On a Constantia High

High Constantia

I was met with a double magnum of bubbles upon arrival. I shall say no more.

MCC:

·         Clos Andre (2009): Hand riddles, approx. 11 million bubbles per bottle, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Petit Meunieur, 4 & a half years on lees,  0% dosage, 1,1g sugar/litre. Salt & vinegar chips, chocolate Nesquik mixed with sour milk, big bubbles, mouth coating, zesty honey with hollow middle, lurking fruity butterflies dropping petals, molasses Grapetizer. (*)

WHITE:

·         Siverhurst Special Reserve (2013): Sauv from Constantia 7 Kuils River, bottled 4 days prior to tasting. Green apple & lime gums, roasted green pepper, milky pineapple, guava, like gum with a liquid centre – bursts in your mouth, grapefruit, sneaky acid.

·         Cielo Nel Capo Acacia (2012): “Heaven in the Cape”, Port Jackson grapes, 700 bottles. Chickpeas, lemony tannic-ness, sharp, lemony & lime sherbet on a cracker, rich finish, buttered lavender, flinty.

RED:

·         Silverhurst Cabernet Sauvignon (2008): 100% Cab Sauv, grapes from Franschoek (near La Motte). Hugging gummy bears on a roundabout, sneaky sandy spice, soft berry frozen yoghurt milkshake, creamy tartness, melting with summertime happiness, lurking green peppercorns. (**)

·         Petit Verdot (2006): “Arterial in colour”, Madeira cake with strawberry cream, black forest hot chocolate, sharp but creamy, tangy hugs, heavy spiced stew, tea tannins, tea in burlap. (**)

·         Sebastiaan (2006): 45% Cab Franc, 35 % Cab Sauv, 10% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec. Cab driven Bordeaux blend. Youngberry jam, what damson jam is in my head, drunk purple Chappies, creamy tannins, a talking wine.

Notes:

·         Dead yeast cells = lees

·         Yeast eats sugar & releases alcohol & a puff of gas (carbon dioxide)

·         Produce 4 Sauvs – 1 from a single region fermented in tank, 1 tank ferment from 2 regions, 1 in 8 year old French oak, 1 in French Acacia

·         Acacia barrels are rinsed with water 9 times before use to rinse out yellow pigment

·         Smallest farm in Constantia Valley.

·         Reserve Clos Andre spends 9 years on lees

·         2nd set of legs – indicates a quality wine

·         Perfectly clean glass will show no bubbles in MCC – retains the pressure (fizz) longer.

·         Bubbly glasses are diamond etched to encourage carbon dioxide

·         All barrels are tasted blind & the best are marked with an “S” for Sebastiaan blend

·         Sebastiaan was the first wine maker at High Constantia. He planted 34Ha of vines in his first year which washed away.

·         Wine was initially produced to prevent scurvy – no wonder sailors drink so much!

Quaffing a Cove

Fryer’s Cove

This particular tasting was rather remarkable in that I rather enjoyed the Sauvignon Blanc. Perhaps the idea that salt improves anything rings true.

WHITE:

• The Jetty Sauvignon Blanc (2012):  07h30 AM wine, mostly consumed on the jetty. Tinned peas, pineapple, litchi, florally sweetness, tinned pea juice, sweet-bitter, easy drinking, tinned fruit cocktail, syrupy, perfumey, oranginess. Bottom end, “artificial wine” – made for Gauteng clients, sugar added through juice concentrate. (*)

• Bay to Bay Sauvignon Blanc (2012):  Tinned peas, tinned green beans, full but acidic, lime rind, fresh vegetable salad, Brie & mozzarella, gets cheesier and more bitter as it breathes. Platter 4*, brunch wine.

• Extreme Frontiers Sauvignon Blanc (2012): Florally, peachy, Viognier-esque nose, baked green pepper, sweet orange pith, rich, strong hard cheese, steamed asparagus water, soft but mineral, 100% free-run juice. Should age. Lunch wine. (**)

• Bamboes Bay Sauvignon Blanc (2012): Tuna sashimi, metallic, fresh, spritzy, savoury & rich, green vegetable stew, green beans. Saltiness from salt residue on berries.  5* Platter. Should age. Afternoon wine. Sold in dinky “handbag bottles” (*)

RED:

• Bamboes Bay Pinot Noir (2012): Violet perfume, cough syrup, sour spiciness, youngberry, sour, bitter berries, tannic, medicinal.

Comments on the Cove:

• Cellar open from 07h30

• Sauv vines grafted onto cab roots

• Vineyards closest to Atlantic Ocean in SA

• Salt builds up on vines from fog from the ocean

• Cooling system: fresh water runs along 2 stainless steel pipes which run to the end of the jetty

• Don’t use cork due to the high salt in the air = increased likelihood of corking

• Pinot Noir picked 3 weeks before Sauv

• “Why are ladies’ handbags so heavy? They’re full of dinky wine bottles & guilt”

• Yeast takes in the sugar from the juice and poops out alcohol

• Lighthouse is part of the cellar – “we don’t even need lights!”

• Screw caps – “I hope the wine isn’t screwed”

Sipping on Stamps

Post House

I have, over the last year or so, fallen into a rather habitual habit of visiting particular places on a regular basis for wine tasting events. I recently discovered a rather lovely little spot where I enjoy the delicious French toast. This is relevant because, even more recently, I discovered that wine tastings are held at said lovely spot on Wednesday evenings. I merrily went along to give it a try & was most pleasantly surprised by the casual & homey method of conducting the tasting.  I settled myself at the large table in the centre, conveniently across from not only the winemaker himself, but a particularly appetizing board of charcuterie, cheeses and artisanal breads. A most enjoyable evening ensued, with much chatter, tasty food and very, very delicious wine. I recommend trying both the place (Tamboers Winkel) and the wine (Post House) – whether together or separately.

The winery, Post House, is in fact situated in an old, well, post house. In honour of this, all of the wines have been named after various stamps, from the first stamp ever printed to rare collectors’ stamps. I know little of stamps, but did not hesitate to give the wines my own stamp of approval.

• Post House Stamp of Chenin  (2012): 2^nd, 3^rd & 4^th fill barrel ferment. Fruity flowers, creamy, slight pithiness, softly whipped cream (**)

• Post House Bluish Black (2012): 30% Shiraz, 26% Pinotage, 19% Cab, 17% Merlot. Young berries, chalky soft tannin, very dark chocolate, almost fruity dark cocoa, ballsy Pinot Noir.

• Post House Merry Widow (2011): 100% Shiraz. Creamy buttered violets, chunky chalk tannins, dark Dynajets.

• Post House Penny Black: Shiraz, Merlot, Cab Sauv, Petit Verdot & Chenin. Smoked violets, cocoa berries, puff of powder in the mouth, soft clouds of powder that settle slowly to coat the mouth, olive & black cherry tapenade.

• Post House Missing Virgin (2011): Pinotage & Petit Verdot. Spiced molasses, oatsy blueberry muffins, ground tea tannins.

• Post House Merlot (2010): Chocolatey berry coulis, chocolate dipped gummy bears, wet chalky tannins, espresso latte with berry powder.

• Post House Cabernet Sauvignon (2011): Berry jam with nutmeg, currant jam, like being kicked in the face by a spicy marshmallow, dusty tannins, lurking Stopayne.

“If you drink a whole bottle of the Missing Virgin, you will go missing & may no longer be a virgin”

A (Black) Glassy Affair

Being the home of my First Great Wine Adventure, I was most pleased to return to Mulderbosch for what was sure to be another wine related life changing experience. The evening did not disappoint.

The occasion – a celebration of the first year of existence of a team of wine-loving cat lovers (or cat loving wine lovers, I am unsure as to which it is anymore). The event – a black glass tasting affair. The results – fairly dismal on the score sheet but record breaking in terms of experience.

The evening began, as all successful evenings do, with some marvellous wine and equally marvellous snacks ranging from pork wantons to fig & parma ham foccacia with delightful roasted vegetable wraps and deep-fried calamari in between.

Soon we gathered around the long table set with 12 seats but 24 black wine glasses.  I will by no means claim my mathematical skills to be of my strongest, but a simple calculation left me feeling this was “my kind of party” to put it rather plainly.

Upon being divided into teams of four, we were allocated marker cats on a board for keeping track of our rather dismal scoring. Owing to the rather delicate front paw of our said market, we charmingly dubbed ourselves The Gay Cat Team and hoped to do our feminine feline mascot proud.

Of all the criteria of this particular test, we were proud to correctly identify the colour of all of the wines on offer. In the remaining criteria, we were, however, mildly less proficient.

The test of our skills began with 2 white wines which in our minds were Tokara Sauvignon Blanc & Jordan Riesling. The first, tasting of pineapple & lurking guava, turned out to be Diemersdal’s Unwooded Chardonnay. Our second Mystery Thimbleful had an oily mouth feel and smelled rather like burnt rubber. This was revealed as Themela’s Riesling.

Mildly disheartened but still enthusiastic, we moved along to the next pair. Being zesty, buttery and slightly acidic yet smooth, we identified the first as Thelema’s Wooded Sauvignon Blanc, which was revealed to be Haute Cabriere’s Chardonnay Pinot Noir. The second was salty smelling of lentils and chickpeas with a lurking tannic feel which we incorrectly deemed Signal Hill’s uncommon offering of single varietal Grenache Blanc. While we were incorrect, we took heart in the knowledge that we had at least had the presence of mind to identify that a rare varietal was in our midst (and glasses). It was, in fact, Asara’s Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc.

Remaining confident, we sniffed and sipped, sipped and sniffed our next pair. A whiff of marshmallows and candyfloss turned to toasted marshmallows and butterscotch on the tongue, leading us to believe we were enjoying Boschendal’s Pinot Noir Rose, which in fact was First Sighting’s Shiraz Rose. I was more than happy to linger over the next, smelling honey & flowers buttered treacle and tasting of sweet asparagus with dissipating acidity. We correctly identified this lovely lass as a Wooded Chenin but were incorrect in our assumptions around her origin. We thought she’d been brought to us by Kanu but had in fact been delivered by Post House (unbeknownst until only a minute ago, did I realise I in fact enjoyed the wine so much at a later date that I can now see my bottle of it perched merrily on my wine rack. Perhaps it’s a sign to pop it in the fridge....).

By this point, lesser enthusiastic folk may have been discouraged by our performance but we remained hopeful (I in no way believe our confidence was in any way impacted by the ongoing consumption of The Wine). We moved on to a smokey sniff of floor & mushrooms, tasting of slightly vinegared yet creamy tannic biltong which we unanimously identified as a Pinot Noir from the Elgin region, perhaps Beaumont or Paul Cluver. The familiar fume was in fact that of our dear friend Netwon Johnson. Our next whiffer retained the biltong and the hint of vinegar but this time combined them with some berries to lead us to believe we had a blend of Shiraz & Merlot on our hands. Being rather wary of our wily Whiskers by this point, we made a team decision to go out on a limb. We named this limb Tassenberg. Unfortunately, the bough broke under the weight of our misdirected egos, spilling Kleine Zalze’s Gamay Noir.

Mildly mollified by our failed bet, we nonetheless approached the last 2 sips before supper with gusto. The first fling with the second last of our Mystery Thimblefuls brought to mind a dessert wine and prickly pear syrup laced with spice. On the palate I found ground, chalky tannins on a wisp of smoke. After much debate as to where our Whiskers had found this particular thimbleful (“KWV? Like hte Russian spies?”), we settled upon Laborie Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Shiraz, which it was not. It was , in fact, Stellenzicht’s Shiraz/Pinotage. I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that my team mates were not especially concerned with noting that particular fact (“I’d rather drink water, Jesus can leave this.”

Our very last brought berries to mind, with a lurking slice of fresh ginger, leading us to believe we had in front of us Thelema’s Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc. In keeping with an apparent trend of betrayal, our senses failed us one last time, revealing Du Toitskloof’s Nebbiolo as the last truth for us of the evening.

Scores were counted, cat markers made their last move across the board, leaving our feminine feline one paw print behind a tie for first place. The leaders were challenged to a duel of the wine-world, a sip-off of a final Mystery Thimbleful. Unfortunately, my attention was diverted from the drama of the sip-to-the-death by the heavenly smells wafting from the pizza oven outside. Tie being broken, title being won, we were soon eagerly gathered around our chef  for the eve, who kindly created pizzas of our request, winding up a yet another Wonderful Wine Adventure at Marvellous Mulderbosch.

Of Songs and Shiraz

With heavy hearts and happy smiles, one last time into our Magic Tour Bus we piled. Bellies topped up with baked goods and cheese and singing along to the latest tunes, our musical adventure was set to begin.

Out to Stellenbosch we trundled, not discouraged in the least by the fog. If anything, we were encouraged to discover the musical mystery lying ahead.

We emerged from the fog to a most splendid view - that of open bottles of rosé. The farm itself was beautiful as well. After sipping on some pink, we arranged ourselves on a trailer (securely we were assured) to a tractor for an adventure up, up into the hills. On the way we bypassed the beautiful block of song-filled Shiraz where these especially cultured grapes enjoy a constant flow of Baroque to add to the eloquence of the wine they so finely produce.

Upon the hill, we enjoyed some Sauvignon in the sunshine before making our way to the splendidly beautiful cellar, filled with barrels big enough to live in. In fact, I was rather inspired to try. But, since all were filled and the available means of getting inside considerably too small, I shall add that to my list for another day.

Back in the tasting room we were treated to some brilliant bubbles and charming Chenin before being faced with another little challenge. We were once again to blend our own wine (which is becoming a favourite tasking considering the required consumption of The Wine in order to complete said task). We sipped and sat; sat and sang; and finally agreed on our favourite on which to sip. Our creation placed second with the judges, unfortunately this was out of two.

Our spirits were lifting by the sight of lunch – platters of meats and cheeses, breads and patés made for a perfect lunch on a sunny almost-summer’s day.

Inspired by the sunshine, we took to the grass where we learned to throw an array of things – boules at Wellingtons and bottles twirling in the air. There was dancing and merriment and a brief dip in the pond.

Our clothes damp but our spirits not so, we embarked onto our Magic Tour Bus to end the last of our adventures on an exceptionally high note.

A Sip of Avondale

A sneaky after-tasting taste of some lovely examples of The Wine. Unfortunately, due to the nature of being an after tasting tasting, no interesting arbitrary tid bits were recorded.

WHITE:

·         Anima Chenin Blanc (2011): Orange zest in crème caramel, soft & cuddly like cream soup with creamed citrus, bitterness but no freshness, Chevin, Viognier, Roussanne.

·         Cyclus (2010): Honeyed peaches & oranges in toasted butter, soft but fresh, oiliness.

RED:

·         Samsara Syrah (2006): Clovey gummy bears, spicy tannins, warming & cozy.

·         La Luna (2006): Honey perfumed chocolate, minced tannins, filling like oxtail soup.

Best of Bubbles

Not only was I spoiled with some of the oldest Champagne I’ve ever had but also learned it ages particularly well. This tasting was a celebration not only of beautiful bubbles but of a most precious Gem of the Wine World. Fortunately there were bubbles to keep us from being sad. Also, the Old Man’s Sparkle made a comeback.

BUBBLES:

·         Nitida Matriarch In White MCC (NV): 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir. Sparkly pear juice, tickly, tingly bubbles, breakfast time sherbet, crisp like new paper.

·         Moreson Miss Molly  Brut Sparking Rose (NV): 100% Pinotage. Strawberry mousse, creamy, soft watermelon, soft baby tickles, microscopic bubbles, rose Turkish Delight. (***)

·         Groote Post “Old Man’s Sparkle” Brut Rose MCC (NV): 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir. Kiwi & lime, digestive biscuit pie crust, onion skin colour, Berocca fizz, selotapey.

·         Aurelia MCC (2010): 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, 2 years on lees. Made by Groote Post’s winemaker.  Honeyed oats, dark toasted yeasty brioche, savoury, creamy,. (**)

·         Moreson One (2007): 80% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir, 4 years on lees. Only for sale & tasting @ the farm. Fizzy NikNaks, very toasted oats, smooth, fizzy butter. (*)

·         Guy Charbaut Millesime (2000): 2/3 Pinot Noir, 1/3 Chardonnay, 4 years on lees. Yeasty rye French toast, chicken liver pate, wooded caramel, marmite. (***)

Bits about Bubbles:

·         Moreson Pinotage Rose MCC has teensy bubbles.

·         The bottle reads “I am delicious” in Braille (this is also tattoed on the winemakers’ left nipple)

·         NV – “each bubble is from a different vintage”

·         Darling was prohibited from producing wine until 1994.

·         Best MCC in SA – Krone’s Nicholas Charles (9 years on lees)