinegar, lurking flowers (*)

• Gnarrr Scrumpy: 3^rd fill oak barrel ferment, 262 bottles produced. Chlorinated dam water, cleaning an apple farm drain, rotting toffee apple water, still.

Notes:

• Pomm fruiit – pears, apples, persimmons

• “Freshly squozen” apple juice

• Cider is like wine – you pick the fruit, squoze the fruit & ferment it.

• Will separate ferment cultivars in future

• “Yeast on a stripper pole”

• 3 cideries in SA

• 14 weeks to ferment & age for 3 months before bottling