Celebrating the Arrival of Neethlingshof’s New Wine Vintages / Brood of “Babies”

It doesn’t matter how old you get: tractor rides are a whole lot of fun. The diesel-laced, farm-fresh air in your face, the roar of its three-cylinder engine, and lush summer vineyards so close you could almost reach out and caress their leaves as you fly by at 6 km/h. Ah…tractor rides are fun. And it was in a tractor-drawn trailer that we kicked off our day at Neethlingshof Wine Estate, one of the Cape’s earliest grape-growing and wine-producing farms.

The crowd of media folk had gathered at Neethlingshof to taste the Stellenbosch estate’s new brood of babies: the 2019 white wines and some newly released vintages of red wines. But nothing works up a wine appetite quite like an appreciation of its provenance and so we were hauled high up and deep into Neethlingshof’s vineyard-carpeted hills to survey its kingdom and the various terroirs that give rise to its delicious ranges of wines.

Terroir, terroir, terroir

The tractor wheezed to a stop atop a koppie where, at over 200 metres above sea level, we were afforded sweeping views of the estate’s jigsaw puzzle of vineyards, Eucalyptus stands, granite outcroppings, pastures, and Renosterveld reserves, as well as the greater Stellenbosch valley, which expands outwards from False Bay like a natural amphitheatre.

Here, Neethlingshof’s winemaker De Wet Viljoen regaled us with tales of the farm, its terroir, and the estate’s dedication to “giving back” to nature in the form of Renosterveld rehabilitation, erecting owl posts amongst the vineyards, and, rather than having them removed to make space for more vineyards, allowing pockets of nature to thrive in the Eucalyptus stands and granite outcroppings strewn about its grounds.

Of special note is the fact that Neethlingshof’s vineyards sprawls up a series of undulating slopes that vary from 190 to 260 metres above sea level. At this altitude, the vineyards are bathed in the cool maritime breezes that flood the valley from False Bay and so, while many people tend to think of Stellenbosch as a hot climate terroir, it is in fact far more complicated than that, particularly when you take into account the varying altitudes each vineyard block resides at, their particular aspect (angle towards the onshore breezes and sun), and soil types, of which the farm has two.

This complexity shows up in each sip of Neethlingshof’s wines, as well as in the diversity of wines produced by winemaker De Wet and assistant winemaker Jacobus van Zyl.

Wine cellar tasting

Back on the ranch, we made our way through the wynproesentrum into the vast cellars for a private wine tasting hosted by winemaker De Wet. A long, luscious table with all the usual tasting paraphernalia had been set for us and we wasted little time tucking in to the first three of Neethlingshof’s new vintage wines: the white wines.

First up was the crisp, fresh, and vibrant Neethlingshof Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2019, with a rich tropical fruit nose balanced nicely with herbaceous, almost green peppery aromas. Next up was the Short Story Collection Jackal’s Dance 2019, a clear, fresh, and crisp single vineyard Sauvignon Blanc with distinctive minerality and flirtatious notes of ripe figs and gooseberries. The final white wine was the Short Story Collection The Six Flowers 2019, a Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay-driven blend of six white wine varietals, including Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Weisser Riesling, and Gewürztraminer.

The wine delivered a beautifully perfumed, floral yet spicy nose (thanks to new French oak) with each of the six varietals being individually vinified before blended to achieve this delicious and devilishly moreish wooded white.

The Short Story Collection

The Short Story Collection is Neethlingshof’s signature wine range that consists of five different wines, two of which I have already covered. What is so wonderful about these wines is that each bottle tells a beguiling anecdote about the estate’s rich history.

The Jackal’s Dance, for example, originates from farmer Willem Barend Lubbe who, in 1692, made the honest mistake of confusing a pack of jackals for the wolves of his homeland. He then named the farm De Wolvendans (the wolf’s dance), which was only changed in the late 1820’s when Johannes Henoch Neethling bought the property. The Jackal’s Dance unfurls this early history – and honest taxonomical error by Mr Lubbe. It also draws attention to the fact that, to this day, Neethlingshof farm is home to a population of shy Cape foxes.

The Six Flowers is a tribute to the young widow Maria Magdalena Marais, who took over the building of Neethlingshof’s manor house after the death of her husband in 1813. She rather creatively crafted six flowers (five representing her children and one for herself), which she then had cast into the manor house’s gables. Today, the story behind those six flowers has been expanded to represent the estate’s environmental consciousness and its restoration of the area’s indigenous Renosterveld vegetation.

The red course

Back to the wine tasting, our second wave of tastings was the estate’s most recently released reds, starting with the astoundingly delicious and intoxicatingly fragrant Neethlingshof Estate Merlot 2017, which served up rich, red cherry fruits laced with hints of coffee and nougat. Then the Neethlingshof Short Story Collection The Caracal 2017, a dark and intense Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet France, and Malbec that offered up a distinctive cherry tobacco nose, big body, and firm, supple tannins. Finally, we tasted the delightful and delicious Short Story Collection The Owl Post Pinotage 2018, in which I instantly identified coffee-chocolate notes and plums without even having to read the tasting notes first (that’s how distinctive they were).

(Vegan) lunch at the manor house

Neethlingshof’s rather substantial innings is reflected in the Stellenbosch estate’s glorious clutch of thatched Cape Dutch buildings and towering oak trees that have become home to the farm’s rather effective mode of pest control: spotted eagle owls. Now, sitting down to a vegan lunch in a 200-year-old manor house may seem like a bit of a study in contradiction but Brendan Stein, Executive Chef at the Restaurant at Neethlingshof, is clearly not afraid of innovation and adaptation.

Yuzu compressed watermelon, tomato consommé, cucumber and lemongrass gel, pickled radish, crisp shallot, and shiso

To showcase the season’s incredible flavours and satisfaction achievable without having to turn to animal products, Chef Brendan put together a truly delicious four-course vegan meal for our group. This began with an amuse-bouche of tofu and black bean chilli crumbed fritter with teriyaki and miso; followed by a starter of yuzu compressed watermelon, tomato consommé, cucumber and lemongrass gel, pickled radish, crisp shallot, and shiso; absolutely gorgeous mains of chermoula roast cauliflower, quinoa and dukkha, carrot purée, crispy kale, and herb oil; and finally poached nectarine, spiced syrup, peach sorbet, and almond chips. Each course was paired with a wine from Neethlingshof estate: respectively, the Ode to Nature Riesling 2018, Estate unwooded Chardonnay 2019, Estate Shiraz 2016, and the noble late harvest Short Story Collection Maria 2019.

Chermoula roast cauliflower, quinoa and dukkha, carrot purée, crispy kale, and herb oil

Poached nectarine, spiced syrup, peach sorbet and almond chips

Almost persuaded to turn vegan…almost

It was quite literally one of the guilt-freest multi-course dining experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting down to. Composed of fresh, colourful ingredients, every dish was a fragrant and flavourful expression of summer, enhanced greatly by the wines. And rather than rolling out the door like a distended blueberry, as I often do after such events, I hopped and skipped out the door feeling like I’d earned a slice of cheese cake.

“Vegan” may have been a dirty word to many of the people seated in the restaurant that day but after our four-course vegan meal by Chef Brendon (who is unapologetically carnivorous but doesn’t shy away from a challenge), we all walked away just a little persuaded by the merits of such a diet.

Seek out the stories of Neethlingshof

I greatly encourage you to go to Neethlingshof Estate, not only for the food, the views, the farm-fresh air, and the wine itself, but also to discover the stories behind the wines – particularly those in The Short Story range. While you’re at it, bath your teeth in the Neethlingshof Malbec, an elixir of the Gods if there ever were one.

Neethlingshof Wine Estate is open 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday and 10:00 to 16:30 Saturday and Sunday. For bookings and enquiries, please email info@neethlingshof.co.za or call +27 (0) 21 883 8988.

www.neethlingshof.co.za

This blog was originally written for Southern Vines, the largest lifestyle and leisure magazine in the Western Cape of South Africa: https://www.southernvines.co.za/2019/11/08/celebrating-the-arrival-of-neethlingshofs-new-wine-vintages-brood-of-babies/

The Revival of Riesling, Queen of Grapes

An epic tasting experience of this versatile, expressive, and aromatic German white wine varietal.

From Cabernet Sauvignon to Sauvignon Blanc, South Africa and particularly the Western Cape has become the cultivator of an entire alphabet’s worth of wine grape varietals. One of the lesser-known colours within this rainbow spectrum is the German white wine varietal of Riesling. This ignorance, thanks to what is being called the “Riesling Revival”, the first of a series of Riesling tastings, is thankfully set to change. And the two women championing this movement are superlatively talented winemakers Catherine Marshall and Jessica Saurwein, both of whom craft boutique, namesake wine ranges.

Catherine Marshall is a veteran of the wine industry, producing reverentially lauded vintages of Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc, and Sauvignon Blanc, while Jessica Saurwein’s award-littered “Nom” Pinot Noir is so devastatingly delicious, you’d be forgiven for ignoring your date at the dinner table after cracking open a bottle. Both winemakers, however, have an unwavering passion for Riesling, and a conviction that this “Queen of Grapes” produces the most expressive, aromatic, and food-friendly white wines available in South Africa and indeed the world.

Knowing next to nothing about Riesling and eager to learn at the hands of the most knowledgeable people in the industry, I arrived at Lavinia Cellars in Stellenbosch, the home of Catherine Marshall Wines, Jessica Saurwein, and the Riesling Revival series of tastings.

Meet the grape: an introduction to Riesling

The day kicked off with an introduction to Riesling, a white grape varietal, which originated in the Rhine region of southwestern Germany. This aromatic grape cultivar, which thrives in cooler climates, displays a flowery, almost perfumed nose, as well as high acidity and is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling white wines that are seldom oaked.

“If farmed and made well, Riesling is one of the greatest varieties of white wine in the world, in terms of flavour profile,” began Catherine Marshall. “It has excellent longevity for a white wine and it’s very expressive geographically with soil, site, and climate showing up incredibly well in the flavour and aromatic profiles of the wine, owing to its monoturpine and turpenoid characteristics.”

Riesling also generally has low alcohol content, is known for its bracingly fresh acidity, particularly in those from Germany, and can be made with all levels of sweetness. But perhaps Riesling’s greatest claim to fame is its potent aromatic properties, which are 10 to 15 times higher than that of any other white wine variety. In other words, Riesling has a powerful nose, the precise profile of which varies depending on terroir and origin.

Riesling roots: where in the world do we find the Queen of Grapes?

The Germans are the foremost producers of Riesling, not only in volume and variety, but also in quality; they have, after all, been doing it for centuries. A large acreage of land bordering the Rhine River and its tributaries in southwestern Germany is carpeted in Riesling vineyards, with the Rheingau, Mosel-Saar Ruwer, Rheinhessen, Württemberg, and a smattering of other virtually unpronounceable names being notable Riesling-producing regions.

Alsace in France (where your Alsatian pooch originates) is another famous Riesling producing region found on the Rhine River plain in northeastern France. Historically caught in an immense tug of war between Germany and France, Alsace has suffered from tremendous identity crises over the centuries. And while France eventually won the battle, the culture here (and the wine, obviously) remains a delightful blend of the two.

Further afield, producers in South Australia’s Clare and Eden Valley (neighbouring the famous Barossa Valley) have jumped on the Riesling bandwagon. The varietal is also grown in Austria, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Croatia, Luxembourg, Russia, Argentina, Chile, Ontario (Canada), New Zealand, California, Washington State, and finally – and most significantly to the group gathered at Lavinia Cellars on this utterly gorgeous spring day – the cool and verdant Elgin Valley in the Western Cape of South Africa.

The pudding and the proof to be found therein

With beguiling tales of history, geography, and chemistry under our belts, we moved on to our practicum in Riesling – a sweeping tasting experience that included Jessica Saurwein and Catherine Marshall’s creations, as well as some iconic examples from around the world. From the Eden and Clare Valleys in Australia to the Mosel in Germany and Alsace in France, we travelled the length and breadth of the world’s most iconic Riesling appellations. In total, we sampled a staggering 14-15 different Rieslings, a few too many to describe in any detail here. As such, I’ve taken the liberty of putting together a wholly subjective highlights reel of our Riesling Revival experience.

Highlights reel: most memorable Rieslings tasted

Niepoort/Kettern Falkenberg Riesling 2016 – “From vineyards in the western Mosel village of Piesport, Germany, the 2016 Mosel Riesling Falkenberg has a very clear, fresh, and delicately slatey nose of white ripe fruits and cold stones. Lush and piquant, with a salty freshness and remarkable finesse, this is a lithe but tensioned dry Riesling bottled with 11% alcohol. The finish is long, pure, and salty, absolutely refreshing and highly delicate.” Thank you, Wine Cellar Fine Wine Merchants for the erudite tasting notes.

Personally, I found the Falkenberg to exhibit a sharp, almost confronting acidity – perceived as a lemony tartness – but what clinched it for me was the wine’s exceptional expressive nose of rose geranium, citrus, and gunflint.

Catherine Marshall Riesling 2019 – From the Kogelberg Biosphere in the Elgin Valley, Catherine Marshall’s 2019 Riesling exudes sweet yet persistent, bright, fresh limes, crisp apples, and white flower perfume. The brisk acidity is well balanced and supported by expressive fruit with spicy undertones.

To me, this off-dry Riesling was a childhood summer’s day bottled. Where I grew up in Hout Bay, there were lush Jasmine bushes growing right outside my bedroom window and that same fragrance simply exploded from the glass. In fact, so heavily perfumed was Catherine’s extraordinary Riesling that one could quite plausibly dab it behind the ears and on the wrists and go out for dinner smelling like a summer garden.

Trimbach Riesling Reserve 2014 – For almost 400 years (since 1626), the Trimbach family in Alsace, France has represented the exceptional terroirs and fine wines of the region. The Trimbach Riesling Reserve 2014 is the product of rigorously selected grapes from the Ribeauvillé region and is a bone-dry wine with a nose of white peach, acacia blossom, lemon zest, and gunmetal.

The lattermost descriptive might sound laughable but this is precisely why the Trimbach made my highlight reel. One sniff of this Riesling and I was transported to a sooty rail yard, the sharp, flinty, and metallic smell of railway tracks and trains in my nostrils. Tasted side-by-side with Catherine Marshall’s heady jasmine and honey-suckle scented 2019 Riesling, the comparison drove home that fundamental truth about Riesling: that it is the most aromatic of all the white wines and acutely expressive of terroir.

Saurwein “Chi” Riesling 2019 – Jessica Saurwein’s 2019 Riesling is made from grapes sourced from the same Elgin vineyard as Catherine Marshall’s Riesling and yet the two were remarkably different. The wine’s heavily perfumed floral nose of citrus, fynbos, rose geranium, apple blossom, and white stone fruit was followed by a zesty, fruity palate of citrus peel and lemon sherbet. Delicious and dangerously moreish!

There were many, many, many other Rieslings that we tasted this day that fully deserve a spot on this highlights reel but I do feel the point has been successfully made, and that is that Riesling is incredibly distinctive yet anything but uniform! (Also, your boss will probably start noticing that you haven’t typed anything in a while).

Riesling brought to life

I was hoping for an education and, boy, was I educated. Prior to our lovely tasting experience at Lavinia Cellars, I regarded Riesling as a light style white wine that was typically a little too sweet for my palate, which has somehow become slavishly devoted to tannin. Afterwards, I left with a profound appreciation for this German varietal and the alchemy that goes on in Jessica Saurwein’s and Catherine Marshall’s cellars when they transform their Elgin Valley grapes into this queen of white wines. My eyes have been opened and Riesling brought to life!

Catherine Marshall Wines: www.cmwines.co.za

Jessica Saurwein: www.saurwein.co.za

Address: Lavinia Cellars, Polkadraai Road, Stellenbosch

This article was originally written for Southern Vines, the largest lifestyle and leisure magazine in the Western Cape of South Africa.

Gabrielskloof Restaurant Celebrates 10 Years of Cape Country Cuisine

Just so that you can all appreciate how obnoxiously spoiled I am as a “person of media”, I attended the 10-year anniversary of the restaurant at Gabriëlskloof wine estate (Botrivier, Western Cape, South Africa) and left with a belly full of their food, a head full of their wine, and a gift of their freshly-baked goodies in my hand. Disgusting, isn’t it?

Nevertheless, I have an important job here…and it’s to pay homage to a country-style restaurant that has endured 10 long years in an industry in which country-style restaurants very quickly go out of style. Add to this the fact that Gabriëlskloof wine estate is situated in the middle of nowhere – according to Capetonians who think that anything more than five minutes away is in the middle of nowhere – and you can appreciate just how important this milestone is.

An important milestone, yes… but certainly no miracle: the restaurant at Gabriëlskloof delivers a hedonistic trifecta of delicious food, wine, and spectacular winelands views of vineyard carpeted valleys. And on Friday 16th August, a clutch of media folk and I travelled from Cape Town to celebrate this esteemed restaurant’s birthday by eating all their food, drinking all their wine, and leaving with a present in our hands.

Happy birthday to me, I mean, you Gabriëlskloof Restaurant!

Robust South African country-style fare

Gabriëlskloof Estate is located just under 100 km from Cape Town, outside Bot River on the Swartrivier Road off the N2 highway. In other words, it’s firmly in the sticks and one heck of an excuse to go on a mini-road trip. The restaurant itself serves robust, seasonal South African fare, plus there’s a wine tasting room with a courtyard and a fluffy little poodle to pet between sips of wine.

Food is prepared with great love by the owners of the Gabriëlskloof Restaurant, Frans and Mariaan Groenewald, who are passionate about using local produce from neighbouring farms and villages. The menu changes with the regularity of the weather in Cape Town and the result is a torrential downpouring of delicious, hearty dishes that don’t require you to make a pit stop at McDonalds on the way home, as is often the case at wine estate restaurants that charge R200 for a sliver of beef and a cough of foam.

Birthday Celebrations

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The restaurant at Gabriëlskloof is elegantly appointed, yet maintains an unpretentious, country feel. To the one side, the dining area spills out onto a large veranda-embraced courtyard and to the other, a clipped lawn with vast views of buttery yellow canola fields, vineyards, mountains, and False Bay beyond. It’s quite something to behold.

And as my eyes were adjusting to the sheer majesty of it all, I was handed a flute of the estate’s crisp Madame Lucy Méthode Cap Classique (MCC), named after that poodle I mentioned. For those of you who don’t know, MCC is South Africa’s answer to “champagne” – and, yes, there is actually an answer to champagne. MCC is made following precisely the same methodology. The only difference is provenance. Let’s hope there are no French people reading this.

After harassing the servers mincing around with trays of canapés – and a second glass of bubbly, this time of the estate’s gorgeous 2010 100% Pinot Noir MCC – we took our seats to enjoy a grand lunch featuring the food for which Gabriëlskloof restaurant has earned its lip-smacking reputation. This kicked off with a basket of dense, freshly-baked farm bread and Cape Malay spiced Cape salmon wontons with peach sweet chilli sauce (pictured above).

For mains, a literal smorgasbord was laid out before us: duck leg bourguignon, carrot and barley risotto, pulled lamb waterblommetjies (edible aquatic flowering plant) (above), cauliflower and aubergine in coconut, and steamed greens. This proudly South African feast was paired with both the original and the current vintages of Gabriëlskloof’s Landscape Series wines to allow us to appreciate how they have evolved over time. The Landscape Series features two whites and three reds: Magdelena Sauvignon Blanc, Elodie Sauvignon Blanc / Sémillon blend (both named after the owner’s sisters), Syrah on Sandstone, Syrah on Shale, and Cabernet Franc. Yep, I tasted them all and, yep, the conversation on the ride home was several decibels louder than it was on the way to the estate.

Dessert was a creative take on an Irish coffee – coffee creme brûlée with whiskey ice-cream (let’s hope there are no Irish people reading this) paired with a tot of the estate’s Broken Stem Late Harvest wine.

Grown men DO cry

“It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed,” declares chef patron Frans Groenewald, who launched the venue in 2009 with his wife, Mariaan, and fellow-chef Juan van der Westhuizen. “When we started out, people said if we can’t make onion rings like the local steakhouse, we’re done for!”

Well, look where are you now, dear Frans and Mariaan! Who needs to compete with Cattle Baron, anyway? Gabriëlskloof Restaurant is a beautiful place run by passionate people whose love and dedication to their craft is as evident in the quality of the food as it is in the tears that rolled down their faces during certain “welcome” speeches to media guests.

Throat catching aside (and how endearing that was!), Frans and Mariaan made us feel welcome and even though it was their restaurant’s birthday, they wined, dined, and treated us like we were the ones turning a year older. It compelled me to write the following birthday song, which is pending a patent so don’t get any crafty ideas:

Happy birthday to you, I’m going to eat all your food, wash it down with your wine too, happy birthday Gabriëlskloof!

Here’s to another decade of success – I’ll be watching my inbox for that birthday invitation in 2029!

Gabrielskloof Restaurant is open Monday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00. For bookings and enquiries, please email restaurant@gabrielskloof.co.za or call +27 (0)28 284 9865.

http://www.gabrielskloof.co.za

Discover a World Secreted Away at Jan Harmsgat Country House

The historic and luxurious Jan Harmsgat Country House delivers an unforgettable experience of al fresco dining, handcrafted wines, 4×4 farm tours, and divine country lodging.

On the southernmost periphery of the Robertson Wine Valley, about 20 minutes before Swellendam on the R60 highway, you’ll discover a bucolic haven spread out beneath a thick canopy of tree leaves. Here, the historic homesteads, luxury suites, dappled sunlit pathways, and warbling birdcalls offer visitors a serene respite from “it all”, whether it’s the stresses of the workweek or a demanding tourist itinerary. This is Jan Harmsgat Country House: a world secreted away and a place of cool tranquillity and sensual indulgence.

Picnic Under the Pecans

The first of many diversions guests can enjoy at Jan Harmsgat (JHG) is a picnic under the pecan trees, featuring a delicious abundance of farm-fresh, locally made treats. Think: whole breads that crackle as you cut into the crust, a selection of charcuterie and cheeses, fresh strawberries and grapes, olives and olive tapenade, biltong, fig preserve, and crunchy garden salad washed down with a bottle of JHG Sauvignon Blanc 2018. Our advice is to arrive hungry because you aren’t going to want to leave any corner of this indulgent spread untested.

Exploring the working farm

JHG is a 680-hectare working farm that produces a rich harvest of fruits, including whole pomegranates and pomegranate juice, pecan nuts, and grapes for wine. The farm is spread out on both sides of the R60 highway, providing a pleasing degree of separation between guest accommodations and trundling tractors. Having said this, some of the JHG’s most alluring attractions are its farming operations, which guests are encouraged to explore by foot, bicycle, or 4×4 safari truck…and there are few better ways to recover from a lavish lunch than going for a walk in nature!

The pecan orchard is a magical place to start with its soft carpeting of lush green grass and resident chestnut-coloured hoopoes. Beyond that, you’ll discover olive groves bedecked in purpling drupes belonging to the neighbouring Mardouw Olive Estate. There are no fences, so meander through the groves and look out for the gravesite of former farm owner and respected local councilman, Hermanus Steyn de Jonge. Another equally charming way to explore and work off all that delicious farm-fresh bread is to jump on a bicycle, of which the estate maintains three for guests to use. Just ask the staff to pump up those tyres!

4×4 Tour and Sunset

With the evening approaching, guests are invited to bundle onto JHG’s steed: a handsome Land Rover safari vehicle with manager and marketer of JHG wine portfolio, Mitch Boy, as tour guide. With a glass of JHG Chardonnay 2016 in hand, guests set off on a rutted track that winds its way through the farm’s vineyards, pomegranate orchards – stopping for a taste of the voluptuous ruby fruit – and up a nearby koppie to watch the sun descend into the mist-swathed mountain ranges bordering the Robertson Valley. Keep an eye out for the resident herd of wildebeest!

Guest Accommodations and Restaurant

JHG’s luxury accommodations consist of ten exclusive rooms and a romantic honeymoon suite. The spacious rooms are elegantly dressed and offer all the modern amenities you’d expect; yet still exude the enchantment of rustic, farm-style living with their original metre-thick walls, yellow-wood detailing, and floral touches.

Mealtimes are taken at the estate’s restaurant, Just Amy, which lovingly crafts delicious, homespun dishes, such as ostrich carpaccio, grilled West Coast sole with Mediterranean couscous, slow roasted lamb shank with mashed potato, and, for dessert, pecan pie! The elegant, yet rustic country theme extends beautifully into this space with its hardwood ceiling, warm lighting, gracefully decked tables, large fireplace, and leather sofas. There is also a large outdoor seating area under the shade of the pecan trees, which is perfect for al fresco dining on sunny days.

Jan Harmsgat Wines

Lunch, dinner, or anytime really, JHG’s staff is ready to deliver a wine tasting of the estate’s boutique range of small-batch, wild-fermented, and vegan-friendly wines. This consists of a Sauvignon Blanc 2018, Chenin Blanc 2018 (sold out) Chardonnay 2016, Pinotage 2016, Cabernet Sauvignon 2017, and Shiraz 2016. Each wine is crafted from a single block of vineyards no more than six hectares in size and with minimal intervention in the cellar so that the resultant wine is a loving and honest expression of its unique terroir.

A restorative getaway

For days spent embraced by nature and fruiting trees and nights engulfed in red wine and warm, white sheets, there are few better destinations than Jan Harmsgat Country House. Couple this luxury and indulgence with quintessential Western Cape vistas of vineyard carpeted valleys and rugged mountain peaks, and you’ve got a restorative getaway against which you’ll measure all others.

For bookings and enquiries: reservations@janharmsgat.com, +27 (0)87 057 4507.

This blog article was originally written for Southern Vines magazine, the largest lifestyle and leisure magazine in the Western Cape of South Africa: https://www.southernvines.co.za/2019/06/14/discover-a-world-secreted-away-at-jan-harmsgat-country-house/

Boplaas Family Vineyards Celebrate Their Portuguese Wine Range Over Lunch at Jonkershuis Restaurant

The Portuguese are an indelible part of the Cape’s rich tapestry of history, having paved the way for the Dutch seafarers and the Cape’s first settlement by European explorers more than 500 years ago. So, while Verdehlo, Tinta Barocca, Souzã, and Touriga Nacional might not sound like they belong here in South Africa, there is something about Boplaas’ range of Portuguese wines that feels like a return to the roots for us.

The question asked by many, though, is why? Why Portuguese wine? Well, that comes down to a fortuitous, yet quite accidental turn of events…

The Portuguese connection

After a visit to the Swartland in the late 1970’s Boplaas patriarch Oupa Danie Nel returned with a desire to plant Shiraz in Calitzdorp, so he promptly ordered vines from a nursery, only to discover several years later that what he had planted was, in fact, Tinta Barocca. What could have been viewed as a disastrous accident set the Nel family on a course that would forever change their farm, bringing to South Africa a range of grape varietals that are actually very much suited to our hot and dry climate, particularly that of the Klein Karoo.

Today, Boplaas Family Vineyards produce, in addition to several other table wines, award-winning Cape Vintage Ports, and spirits, a “Portuguese Collection”. This is a range of single varietal and blended wines that really showcase the quality and diversity of wines produced from traditional Portuguese varieties as interpreted by South African soil.

On a more practical level, Boplaas’ introduction of Portuguese varietals constitutes an important move towards a more sustainable future for South Africa’s wine industry. Through conditioning, these vines tend to be hardy, well-adjusted to heat, and comfortable with drought, making them an excellent fit for parts of the country that were previously not considered suitable to viticulture, such as Calitzdorp in the Little Karoo, which is where Boplaas is located; and potentially a better fit overall considering our drought crisis.

Portuguese wine has a deep connection with the Cape’s past (early Portuguese explorers) and a very valid connection with our present and future (it’s suitability to our climate and ability to withstand drought).

But is it any good?

We gathered at Jonkershuis Restaurant in Groot Constantia to find out because, at 370 km distance from Cape Town, a trip to the town of Calitzdorp would have been a bit too far, even for a good lunch!

A tasting of Boplaas’ Portuguese Collection

We commenced our tasting with a flight of four wines and two vintages of the Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve Port. The first wine was the Boplaas Cape Portuguese White Blend 2018, a refreshing and easy-drinking blend of 50% Verdehlo (Portuguese varietal), 25% Chardonnay, and 25% Sauvignon Blanc. This light white wine has a fragrant nose of tropical fruits, pineapple, citrus, and yellow pair with a crisp acidity, making it easy drinking and, at only R70 per bottle online*, incredibly good value for money.

*All prices quoted have been sourced online at www.boplaas.co.za/shop/

Next up was the Boplaas Gamka Branca 2017 (R177), the estate’s flagship white, a Chardonnay-based blend featuring an alchemy of five other wine varietals, including Chenin, Rousanne, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, and Verdehlo (Portuguese varietal). This barrel fermented and matured white blend displays a satisfying mélange of citrus blossom, lime marmalade, creamy lemon, and subtle spice, supported by grippy tannins.

We then tried the Boplaas Tinta Barocca 2017 (R89), an aromatic, medium bodied red wine with a gorgeous earthy and red fruit perfume of ripe plums, raspberry jam, and lively spices and velvety soft tannins. It was the accidental planting of this grape varietal that pretty much kicked off Nel family’s affinity for Portuguese wines. Today, a paltry 221 hectares of this tenacious, quality Portuguese grape varietal grow throughout the Cape, which accounts for only 0.2% of the total vineyard area in the country.

Our final wine before the two ports was the Boplaas Gamka 2015 (R259), a seductively smooth, full bodied red blend (the estate’s flagship) of old vine Touriga Nacional and Tinta Barocca from the Boplaas farm, and Shiraz from Stellenbosch. This Portuguese varietal-driven blend is matured in new French oak for 12 months and boasts dark, plummy fruits, lovely spice, strong tannins, and a long, languorous finish. My favourite thus far!

A charming bit of trivia: The name for both the white and red flagship wines comes from the Gamka River, which flows through Calitzdorp, and from which the farm receives its irrigation. The Gamka River was named after the Xhosa word for lion because of the roaring sound it makes when swollen with rainwater.

Boplaas Cape Vintage Ports

Boplaas also pays homage to Portugal through its Cape Vintage Reserve Ports, of which we tasted the 2006 and 2016 vintages. Port – or Cape port, lest I get into trouble – ages exceptionally well; so well that our host Carel Nel kept referring to the 2006 vintage as “still a baby”. In that case, the 2016 must be positively prenatal, although it tasted beautifully lush, fruity, and moreish to my uneducated palate.

Carel then related a most interesting anecdote about a blind port tasting he participated in, which involved “real” port from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal and Boplaas’ very own Cape Vintage Reserve Port. With Boplaas’ Cape port declared the best, Carel had the pleasure of revealing its provenance, and I’m sure there were more than just a few red faces around the room that day.

Lunch and (even more) wine

With the tasting concluded, it was now time to test the wines’ mettle against food. Lunch was catered for by the farm-style, yet elegantly dressed Jonkershuis Restaurant at Groot Constantia and was a three-course affair starting with creamy mussels and freshly baked bread paired with the Boplaas Bobbejaanberg Sauvignon Blanc 2018 (R116). This wine is made from single vineyard grapes high up in the Outeniqua Mountains of the Upper Langkloof ward. Owing to its cool climate origin, it delivers a rich vegetal bouquet of capsicum and green asparagus, flavours of lime leaf, white peach, and calciferous minerality, and a lush fynbos finish.

Mains was slow-roasted lamb with rosemary reduction, crispy potatoes, new broccoli, and carrots, which beautifully paired with the Boplaas Touriga Nacional 2017 (R92), a varietal aptly known as “the king of Portuguese vines.” This powerfully elegant wine featured fulsome tannins, a nose of ripe black plum, vibrant rich spice, and fynbos, and notes of cocoa with a savoury undercurrent.

Finally, dessert was a vanilla pod panna cotta with a seasonal berry compote and fresh strawberries, which was paired with the honey sweet Ouma Cloete Straw Wine 2015 (R154), named after Carel Nel’s great grandmother who originally moved from the Constantia valley in the late 1800’s to settle in Calitzdorp. It was then that we all recognised the significance of hosting the Boplaas tasting at Groot Constantia, aside from saving us the monstrous drive to Calitzdorp. The Cloetes used to live here!

In the spirit of things

In addition to their numerous wine ranges, ports, and gorgeous sweet dessert wines, Boplaas also has a distillery, and it’s here that Daniel Nel is the boss. The event kicked off with Boplaas gin and tonics beneath Groot Constantia’s ancient oaks and concluded with a tasting of their six-year single grain whiskey, aged in a port cask, and their famous potstill reserve brandy. It’s a miracle I walked out of there with my dignity intact.

A part of the story of the Cape

531 Years ago, Portuguese mariner Bartolomeu Dias became the very first European to explore the southern coastline of South Africa. His mission was to plot a trade route to the Far East via the “Cabo das Tormentas” – the Cape of Storms. Nine years later, Portuguese seafarer Vasco da Gama completed the trip, landing in India a whole 14 months after departing Lisbon. In a way, the Nel family of the Boplaas Family Vineyards are as intrepid explorers as these early Portuguese seafarers, which, to me, tells a wonderful tale of innovation, unquenchable curiosity, and bravery.

Boplaas Family Vineyards
Saayman Street, Calitzdorp
Contact: +27 44 21 33 326, boplaas@mweb.co.za
www.boplaas.co.za

Groot Constantia is open seven days a week. For bookings and enquiries, please email enquiries@grootconstantia.co.za or call 021 794 5128. For more information, check out the website at www.grootconstantia.co.za.

This article was originally written by Thea Beckman for Southern Vines Magazine, the largest lifestyle and leisure magazine in the Western Cape of South Africa: http://www.southernvines.co.za/2019/06/04/boplaas-family-vineyards-jonkershuis-restaurant/

Red, Red Wine and Purple, Purple Teeth at this Year’s Franschhoek Winter Wines

As a lover of red wines – robust, voluptuous red wines – I have been looking forward to the Franschhoek Winter Wines festival since the first press release hit my inbox. This is a festival that celebrates, honours, and showcases those wines that are best suited to a frosty, wintry day in the Cape: in other words, red, red wine (and the odd wooded white).

A clear and cloudless Saturday dawned over the Franschhoek valley on the day of the festival but with morning temperatures in the single digits, the wines would still be showing their mettle against the cold. We were amongst the first to arrive at the Franschhoek Cellar, the venue for this year’s instalment of the festival – and what a fabulous venue it was!

The Franschhoek Cellar

Franschhoek Cellar, “a beautiful asset to the Franschhoek wine route”, can be compared in layout and concept to Paarl’s Spice Route. Its sprawling grounds are home to a collection of gems like a tram-side restaurant, a bistro & beer garden, a wine cellar for tastings and food pairings, and an alfresco eating area complete with central water feature. Visitors here can enjoy the leisurely charms of country life with all the elegance and deep sense of history the Franschhoek valley is known and loved for.

Thanks to the unseasonably sunny day, the festivities were sprawled out in the open with the wine tasting booths scattered across the clipped lawns and beneath the shade of the oak trees. There was also a large separate area furnished with an elaborate jungle gym and guarded by watchful staff, which not only offered parents a respite from being responsible but also saved festivalgoers from tripping over kids. After your 10^th wine tasting, you’d be surprised how easy that is to do.

After collecting our tasting glasses and a brief wander, we and sat down to strategize (because when there are 19 wines to taste, a strategy is absolutely necessary if you plan to walk, rather than be carried out of the festival!)

Leg one: dipping our big toes

We decided like good wine nerds to begin with the lighter-style reds and the one white wine present and so, armed with our branded wine glasses, we commenced on the first leg of our grand tour of the Franschhoek wine valley. We tasted:

• The Wildeberg White 2018, a wooded Sémillon with a lovely crisp acidity.
• La Couronne Malbec 2016, touted as “the best Malbec in Franschhoek” and a beautiful food wine.
• La Bourgogne’s 1694 Progeny Red 2016, the only Syrah and Malbec wine blend to be found in Franschhoek.
• Pardonnez-Moi Cinsaut from Old Road Wine Co., named for its dangerous ease of drinkability and tendency to necessitate the drinker to later ask for forgiveness.

Leg two: wading in

With four tastings done and dusted, we paused for a tender barbequed chicken kebab and a pull of water – all a part of the strategy, you see. We then resumed our assault upon Franschhoek’s winter wines with a tasting of:

• The sultry Cape of Good Hope Southern Slopes 2014, a Shiraz, Mourvèdre, and Petit Syrah blend from Anthonij Rupert Wyne (grapes sourced from Swartland).
• Amazing Grace 2015 from Black Elephant Vintners, a rich and velvety Cabernet Sauvignon with lovely Eucalyptus notes on the nose.
• The inaugural vintage of the Holden Manz Proprietors’ Blend 2015, an unusual but absolutely exquisite blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
• Rupert & Rothschild Classique 2016, an impeccably smooth and versatile Bordeaux style blend featuring rich dark fruits and tobacco on the nose.

Lunch Interlude

By this stage of the day – sun merrily beaming down upon the festivities, crowds thickening, teeth purpling – the effects of all the quality red wine were beginning to show themselves. And so we ordered a truffle mushroom pizza and sat down to eat in the tram-side restaurant located adjacent to the gardens, with spectacular views over autumnal-coloured vineyards to the blue, hazy mountains beyond. By the way, when (not if) you visit the Franschhoek Cellar, you owe it to all that is good in the world to try the truffle mushroom pizza. It will ruin you for all future pizzas: it is that good.

Leg three: all in

Stomachs lined with heavenly cheesy, truffle oil-doused pizza and a bottle of water for hydration, we headed back out for the final onslaught and to tackle what we reckoned to be the heaviest reds the festival had to offer.

• La Bri Affinity 2015, a beautifully elegant and well-structured Bordeaux style blend.
• Franschhoek Cellar Shiraz, a textbook New World Shiraz boasting exuberant and juicy plum, pepper, and mulberry flavours (and a surprising price point of only R70 per bottle!)
• A great “Cab-King” of the Cape Winelands: the rich, full-bodied and multi-award winning Plaisir de Merle Cabernet Sauvignon 2015.
• The maiden vintage of the Boekenhoutskloof Franschhoek Cabernet Sauvignon 2016.

Truth be told, we tasted other wines…but by the time we got to them, the palates had been dulled and the focus shifted to enjoying the company of the fabulous and interesting people present. So, I would like to fondly acknowledge the Boschendal Wines Nicolas 2016, Anthonij Rupert Optima 2014, Bellingham Pinotage, and Leopard’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 for the role they played in my (deserved) headache the morning after.

Why I’ll go back…again and again

While I can appreciate wines of all complexity, colour, and body, the Franschhoek Winter Wines festival is dedicated to the wines I love the most: red wine. Does it get any better than being able to meander from one wine tasting station to the other, sipping on beautiful winter wines, speaking to winemakers and ambassadors whose passion and knowledge are offered in equal measure, and all in one of the most magical places on Earth, the Franschhoek winelands? It does but only for one reason:

Nobody cares that your teeth are purple.

This blog article was originally written for Southern Vines magazine, the largest lifestyle and leisure magazine in the Western Cape of South Africa: https://www.southernvines.co.za/2019/06/18/franschhoek-winter-wines/

One-of-a-kind Wine Tasting Experience at Esona Boutique Winery

When one speaks of the internationally-renown Cape Winelands, the leafy, winemaking towns of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek tend to dominate the limelight. Yet, two-hours outside of the city lies a pristine valley, where winemaking tradition, history, culture, and talent is as strong as it is in its celebrity counterparts: the Robertson Wine Valley. Here, a constellation of wineries contributes tirelessly to the wine culture of our country and a shining star among them all is Esona Boutique Winery.

“The very one”: single vineyard, limited release wines

Esona, which means “the very one” in Xhosa, lies sandwiched between the towns of Robertson and Bonnievale in the heart of the Robertson Wine Valley, with the Langeberg to the north and the Riviersonderend Mountains to the south. From the second floor of its pretty winery, one gets a sense of orientation and views of vineyards that extend all the way down to the Breede River, the valley’s central artery that supplies all the farms with life-giving water.

Floating like a stalwart ship in an ocean of green vineyards, Esona’s winery and underground cellar is a compact building that caters to every expectation: stylish interior with charming historic elements, delicious food platters, a lovely selection of wines, friendly staff, absolutely gorgeous views, and a unique underground cellar tasting experience. In order to get there, one is required to walk through a short section of vineyards, which is testament to the boutique status of the estate because if they had hoards of visitors, the plants would likely suffer.

Girl power at Esona Boutique Winery

The assistant winemaker at Esona Boutique Winery is Charmaine, who, in addition to obliterating the male winemaker gender stereotype, worked her way up from farm labourer to her current position. If anyone has an intimate understanding of the grapes and the vineyards, it’ll be the person who once tended to them with their very own hands.

In this way, the family behind Esona are dedicated to empowering their staff and the people in their community, not only by hiring them, but by training, mentoring, and allowing them to realise their full potential irrespective of where they started out in life. Wine tasting assistants are able to become managers, and farm labourers are able to become wine makers. These individuals have the talent and the team at Esona gave them the necessary education, skills, and techniques.

Photograph credit: http://www.esona.co.za

A candlelit, Riedel glass wine-tasting in the “Kuip”

Upon arriving at Esona Boutique Winery and after a welcome glass of their fresh “Frankly My Dear” Pinot Noir Blanc de Noir, our party of four descended into the quiet, dimly-lit, and intimate space of the “kuip”, the underground cellar. Decades ago, in the era prior to the adoption of sophisticated climate control technology, winemakers would build great cement cisterns underground where temperatures were cool and protected from the daily fluctuations. Within these great subterranean cisterns, the juice from the grapes would be allowed to ferment in peace, producing quality, delicious wine. The old cellar at Esona has since been reconstructed to accommodate guests such as us and for one of the Cape’s most unique wine tasting experiences.

Photograph credit: http://www.esona.co.za

And so we sat down to an absolute must-do of an activity for any visitor to the Robertson Wine Valley: a “vertical” wine tasting (and food and music pairing) from Riedel glassware. On the table were two vintages of three different wines from Esona’s collection – a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Shiraz. The idea is to taste the difference between the two vintages of the same wines and how an extra year or two plays out beautifully in the character and depth of the wine. The tastings were also done using famous glassware known as Riedel glasses, which have been specifically crafted to draw out the subtlest of flavours and most nuanced of aromas in specific cultivars.

The Chardonnay glass, for example, was elegant, long-stemmed, and had a round, almost fish bowl-shaped (not sized, unfortunately) vestibule. This shape is said to complement the voluptuous character of Esona’s Chardonnay and to allow its rich buttery, caramel notes to sing. The effects of the shape of the glassware on the flavours and aromas of the wine were highlighted by sniffing and sipping the same wine out of low-end restaurant wine glasses. For someone with an education rooted in the sciences, I was at first sceptical, but the difference was not just perceptible but significantly so!

Riedel glassware is the creative collaboration of talented and experienced glassblowers and winemakers, the product of which is the perfect vestibule from which to enjoy your Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, etc.

Photo credit: http://www.riedel.com

Wine, food, and music pairing

In addition to the vertical tasting and the use of Riedel glasses, there was a third and a fourth element: a pairing with Lindt chocolate and fruit preserves and music to match the wine. Our round of Sauvignon Blanc was enjoyed with light, classical music, while the Shiraz had country music as its soundtrack.

Every element of our visit to Esona Boutique Winery – the tasting, glassware, sweet accompaniments, music, views, food, walk through the vineyards, and of course Esona’s limited release single vineyard wines – was lovely and came together to create a (highly recommendable) symphonic experience.

Contact Esona Boutique Winery:
Phone: 076 343 5833
Website: www.esona.co.za

This article was originally written for Southern Vines Magazine: http://www.southernvines.co.za/2018/01/15/one-kind-wine-tasting-experience-esona-boutique-winery/